Many students say they are interested in going to law school because they like to argue or because their parents want them to go. While these are good reasons to start investigating law school, students need fully understand the costs of law school, both in terms of time, as well as financial and emotional costs. Law school is extremely challenging. As a pre-law student, it is important for you to learn about the skills that law school requires and what it takes to be a successful lawyer. You also need to think hard about whether you will enjoy the practice of law. Practicing law is very different from what you see on TV.  You should apply to law school only if you are confident that it is the right path for you. If you have any doubts, it would be wise to explore alternative career paths. 

The practice of law looks very different depending on the field you choose, but most lawyers read, write, and conduct legal research every day of their careers. There are many different law practices, so it is important to learn about the different fields to figure out which is the best fit for you. Before applying to law school, you should have an idea of the type of law you want to pursue.

Regardless of the type of law you choose to pursue, the following skills, values, knowledge, and experience are essential to succeed in law school and the practice of law, as identified by the American Bar Association:

• Problem Solving
• Critical Reading
• Writing and Editing
• Oral Communication and Listening
• Research
• Organization and Management
• Public Service and Promotion of Justice
• Relationship-Building and Collaboration
• Background Knowledge
• Exposure to the Law

The first-year of law school is a stimulating, stressful, and competitive experience that students often find unnerving until they adjust. There are no lectures, rather students are expected to come to class having completed the assigned readings and cases. Class time is used as an interactive forum where students must answer questions that are designed to explore the facts of the case, determine legal principles, and analyze the reasoning used. Professors will also use hypothetical scenarios to test a student’s understanding of the materials. Unlike college where students can get away with being passive observers in lectures, law students must be active participants in class discussions and be ready to defend their opinions and answers.

Another aspect of law school that first-year students find challenging is that professors typically do not provide feedback until the end of the course, and grades are determined solely by a final exam. This can make it difficult for students to gauge how well they are mastering the material as they assimilate to law school. In the second and third years of law school, students have opportunities to participate in specialized programs, judicial clerkships, legal externships, clinical programs and moot court, and more. Law school can be an intense, competitive environment, but the rewards are considerable.

Law school is an expensive, so it is important to consider the cost of attendance and how you will finance your education before making the decision to attend law school. Always check the financial aid page of a law school’s website to learn if there are any additional scholarship or grant opportunities available through a separate application procedure. Many of these scholarships are merit-based, so it is critical to achieve a high GPA and LSAT score. If, after subtracting grants and scholarships from the cost of attendance, you still need financial assistance, you can take out loans through the federal government. However, it is critical to calculate your projected debt and create a plan for repayment, then research employment outcomes and expected salaries for your legal specialties of interest to determine if law school is worth the projected debt.

This four-year plan will guide you through important activities and deadlines you should prepare for in the process of applying to law school, starting from your first year at Rutgers through your senior year.

• Be serious about your studies. Take courses that will enhance your writing, reading comprehension, and analytical skills. Your grades are a very important part of your law school application, so it is important to focus on academics and do well.
• Expand your knowledge. Develop your logical reasoning ability and increase your awareness of human institutions, social values, and the world at large. You should also develop a realistic view of legal careers. Look for opportunities to obtain law-related experience. Talk to lawyers about their work.
• Pursue your interests in the classroom and beyond. Find the right balance between academic coursework and extracurricular activities. Choose a major that represents your own academic interests, and pursue your interests outside of class—but not at the expense of your grades.
• Create an LSAC account. LSAC provides a wealth of resources for learning about law school, how to prepare for the LSAT, and the admissions process. They also offer free workshops that will help you at various stages of the process.
• Create a plan. Learn more about the law school application process and attend LSAC Forums. Begin to consider how you will finance a legal education.

• Make this your best year academically. Your acceptance to law school will depend greatly on your academic record. If you hope to go on immediately to law school after graduation, your junior year and first-semester senior year grades will be what schools look at most closely.
• Start studying for the LSAT. Students normally take the LSAT at the beginning of the summer between their junior and senior years. This means you should start preparing for the LSAT ideally in the fall of your junior year and no later than January, especially if you plan to take classes and or work during the spring semester. 
• Continue to explore and learn about the legal profession. Learn as much as you can about the legal profession and the specific area of law you wish to pursue. Read articles, pamphlets, and books. Talk with and observe lawyers. Take part in law-related activities on campus.
• Start investigating law schools. Think about where you want to spend three intensive years of study. There are a number of variables to consider: location, size, prestige, cost, special programs, student body, chances of admission, etc. Visit prospective law schools during your travels, and remember that reading and talking to others can help. You can also take advantage of pre-law programs and the pre-law society. Do not write to law schools for catalogs and application forms until you return to school in August. Their printing deadlines for current-year materials are late summer.
• Give some thought to letters of recommendation. Most law schools require two faculty letters, and the most persuasive ones are often written by faculty who know you well and for whom you have done your best work. Consider taking another course from such professors, and get to know faculty.

• Take the LSAT. Plan to take your LSAT in June or October so that you will get your scores back in time to select an appropriate range of law schools to apply to. If you think you might want to take the LSAT more than once, register for your first LSAT in June so you have time to try to study before taking another test.
• Develop a list of schools to apply to. Read the Official Guide to U.S. Law Schools, if you have not already. Begin to develop a list of 8 to 15 law schools you are interested in applying to. This list will need to be refined once you receive your LSAT score because you should be choosing schools which, given your GPA and LSAT scores, offer a reasonable chance of your gaining admission. A few schools on the list should be “reaches,” but most should be in the “more likely” range. It is also a good idea to have one or two “safe” schools. Most applicants wind up sending applications to 6 to 10 schools.
• Keep track of all application details. Develop a system to effectively keep track of all registration and application materials and details. Create duplicate copies of all forms, applications, and correspondence for your own records.
• Develop a draft of your personal statement or essay.

• Meet with an advisor. Make an appointment with a pre-law advisor to discuss the application process and review your personal essay.
• Begin to upload your application materials into CAS. Most law schools require a CAS (Credential Assembly Service) Report from applicants. 
• Apply for financial aid. Obtain financial aid applications from the financial aid office if you intend to apply for aid. Investigate other financial aid possibilities.
• Submit your applications. Finalize and send your applications and CAS reports to law schools before Thanksgiving, if possible.
• Follow up. Double-check everything. By mid-January, make sure the law schools received your applications, your CAS reports, and all letters of recommendation.
• Secure your spot. Once admitted, send a deposit to reserve your space in the entering class. Arrange with the registrar for a final copy of your transcript to be sent to the law school you will attend.
• Let us know your decision. After hearing from all law schools, but before graduation, let us know your results and decision, and let your recommenders know of your application results.

The following are helpful general tips about law school applications:

• Law school admission is on a rolling basis. Applying early may increase your chances of being admitted. Nonetheless, do NOT apply early if it results in your taking the LSAT’s before you are as prepared for them as you can be. Any marginal advantage of an earlier application will be more than offset by not obtaining the highest score that you are able to achieve.
• Your application should be typed and error-free. Remember to proofread carefully.
• Follow the specific instructions for each law school application, making sure to adhere closely to guidelines.
• Respond to each question completely, clearly and concisely.
• Make sure you have signed the application in all the appropriate places.
• Pay careful attention to all deadlines. You are responsible for ensuring that all your law school application materials are sent on time. Do not assume that you will be contacted if an item in your law school application is missing.
• If you want to have proof of mailing, you may consider sending important mail (such as the application and seat deposit after acceptance) by certified mail return receipt requested.

The sections below provide a general overview of what is needed to apply to law schools. Students are advised to also make an appointment with a pre-law advisor to review each step of the application procedure in greater detail.

The LSAT is a crucial part of a candidate’s application materials. The Law School Admission Council (LSAC) maintains that its purpose “is to test the skills necessary for success in the first year of law school,” and most certainly the LSAT score is a major variable in the admission decision. It tests skills in reading comprehension, reasoning, and writing. Exams are administered at a testing center or online with a remote proctor.

Starting in August 2024, the LSAT will transition to two Logical Reasoning (LR) sections and one Reading Comprehension (RC) section, plus one unscored section of either LR or RC that enables LSAC to test questions for future tests. 

A second part of the LSAT is a machine-proctored written essay. This exam can be taken as early as eight days before the multiple-choice section.

LSAT Prep Resources

In order to prepare for the test, students ought to study sample LSAT’s and then take a preparatory course. The Law School Admission Council offers a free LSAT prep course through the Khan Academy, which also includes a diagnostic test and lessons based on the sections of the LSAT exam. In addition, there are many private prep courses offered by for-profit companies. A non-exhaustive list of these include:

• 7Sage
• Princeton Review
• Test Masters
• PowerScore
• Kaplan

Credential Assembly Service (CAS)

The Credential Assembly Service (CAS) of the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) prepares and provides a report to each law school to which you apply. The CAS is an organizational tool intended to streamline the law school application process for both applicants and law schools.

After creating an online account, you can upload necessary application documents to your CAS file, such as transcripts, a writing sample, and letters of recommendations. CAS compiles these documents, along with an undergraduate academic summary and your LSAT score, which is automatically added to your file after you take the test.

After the CAS report has been completed, it will be sent directly to the law schools to which you are applying. You can set up your CAS file by registering through the LSAC website.

You will need to send official transcripts directly from every undergraduate, graduate, and professional school you have attended to your Credential Assembly Service (CAS) file with the Law School Admission Council (LSAC). Note that transcripts issued to you or sent by you will not be processed.

Transcripts should include those from the following:

• Community colleges
• Undergraduate and graduate institutions
• Law, medical, or professional institutions
• Institutions attended for summer or evening courses
• Institutions attended even though a degree was never received
• Institutions from which you took college-level courses while in high school even though they were for high school credit
• Institutions that clearly sponsored your overseas study
• International transcripts, if applicable

Learn more about which transcripts you will need to include in your CAS file.

Most schools will ask for at least two letters of recommendation. The best letters of recommendation come from those who know you well personally and who have had ample opportunity to assess your work (and, ideally, an instructor of a class in which you excelled).

When selecting a recommender, don’t pick someone based simply on their fame or rank. Law schools will be more interested in a letter of recommendation from someone who knows you well and who can speak concretely about your academic performance and intellectual qualifications, rather than from someone famous who doesn’t know you at all.

You may consider an instructor from a small seminar course in your major department, or a professor of a class in which you participated actively, or someone with whom you conducted an independent study or research project with.

The personal statement is your opportunity to tell the admissions committee about who you are as an individual and what makes you unique. Given all the information already included in your application packet (i.e., test scores, transcripts, etc.), the personal statement is your chance to tell the committee something about yourself that they would not otherwise know unless you tell them.

The narrative that you present in the personal statement is what will help set you apart from other applicants. You may consider telling a story or finding a theme for your personal statement. Focus on a significant experience or choose a few key themes and demonstrate how these relate to your preparation for law school. Be sure to make the personal statement interesting.

Reviewers will look to glean from your personal statement things such as evidence of maturity, the motivation for pursuing a legal education, interesting personal attributes, independent thinking, ability to thrive in a rigorous academic environment, and whether you would be a good fit for the school.

The personal statement is also a sample of your ability to write, so be concise, write in a clear and direct style, and avoid jargon or pretentious language. Remember to proofread the statement carefully to avoid any grammatical or spelling errors. You may consider asking friends, family, professors, and advisors to review your personal statement and to give you feedback.

Also, be sure to adhere to each school’s instructions and follow the required page limit (usually no more than two pages).

Prepare a well-written, persuasive, succinct resume that highlights your educational achievements, awards or honors, work experience, community or volunteer service, skills, and extracurricular activities that make you stand out as a strong candidate. Focus on achievements and experiences after high school, since one of the things reviewers will be looking for in your application is evidence of maturity. Use reverse chronological order in all the subsections of the resume by listing the most current or recent events first.

For the “Education” section, list each school attended, the city and state in which the school is located, the actual or expected date of graduation, your major areas of study, and GPA (rounded to the hundredths). Don’t list your LSAT score.

Your “Honors and Activities” can be listed under the respective schools at which you received them. Be sure to list any nationally recognized honors or prestigious scholarships/fellowships you have received, and any honors that indicate high academic achievement. If you have held positions of leadership in university or community organizations, or have been involved significantly in extracurricular activities, list these as well.

In the “Experience” section, list the name and location of your employers, followed by positions held, dates employed, and a brief job description, beginning with your most current or recent position first. If your employment history is not particularly lengthy, you may consider including significant internships and volunteer experience. Use action words when describing your duties and accomplishments, and quantify successes. Avoid leaving large employment gaps in your resume.

In the “Skills” section, you may include foreign language proficiencies, computer skills, artistic or musical talents, athletic pursuits, etc.

Select a professional-looking font that is at least 10-pt or 11-pt. Check to make sure that the formatting is consistent throughout the resume. Use a 0.5 inch margin and have some white space on your resume to make it readable. Limit your resume to one page.

Finally, remember to proofread carefully, since typos and grammatical errors can hurt your chances at getting an interview.