Categories: Advice, Application Timeline, Law School Admission Deadlines, LSAT, LSAT; Rolling Admissions
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It’s September. What on earth should you be doing? Obviously, if you aren’t taking the LSAT in the future and you are keeping a past score, now is the time to get your Letters of Rec, personal statement, resume, addenda, applications, optional essays underway. If you haven’t started, what are you waiting for?
If you are taking the October LSAT,the next four weeks are all about that – put everything else to the side except perhaps requesting transcripts and letters of rec. Also, read this post about my top 3 LSAT tips to know if you’re going to be ready to take the test and this Countdown to the October LSAT post. If you’re not happy with your LSAT practice performance, read this post about Not Hitting Your Goal LSAT score.
If you are heading to a LSAC Forum or recruiting event at a law school, here’s a post with tips about what to ask the law school representatives when you see them. The most important thing is to keep their contact info so you haven’t someone to follow up with throughout the application cycle.
If you’re considering taking the December LSAT, that’s perfectly ok. Just read this post first so you undertand admission cycle timing. Just start working on your application materials now so you can really concentrate on the LSAT for most of October and November.
I hope everyone has a great Labor Day Weekend!
Categories: Advice, Application Timeline, Hiring a Law School Admission Consultant, Law School Admission Deadlines
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Law school applications will be released on September 1st. That date should motivate you to create a timeline to follow throughout the application cycle. Some key points:
1. You don’t have to apply the minute applications are available. That’s not what it means to take advantage of rolling admissions. Law school admission officers spend most of September traveling to recruiting events, they aren’t moving through applications quite yet.
2. I consider anything submitted before Thanksgiving to be taking advantage of rolling admissions.
3. Early Decision and Early Notification Deadlines are usually around 11/1 and 11/15, so that goes to show you that law schools consider applications submitted in October to be early in the profess.
4. If you are sticking with an LSAT score you already have, aim to apply to law school by early to mid-October. That gives you 6-7 weeks to really concentrate on your application materials and make sure they are the best they can be.
5. If you are taking the October LSAT, aim to submit applications in the first two weeks of November. Work on things a bit now, but give the LSAT priority until October 1. Then spend October solidifying your materials. Just make sure your transcripts and LORs are underway in September in case any hiccups arise.
6. If you cancel the October LSAT or don’t feel ready for it, December is a perfectly fine option. I repeat, the December LSAT is NOT the end of the world. Just spend time now getting your application materials together so that you can submit applications in early January. (No one is reviewing them over winter break, so no reason to rush to submit them by the end of the year).
7. When to hire a law school admission consultant? If you already have your LSAT score, now is the time to look for the right law school admission coach for you. If you know you are applying to law school for Fall 2012 no matter what your upcoming LSAT score is, then start comparing consultants now and make your decision since the best admission consultants can only take on so many clients per cycle. If you are not sure you will be applying because you’re waiting to see your LSAT score, then it’s fine to wait until then to hire a consultant but just be ready to really get a lot of work done in month after getting your LSAT score. Read this for more about hiring a law school admission consultant and what a law school admission consultant can (and can’t) do.
8. Check out the great price for unlimited consulting on my website – available only until September 15th!
Categories: Application Timeline, LSAT, LSAT Prep, LSAT; Rolling Admissions
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There have been a number of postings this week about when to take the LSAT. We talk about this at length in The Law School Admission Game: Play Like an Expert.
The last day to change your test date for the June 2011 LSAT is May 13th. If you’re not close to where you need to be by this date, then put the test off into October. October is not too late – even for schools where you might apply Early Decision or under Early Notification programs. You will have your October LSAT scores by October 26th, which is plenty of time to fire off applications with early deadlines of November 1 and November 15th.
Here are some posts about application timelines:
Which LSAT to take?
http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/which-lsat-should-i-take/
Application process per Power Score
http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/how-does-the-law-school-admissions-process-work/
Lawschoolexpert timeline:
http://www.lawschoolexpert.com/blog/application-timeline/get-your-act-together/
http://www.lawschoolexpert.com/blog/application-timeline/5-things-fall-2009-applicants-can-do-right-now/
Podcasts:
http://www.insidersecrets.com/getting-into-law-school/
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ann-levine/2010/06/17/the-law-school-application-timeline-getting-started
Categories: Advice, Application Timeline, LSAT, LSAT Prep
7 Comments »
Wow. It’s December 1st. How did that happen already?
Those of you taking the December LSAT a week from Saturday are probably in freak-out mode. With ten days to go, you either know your stuff or you don’t, so now is the time to focus on staying healthy, keeping up your skills, and controlling your nerves. Here’s a great post by my friends at Manhattan LSAT about what to do in the Home Stretch before the December LSAT.
This week my clients who took the June or October exam got into some great schools (UVA, Minnesota, Alabama) but this kind of information tends to make December test takers pretty paranoid. Let me assure you, it’s not too late for you to get into a reach law school. The key is to use your time wisely in the three weeks when you’re waiting for your score. Starting December 12th, make sure LORs and transcripts are in at LSAC. Write and polish your personal statement and resume and any optional essays or addenda you anticipate needing. Be ready to submit all applications in the week or ten days after receiving your LSAT score. If you can do that, you will be ok. Don’t waste time worrying about things that are out of your control (like whether December is too late). You are a December LSAT taker, that’s just how things shook out. Don’t let it freak you out. Just move ahead and do your best. Make it worthwhile that you waited to take the LSAT by squeezing out every last point you can.
Here is my post from last year setting out an application timeline for December LSAT takers and here is the 15-minute Free Podcast/Blog Talk Radio Show where I outline directions for your timeline as a December test taker.
Good luck on the LSAT, and let me know if you have any questions.
And Happy Hannukah to those of you who celebrate!
Categories: Advice, Application Timeline, Law Careers, Law School Admission Deadlines, Law School Admission Trends, Law School Location; Law School Rankings, Law School Rankings, Law School Resume Tips, Low LSAT, LSAT Prep, Uncategorized, Wait lists, waitlist
Tags: applying to law school, insider secrets getting into law school, law school podcast, LSAT Preparation
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I recently did a podcast interview for Insider Secrets : ”Getting Into Law School” - you can listen to it or read the transcript. In it, I discuss how to choose an LSAT prep program, choosing a law school, taking on debt, putting together your applications, resumes, wait lists, low LSAT scores, and about a thousand different things related to law school admission. I’m happy to take questions here and/or entertain your comments and thoughts.
Categories: Application Timeline
Tags: Blog Talk Radio, law school application
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This Thursday, I’ll be hosting a Blog Talk Radio Show about setting up your timeline for the application process. I will help you plan your life for the next 4-5 months. Control the process – don’t let it control you! I’ll tell you how on Thursday at 3 p.m. EST/ Noon PST. (It’ll be a 30 minute program).
Whether you’re a June or October LSAT taker (or re-taker), I will help you schedule your time to attack your resume, addenda, personal statement, optional essays, transcript sending, letters of rec coordinating, etc., in an organized fashion so you can submit applications early enough to take advantage of rolling admissions and/or apply before Early Decision/Early Notification deadlines.
I will have no guests – it’ll just be me this time. So listen live to ask questions! Or, ask them in the comments section here and I’ll include them in the show.
Categories: Application Timeline, LSAT, LSAT; Rolling Admissions
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Way back when, I took the June LSAT.
If LSAT prep courses and law school admission consultants (or, of course, the Internet) had existed back in 1995, I hope someone would’ve told me a few things. Among them:
1. Since I’d only studied for one month, on my own, and was not a naturally brilliant standardized test taker, I should’ve waited until the October test administration. Especially since I’m also a morning person. I should have learned more about the option of canceling my LSAT score. If this is you, and you are taking the LSAT with the advantage of all of the resources I lacked, then consider canceling your LSAT and registering (today!) for the October test. If any of these terrible things happened to you and you did not see my blog post on Friday in time to decide not to take the test, please cancel your June LSAT score. Click here for other reasons to cancel your LSAT score.
2. If you are keeping your LSAT score, use this time wisely. LSAT scores are usually released by email on the third Friday after the test, so perhaps on June 25th. During the next 3 weeks you can be very productive. Here are some of my suggestions:
TODAY: Do nothing. Eat chocolate. See a guilty pleasure movie. Go out with friends. Do all of the things I told you on Friday NOT to do this weekend. Do them tonight. So what if it’s Monday? Go OUT. Stay away from discussion boards. Please. I beg you. It does you no good to know how total strangers would’ve dissected the dinosaur game. Seriously. Trust me on this. I know you won’t listen to me on this, but I promise you’ll regret trolling the forums today.
In the next three weeks, you can spend time on your resume, start putting together ideas for a personal statement, and ask people for letters of rec. You can register for LSDAS if you haven’t already and start getting your transcripts sent there by EVERY college you’ve attended. This would be extremely productive, and you’d be ten steps ahead of everybody else if you followed through with this plan.
3. In Law School Expert blatant self promotion, here are two other tools that you may find helpful during this time:
The Law School Admission Game: Play Like An Expert - My bestselling law school guide is available on Amazon.com and on my website.
Law School Bootcamp – a series of 10 webinars with me on topics including: setting up an application timeline, crafting a fantastic law school resume, brainstorming and drafting your personal statement, Letters of Recommendation, Tips and Tricks on Applications, and so much more. I’ve already done three webinars (and if you sign up for the series you can watch the recorded webinars) but I’m actually going to REPEAT the first three again due to the demand for them. You can sign up for one or all ten, or any combination that works for you – it’s made to work for your needs. The dates are set (but subject to change) and you can see the calendar here. If you can’t make a particular webinar, you can always watch it anytime after it’s given. If you can watch it live, you get to ask me questions throughout the webinar related to that day’s topic. All you need is a computer and a phone (or headset) to listen in. Please feel free to leave any questions in the comment section of this blog post. You can sign up here, and spaces will fill up because I’m limiting enrollment to 25 for each webinar.
Never Miss a Law School Expert Update or Tip! Subscribe to the blog by filling in your email address on the right side of the page, and join/follow/like these pages on Facebook:
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I also tweet @annlevine
Hope everyone is feeling great about today’s test, but I know most of you are feeling exhausted, upset, anxious, and nervous. These feelings are all completely normal. Just remember you don’t have to decide today whether to cancel your LSAT score. Sleep on it and hang in there!
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Ann K. Levine, Esq., former director of law school admissions for two ABA approved law schools, is a law school admission consultant and owner of Law School Expert,
