A Year-By-Year Guide for College Students Applying to Law School

Although most law school applicants choose to work for a few years after graduating college before they apply to law school, many applicants are eager to begin prepping for law school admissions during their college years. For those who are currently in college, here’s a battle plan for preparing to submit a successful law school application.

Freshman Year

The transition from high school to college can be tough. Most applicants tend to perform their worst during the first year in college and improve later as they find their groove both in the classroom and in extracurricular activities. Because of this trend, law schools are lenient when it comes to freshman year grades. Your goal should be to set yourself up for success by exploring different majors and taking a variety of classes. Figure out your academic strengths and find activities that will allow you to round out your resume without overloading your schedule.

Sophomore Year

Things start to get real in sophomore year. Get involved! Find an internship, job, or a way to participate in your community. This is also the year when law schools start scrutinizing your transcripts for both your grades and choices of classes. Did your classes develop crucial skills, like reasoning and writing, that will be essential to your journey through law school? Did you challenge yourself with increasingly rigorous material?

[Next Read: Which Classes Should I Take in College to Prepare for Law School?]

Junior Year

Junior year is a good time to start thinking about tests … and building relationships. If you’re intent on applying to law school right out of college, you might want to start looking at the LSAT during your junior year. Most students take the LSAT at least twice, so you’ll likely want to give yourself breathing room for the test-taking. I recommend taking at least five months to study for the LSAT. Even if you don’t need all that time, it will be important to have a long runway. 

Your junior year is also when you’re expected to be cementing your relationships with your professors and the figures around you who will be writing your letters of recommendation. You can do this by taking upper-division classes, completing signature work like a thesis, or by working as a research assistant to a professor.

Some law schools like Harvard and Columbia also have deferred admission programs for junior-year applicants who have postgraduate career plans, like the Peace Corps, Teach for America, military service, or jobs in consulting or finance.

Senior Year

By the time you reach your senior year, it’s time to buckle down and apply! If you didn’t take the LSAT over the spring or summer, schedule it promptly. Since law school admissions is a rolling process and schools will not review your application if you have an LSAT pending, you want to have a score you are happy with by the time you apply in the fall.

Before professors get busy with fall classes, request recommendation letters. Ideally, you should request letters three or more weeks ahead. A letter hastily dashed off under time pressure is unlikely to reveal your full potential.

Before you get busy with midterms, set aside time to work on your personal statement, resume, and other materials. Create a target school list balanced between reaches and safeties and review school applications to familiarize yourself with questions asked.

Unflinchingly examine potential shortcomings in your candidacy. Review your resume, grades, test scores, extracurricular activities, recommendation letters. Try to understand the strengths you can still build and the weaknesses you can work to address. Look for opportunities to burnish your profile by taking on extra responsibilities, leadership roles, research and writing, and volunteer roles. Most importantly, keep your grades high!

Be Confident in Your Decision to Apply

Finally, be sure you feel ready for law school. It’s a major life commitment that will shape your social, professional, and financial life for years to come. Going to law school for the right reasons, rather than because you are afraid to think about alternatives, is crucial. If you feel unsure, consider taking a gap year. A job, internship, or even informational interviews can give you firsthand insight into the legal field.

From the perspective of your future self, putting off law school an extra year or two won’t matter in the scheme of things. It’s most important to apply to law school when you are fully committed to your legal career dreams and able to invest the time and money into making them happen.

[Next Read: Everything Law Applicants Need to Know About Transcripts and Grades]