JD Admissions Timeline
- When should I take the LSAT?
- When should I apply to law school?
- How do I apply to law school?
- Which schools should I apply to?
- How can Strategy help me?
Phone (202) 680-4561 contact@strategyprep.com
1. When should I take the LSAT?
Test Dates
The LSAT is offered four times a year:
- February
- June
- September (or October)
- December
Score vs. Date
Most law schools start accepting applications in September—about a year before classes start—and continue to accept applications through January. For this reason, more students take the LSAT in September (or October) than in any other month.
That said, regardless of what month you take the exam, it's far
more important to take the test when you're ready. One or two more
points on the LSAT will increase your chances of getting into a
school more than applying early. One more point, for example, can
help you bypass up to as many as 7,000 other applicants.
In other words, in an ideal world, it'd be better to take the test in June or September—at the beginning of the application process—but if you're going to do better in December or February, it's better to take the test later and do well than to take it early and do poorly.
February
Granted, many schools stop accepting applications before the results from the February LSAT are available, which means you'd have to apply for the following year. So if starting law school next fall is really important to you, waiting to take the LSAT until February might prevent you from applying to some schools.
The solution: Call the schools you're most interested in and see if they accept the February LSAT. If they do, decide whether waiting until February will help you get a higher score. If it will, take the test in the February. Otherwise, take it earlier.
2. When should I apply to law school?
Ideally, you want to apply to law school after you have your LSAT score. Because your score can account for as much as 70% of an admission committee's decision, knowing your score before you apply will help you decide which schools you can apply to and which schools aren't worth your time—either because they're too hard to get in or too easy.
If you end up taking the test in December or February, however, you might decide to apply to some schools before you have your score so that as soon as you score is available, your application at those schools will be complete.
In the end, you can apply at any time during the application
process—between September and January for most schools—but when you
actually apply should largely depend on when you get your score,
which should largely depend on when you think you'll do your best.
3. How do I apply to law school?
Although every law school is different, most schools require you to sign up for an CAS account with LSAC. This account keeps your undergraduate transcript and other key documents and then forwards them to the law schools that you apply to.
Most schools typically require you to submit the following:
- Application form
- Application fee
- Resume
- Personal statement (usually about two pages, describing something about you not otherwise discussed in your application)
- One to three letters of recommendation
- Undergraduate transcript
- LSAT score
The best way to get started is to visit the websites for the two or three law schools that most interest you. Then review their application requirements. Specifically note how many and what kinds of recommendation letters you need. For most students, recommendation letters are the hardest to control since you depend on other people to write them.
4. Which schools should I apply to?
Because your LSAT score and undergraduate GPA account for such a large part of the admissions process, those two numbers can help you predict your chances for getting accepted at most schools. To that end, LSAC has provided an LSAT-GPA calculator:
5. How can Strategy help me?
Whether you’re looking for a full-length course or private tutoring, we can help you prepare for the LSAT by teaching you the logical rules that you need to know, by giving you strategies to apply those rules quickly, and by hosting weekly practice exams so you can take many official LSATs under actual test conditions.
