The Law School Admission Council (LSAC) is a nonprofit corporation whose members are 200 law schools in the United States and Canada. Of these, 185 law schools are located in the United States; 15 are in Canada. Headquartered in Newtown, Pennsylvania, about 30 miles north of Philadelphia, LSAC is best known for administering the Law School Admission Test (LSAT).

Programs and Services offered by the LSAC:

The Law School Admission Test (LSAT)
The Law School Data Assembly Service (LSDAS)
Candidate Referral Service (CRS)
Law School Forums
MILE Program (Minorities Interested in Legal Education)
Publications, Software, and Videos for Legal Education Questions

LSDAS

The Law School Data Assembly Service (LSDAS) provides a means of centralizing and standardizing undergraduate academic records to simplify the law school admission process.

Almost all ABA-approved law schools and several non-ABA-approved schools require that their applicants register for the LSDAS.

The LSDAS prepares and provides a report for each law school to which you apply. The report contains information that is important in the law school admission process. Your report will include:

An undergraduate academic summary
Copies of all undergraduate, graduate, and law school transcripts
LSAT scores: Up to 12 exam scores are reported in the LSDAS report. Exam scores are averaged when more than one reportable score is on file.
Writing sample copies: If more than one LSAT has been taken, photocopies of the last three LSAT writing samples are provided in the LSDAS report.
Copies of Letters of Recommendation if processed by LSAC

Admissions Index

If desired by the law school, the objective measures of an applicant's background (LSAT and GPA) can be combined into a single number called an admission index, using a formula provided by the law school. The Admission Index is a single number obtained by applying a formula drawn from two predictors: undergraduate GPA and LSAT score. The index is produced by:

Mulitplying the LSAT score by some constant (A)
Multiplying the undergraduate GPA by some other constant (B)
Adding the sum of these two quantities to a third constant (C)

The law school determines the values of the constants A, B, and C. Please note that not all law schools use index formulas and those that do use index formulas may not use them in the same way.

Law school admission decisions are made on a rolling basis. This means that decisions are made as applications are received and reviewed. It is critical that you complete the LSDAS and submit your applications as early as possible.

Financial Aid

Money for law school is available, in the form of scholarships, grants, work-study, and loans. Law students finance most of their education through loans, either from the federal government or private sources—often both. The amount of aid you receive and the form it takes is largely determined by the law schools; therefore, the law schools to which you are applying should be your primary source of information.

A list of financial aid resources are listed on the LSAC website.

FinAid The SmartStudent Guide to Financial Aid

PLUS Loan for Graduate and Professional Students
"The graduate student PLUS loan program (Grad PLUS) allows graduate students or professional students to borrow up to the cost of education at a particular institution minus any other financial aid. The Grad PLUS loan is meant to fill the gap between your financial aid package and the cost of education - your school must determine your Federal Stafford loan eligibility before you apply for a PLUS loan for graduate students."

LSAT

The Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) is a half-day standardized exam that is designed to measure skills that are considered essential for success in law school. It is comprised of five 35-minute sections of multiple-choice questions. Four of the five sesions contributes to the test taker's score. The unscored section is used to pretest new test items and forms. The test is divided into the following sections:

1 Reading Comprehension
1 Analytical Reasoning
2 Logical Reasoning
1 Experimental section (unscored section)

In addition to the five sessions, a 30 minute writing sample is administered at the end of the test.

The score scale for the LSAT is 120-180. MIT applicant LSAT scores

Legitimate reasons for retaking the LSAT include:

Significant discrepancy between college grades and LSAT scores.
Taking the exam prematurely. (Inadequate preparation, i.e. studying)
Serious illness or dire situation that affected your ability to perform well.
Recommendation from a law school or admissions committee member that the LSAT be retaken.

It is suggested that applicants take the LSAT no later than December for admission in the following fall's entering class. Applicants are not permitted to take the LSAT more than 3 times within a two-year period.

Sample LSAT exams available on the LSAC website.

Personal Statement/Essay

School applications may request you to write on a specific topic, however many request you to "Tell us something about yourself". The length of essays may vary from school to school.

Your essay needs to be well thought out, concise, compelling, and interesting to the reader. Remember, admissions officers read hundreds of personal essays, it will be important for you to keep in mind the following suggestions:

Start your essay with something that will grab the reader's attention. Often personal anecdotes can help draw the reader into the essay and keep them reading.
Make the essay personal. Try not to simply repeat the information that can be read on your application. Provide the reader with an inside view on your thoughts, interests, or motivation to get a Juris Doctor, J.D.
Make your motivation and drive clear to the reader. The admissions officer wants to get a sense from the essay that you are extremely interested in the legal profession and motivated to enter law school.
Create a well-written document. Your essay is a sample of your writing abilities. It is important that you convey your thoughts clearly, grammatically correct, and effectively in your essay.
Have your essay critiqued by a member of the Preprofessional Advising staff and by a prelaw advisor.

Resources for writing a personal statement/essay:

Essay Writing for Law School Applications Workshop

http://writing.englishclub.com/ee/lo_law.html

Reapplication to Law School

It is not uncommon for individuals to reapply to law school. A couple of reasons why an individual might decide to reapply can be due to the timing of their application or their academic credentials weren't as strong as they could have been.

The admissions process to law school is extremely competitive. In order to be successful in reapplying to law school, your application needs to have changed in some significant manner. You will need to demonstrate effort to improve your application by taking classes, retaking the LSAT, or gaining more experience. Applications that are resubmitted without any significant change do not fare well in the application process the second time around. It is highly recommended that reapplicants consider taking more than a year in between application processes. This amount of time will allow for the application to grow in its strength and provide the applicant with a better chance at being accepted to law school.

Dean's Letter/Certification

A Dean's letter or certificate provides information on whether there have been any academic or disciplinary action taken against the applicant during their undergraduate career. This document also confirms an applicant's GPA and/or class rank.

To obtain a letter from the Dean of Undergraduate Education at MIT, please review the Dean's Certification Process, complete the Dean's Certification Request form, and visit the Registrar's Academic Records office located in room 5-119.

Recommendation Letters

Applicants need at least two letters of recommendation in total from people familiar with your academic work. It is preferrable to have two academic letters, however some schools will accept one letter to be a non-academic letter of recommendation.

As a courtesy, it is recommended that you give each recommender at least a month to write your letter of recommendation. The Preprofessional Advising staff recommends that you ask people to write you a letter of recommendation early in the Fall of the application year.

The best recommendation letters will come from an individual who knows you best, keep this in mind when selecting individuals to write your letters. Be sure you have spent enough time with each recommender so that they fully understand your interest in going to law school. You are also advised to write out a brief synopsis of any other activities, research experience, community efforts, or volunteer work you have done. It is very helpful to recommenders to have as much detail in writing for them to review when writing their letter. Providing your recommenders detailed information will also ensure you that your letters will have accurate information regarding your activities, such as dates and places you worked. Finally, the more information people have about you, the more comprehensive their letters can be. If you take responsibility in giving your recommenders solid information in writing, you help yourself in getting solid, informative letters of reference.

On the Letter of Recommendation Form, provided through the LSDAS, candidates have the choice to waiver their rights to see their letter of recommendation. The assumption is that a waived letter of recommendation is bound to be more candid. However, please note that law schools do not hold it against candidates if they choose to retain their rights to the letters.

Last updated on Thursday, December 07, 06 at 02:49:00 PM EST.