(Above the Law) By Ann K. Levine–
Myth #1: You Should Take a Year Off Before Applying to Law School.
By the time you apply to law school, you will only have been out of college for about three months, so that’s not going to add a lot of depth – or a great letter of rec – to your admission package. The only times I advocate waiting a year in order to benefit you in the admission process are: (1) you need to show a continuing upward trend in your grades and want the law schools to consider grades from your senior year, and your final semester in particular; (2) you are getting started late in the application cycle and it’s better to wait and be an early applicant rather than submitting your application in March for entrance the following fall; (3) you need more time to focus on the LSAT and the summer after graduation is the best time for you to do so; or (4) you want to take some time to travel, volunteer, and explore whether law school is right for you.
Myth #2: It’s Perfectly OK to Apply to Law School in June.
Law schools may tell you that they are accepting applications in June, but that doesn’t mean applying that late in the cycle is in your best interest. Every year, people contact me in the months of March-June to submit applications immediately in order to start law school that fall. These are usually people who are applying to just their neighborhood law school, or people who are desperate to get into any law school that will take them. Inevitably, these are the same people who tell me they hope to transfer somewhere else the next year. If you care about getting into a reach school, or getting scholarships, then applying late is rarely going to get you the same results as applying early. Remember, all of these schools have already admitted their classes and have waiting lists for open spots, so your application needs to be stronger than all of those in order to get a seat. This means it’s a safety school for you, and should probably also be a scholarship school for you (if you apply before the “coupons” are allocated).
Myth #3: Use Your Personal Statement to Explain Your Biggest Weakness.
I’ve noticed lately that applicants are so concerned with their weaknesses that they want to acknowledge them in their personal statements (“I don’t have work experience because I am a college athlete”) and are having their recommenders address them (“Although Zoe doesn’t have work experience, she spent 20 hours a week at practice”) rather than using the athletic experiences as a plus factor. Remember that there is no perfect law school applicant: Focus on your strongest points and hit a home run with them.
Myth #4: A Waitlist Is a Soft Rejection.
Once the LSAT is over, nothing stresses out my clients as much as a waiting list. It’s an indefinite gray area, where they alternate between getting their hopes up and reading fatalistic message boards on the online forums. To me, waiting lists at your reach schools are a great outcome. Every year, I have clients admitted to their dream schools this way (for example, this year, I had one admitted to a T-14 with a 151 LSAT and another admitted to a T-10 with a 160, both after being waitlisted). Keep schools updated regarding the strength of your interest and new accomplishments. And don’t expect waiting lists to move a whole lot before mid-June. Be patient. Good things can happen. But absolutely send a deposit to another school in order to hold your place somewhere. You only risk losing your deposit if you later decide to attend another school. (Unless you applied there under a binding contract, of course).
Myth #5: Stick to a One-Page Resume.
If you need more space to show how you’ve spent your time, take it. Don’t take three pages unless you’ve had a very lengthy and accomplished career (in the military, for example, or if you have an academic CV). But only one or two law schools require a one-page resume, and one of them also gives you an opportunity to share this information in other sections of the application so you’ll have the opportunity to give them all of the information, just chopped into different pieces. If you don’t tell the law schools about your volunteer efforts or accomplishments, they won’t know. The resume is a very effective way to build your application package. Don’t sell yourself short.
Myth #6: Always Include a Diversity Statement.
More is not always better. Keep your diversity statement about your own experience, or about how your parents’ diversity impacted your worldview/experiences. Avoid writing about your best friend’s diversity.
Myth #7: Cancelling Your LSAT Score Is Bad.
I would much rather you cancel a score than have to submit an addendum about how you exercised poor judgment in taking the LSAT before you were ready, or neglected to cancel even though you got sick during the exam. TMI.
