The Law School Application Checklist
In this post, we’ve compiled a comprehensive list of everything you’ll need in your law school application. If you’ve ever wondered “how do I apply to law school?”, all your questions will be answered within. These pieces are sorted roughly in the order in which you’ll need to start preparing them.
The LSAT:
Other than your undergraduate degree, preparing for the LSAT is going to be the toughest and most time-consuming part of applying to law school. Plan to give yourself at least 6 months for studying, taking, and (potentially) retaking. This article gives you a great place to start your planning and get a sense of what your LSAT timeline will look like.
Timeline: 5 - 12 months
When to (ideally) start: August of year before application year
Letters of Recommendation
Almost every law school requires at least 2 letters of recommendation as part of your application. Though specific expectations could vary by school, a good rule of thumb to shoot for is to submit 3 letters: 2 academic letters (from professors or other people who know you in an academic setting), and one professional letter (i.e. a former manager or employer).
Most recommenders will expect you to give them something to go off of before they write their letters - usually a letter of your own that reminds them of your accomplishments and personality. Once they have that from you, they’ll need some time to work on the letter. How long this takes depends entirely on the recommender. Some people will have a letter ready for you the next day, and some will take 4 months. The LSAC can also take up to 3 weeks to process letters once they’ve been submitted.
Because of this unpredictability, we recommend asking for letters as early as possible, just in case your recommender ends up dragging their feet. The last thing you want is your entire application hinging on someone else getting a letter in on time.
Timeline: 1 - 5 months
When to (ideally) start: February of application year
Personal Statement
The personal statement is the centerpiece of the written portion of your application.
Almost every school asks for a personal statement, so you’ll want to prepare one amazing essay that you can send to every school. You have the option of personalizing your personal statement to each school, but that’s not usually expected or required. There is no prompt - you can write about anything you want. You’re usually going for two pages, double spaced, although some schools have their own requirements.
This is the hardest piece of the application to give a timeline on - some people can crank out a personal statement in a week, while some people can take years to create theirs. It’s never too early to start brainstorming ideas. Generally, however, you’ll want to start putting pen to paper before the summer starts, at the latest.
Timeline: 1-4 months
When to (ideally) start: March of application year
The Resume
Every law school requires you to submit a resume. If you have a professional resume, you’re 80% there - you just need to edit it to optimize it for law school. This could be showcasing different experiences, or just changing the way you write about those experiences. There’s usually no page limit on the resume, but 1 page is generally preferred.
Timeline: 1-2 monthsWhen to (ideally) start: May of application year
Credential Assembly Service (CAS)
CAS is a service you purchase from the LSAC that allows you to submit applications to law schools from the centralized LSAC system.
As of March 2022, CAS costs $195, plus an additional $45 per law school application. You need to purchase CAS to apply to law school.
After the LSAT, the most important part of your application will be your “LSAC GPA”, which the Law School Admission Council (the LSAC) calculates from your undergraduate transcripts as part of CAS. This number can include your grades from institutions other than your undergraduate alma mater, including, but not limited to, study abroad programs and high school/college immersion programs. They also have their own way of weighing letter grades, including Pass/Fail grades and other alternate grading scales.
Because of these processes, your LSAC GPA could end up differing significantly from your undergraduate GPA. We recommend checking out the LSAC website for the most accurate and up-to-date information on how your LSAC GPA is calculated to make sure you’re not caught off guard.
Timeline: 1 day (you just need to purchase it online)
When to (ideally) start: Any time before you request transcripts
Transcripts
In addition to being used to calculate your LSAC GPA, your transcripts also get sent directly to law schools as part of your applications.
Once you’ve purchased CAS, you’ll have your undergraduate institution send your transcripts to the LSAC via your school’s transcript request form, which most universities offer directly to students online.
Your school will send your transcripts for every semester you’ve finished to date. If you’re applying to start law school straight out of undergrad and are on a semester system, this will usually include your grades from the beginning of freshman year through the second semester of your junior year.
The LSAC takes about 2 weeks to process your transcripts once they’re received, but keep in mind that you may find unexpected discrepancies or issues when you review your transcripts for submission. In addition, if you took college classes at a smaller or no longer operating institution, acquiring your transcripts for the LSAC can be tricky. For these reasons, you’ll want to start working on your transcript request as soon as your Spring semester grades are finalized, just in case there are delays.
Timeline: 2 months
When to (ideally) start: May of application year
Supplemental Essays
In addition to your personal statement, many schools (not all) will ask for one or more additional, school-specific essays. There are a variety of supplemental essay prompts, the most common of which is “Why do you want to go to our school?”
You may also want to add an addendum, which is a separate essay that explains a portion of your application that you feel needs more context. For example, you could write about what caused a weak GPA or a low LSAT score.
These are usually shorter than the personal statement, and can vary from half a page to two pages double-spaced in length. As a result, writing each takes less time than your personal statement, but when you have 10 or more of these to write, writing all of them can be just as time-consuming.
Timeline: 1-4 monthsWhen to (ideally) start: March of application year
Diversity Statement, if applicable
Here, the application gives you an opportunity to outline how you would contribute to the diversity of the given law school’s community. That contribution could be: cultural, racial, ethnic, sexual orientation-based, religious, ideological, economic, academic background, age-based, etc.) Basically, if there’s something unique or underrepresented about your background that you don’t mention in your personal statement, this is your chance to talk about it.
Although this prompt is open-ended, don’t force it. This essay is truly optional. It’s very easy to notice an insincere or forced essay. If you write one of these, keep it short - 500 words or less is a good rule of thumb.
Timeline: 1-2 monthsWhen to (ideally) start: March of application year
Application Questionnaire
This is the final step of submitting your applications, and consists of going through and filling out the application itself. This includes information like your contact information, demographics, character and fitness issues, family information, etc. This last step shouldn’t take more than an hour or so per application, assuming you take some time to review everything at the end.
Though the process of filling the application out isn’t too time-consuming, you’ll want to look through all the questions around the time you start your supplemental essays, since this is where you’ll find information about what kinds of supplemental essays the application asks for.
If the application isn’t available yet in March, you can find tons of information about what a certain school typically asks for with a quick Google search or on internet admissions forums.
Timeline: 1 day (or less)
When to (ideally) start: Whenever you‘re ready to submit your application (Ideally September or October)