The law school application process can be daunting: choosing where to apply, figuring out what to write about in your personal statement, and taking the LSAT. Where do you begin? Start by thinking of the application in two parts: the quantitative and the qualitative.

Quantitative Stats and Law School Admissions

There are two primary quantitative elements to your application: your GPA and your standardized test scores, traditionally the LSAT. But as more schools accept the GRE (and some even accept the GMAT), applicants have options and should choose the appropriate test for themselves and for the schools to which they are applying. (This is particularly helpful for applicants who must take or have taken the GRE for a master’s program or joint degree.)

The quantitative measures are concrete and statistically significant. They matter in part because law schools are under pressure to maintain or increase their median GPAs/test scores, which will help them maintain or increase their U.S. News & World Report rankings. These numbers also matter because they are seen as relevant to the applicant’s ability to succeed in law school. The GPA can be a good indicator that the student knows how to perform daily in the classroom and in an academic setting, while the LSAT has a positive correlation to success in the first year of law school. So, do what you can – within reason – to maximize your quantitative measures, as they will matter a great deal to admissions committees. 

Qualitative Criteria for Law School Acceptance

At the same time, the numbers aren’t all that matter. Admissions committees seek to enroll a community of students who will perform well, contribute to campus, and make the school proud of their career success. To do this, adcoms look beyond the numbers to the applicants’ essays, letters of recommendation, work experience, and other qualitative measures.

To take advantage of this opportunity, students should utilize all the additional components of the application – personal statement, resume, optional essays, and interview, if applicable – to make an inherently two-dimensional process as three dimensional as possible. Humanize your application by crafting a strong personal statement that shares your narrative clearly and concisely. In addition, detail your experiences and interests on your resume, including any interesting or unique hobbies such as Quidditch or calligraphy.

Here are our tips for completing the qualitative parts of a successful law school application:

• Don’t forget the three P’s of law school essay writing: proofread, proofread, proofread! By the time you submit your applications, you will have spent many hours concepting, drafting, editing, and proofreading your essays. After investing all that effort, please don’t skimp on the proofread. I know that you will be tired of your essays by that point and might want to just get them done, but resist the urge to rush at the end. It’s not a good look to have typos and other errors in your essays. Adcom readers might – and I emphasize might – forgive a single typo, but it doesn’t send a good message. Therefore, try to avoid even that one typo if at all possible!
  
  
• Remember that unless specified, your resume can exceed one page. You are not applying to business school or for a job. Law school admissions committees generally want details and generally do not require that you limit your resume to one page. Up to two pages is fine! And consider providing information such as the following: What were your responsibilities? Was the job part time, full time, paid, unpaid? Where did you volunteer, and what was your role? Are you a runner, cycler, knitter, reader?
  
  Essentially, committees are looking for you to account for your time since starting your undergraduate career – no high school stuff at all, please – and leave no gaps. If you have gaps in your resume, your application might be placed on hold until you are contacted to fill those gaps. And since timing is essential in rolling admissions, don’t leave gaps. If you must explain something – such as more than three months of unemployment while you were job hunting – draft a short addendum or add a paragraph at the end of your resume to do so.
  
  
• Approach potential recommenders early, and suss out whether they will write you a strong letter. Most schools require two or three letters of recommendation, so thoughtfully consider whom you should ask. For most applicants, I generally suggest having two academic recommenders and one professional recommender. If you have been out of school for a long time (i.e., more than five years), you can probably get away with having only professional or mentor-type letters. But anyone who is a relatively recent graduate should have one or two academic letters. (A few schools, such as Columbia, insist on two academic letters for all recent grads.)
  
  Thus, if you are still in college, great! Cultivate relationships with your professors. Go to their office hours, ask questions, and make yourself known. This will likely make for a better academic experience and help with your grades, but it will also serve you well when calling upon that professor to write a recommendation letter on your behalf.
  
  In any case, ask early, give the letter writer enough time, and ask if they can write you a “good” recommendation. If you get the sense that they are not able to write a strong letter, move along and find someone else. It does not bode well for the applicant when a recommendation begins with “I am not sure why Applicant X asked me to write this letter.”
  
  
• Answer the character and fitness questions honestly and completely. Character and fitness questions vary from school to school, so be sure to read them carefully and respond fully. But generally speaking, there are two categories of questions: did you ever get in trouble in college, and have you ever gotten in trouble with the law?
  
  Common issues under the “trouble in college” category can include things as simple as being written up for having a candle in the dorm or a beer in the common area, as well as more serious offenses like cheating and other forms of academic dishonesty. Common issues under the “trouble with the law” category include such things as speeding tickets (although many schools will give you a pass for low-level moving violations), minor in possession, and DUI. One or two minor infractions will probably not preclude you from being admitted to law school, but you must answer the character and fitness questions honestly.
  
  These questions are not standardized, and each school asks them differently. If you are unsure about a character and fitness question, call the admissions office for clarification. Your law school application will be reviewed after graduation by the state’s bar examiners, and they will not want to see a discrepancy between what you disclosed on your application and what they found in your background check. Therefore, while your answers may not preclude your admission to law school, mistakes or dishonesty might haunt you later.
  
  • Choose optional essays thoughtfully. I would err on the side of submitting some but not necessarily all of the optional essays. Reader fatigue is real, so don’t feel like you should do every possible optional essay. But generally speaking, I recommend providing optional essays when they apply to you..
    
    Like the personal statement, your optional essays should be clear and concise – and, of course, free of typos. Please take as much time and effort composing a thoughtful optional essay as you did the personal statement.
    
    
  • Carefully consider whether to write an addendum. Do you need an addendum? You might. The rule of thumb is, don’t leave the admissions committee asking “Why?” – but also, don’t overexplain. Here are several types of addenda to consider: 
    

• GPA addendum: If you have a 3.8 GPA after earning mostly A’s but an occasional B, don’t submit a GPA addendum. If you have a 3.7 GPA because you ended up with a 2.8 one semester and seven semesters of 3.9s, then do please write an addendum to explain. Did you have mono? Did a family member have a serious health crisis during finals week? Briefly explain and move on.
  
• LSAT addendum: Most people probably don’t need an LSAT addendum, but there are a few instances where it can be helpful. Did you take five LSATs and earn wildly divergent scores? Did you bomb one? Explain what you think happened – briefly. Some schools specifically ask you to explain a score variance of five points or more. I personally don’t find that useful, but if a school asks, comply.
  
• Education gap addendum: If you took any semesters off, explain why.
  
• Employment gap addendum: If, after graduating from college, you had more than a three-month gap in employment, explain why. 

Neither of these gap addenda will make or break your application, but err on the side of answering the question – briefly – so the admissions officer is not left wondering. 

• Character and fitness addendum: I covered this earlier – but essentially, if you have a character and fitness issue, write an addendum. Here, the length will depend on the severity of the offense. No need to self-flagellate for one “beer in the dorm” warning, but the more serious offenses do warrant some reflection. 

As I stated previously, the law school application is daunting. Yet, when broken into its parts – quantitative and qualitative – you can certainly manage it. Study hard for a strong GPA and test score. Answer each application question honestly and cogently. Proofread each component, and present the narrative of a strong law school applicant. If you do so, opening acceptance packets will be in your future!

Brigitte spent 15 years traversing the globe in an international human rights law career before starting a consulting business that included evaluating more than 2,500 applications to the University of Virginia School of Law. She developed a clear sense of how to create a strong application that connects the applicant to the admissions officers and that frames the applicant’s story, strengths, and weaknesses in the most authentic and constructive light. She holds a BA from an interdisciplinary honors program at UT Austin and a JD from UVA Law. Alongside her admissions work, she consults with foundations and nonprofits on human rights law–related programs and research, covering issues such as justice reform, LGBTQ advocacy, and antislavery initiatives. 

Related Resources

• Law School Selectivity Index, a free tool
• Law School Admissions Calculator, a free tool 
• What You Need to Know About Law School Application Deadlines