By Tyson Bareis

Having just finished the process of applying to law school, I can understand very well the frustration associated with attempting to make yourself an attractive law school applicant. It is ironic that, with all the information available about law school and the application process, clear and succinct statements concerning what makes an applicant attractive are almost non-existent. This is due in great part to the fact that there is no formula to generate the perfect application. Even so, there are a few things that anyone seeking to enter law school can do to make the process easier and more effective.

• Decide early. It pays to be decisive. As opposed to simply considering law school as an option after you graduate, think about it seriously now. Decide if it is what you really want and if you are willing to make the sacrifices it requires. The more time you allow yourself, the more you will be able to actively craft your experiences in a way which will be attractive to law schools. If you are in college or entering college, knowing that you will be applying to law school in four years is excellent motivation to keep your grades high in freshman and sophomore years when students’ grades tend to be lowest. Additionally, knowing your plans early will allow you the most time selecting a major, internships, extracurricular activities, and other experiences which will stand out on an application.
  
  
• Set your priorities. If you want to go to a top-twenty law school know that from the beginning. Getting into a great law program takes a lot of sacrifices far in advance; thus it is beneficial to know how much you are willing to forgo to help your chances of getting into a good school. If you decide you want to get into an Ivy League school, knowing in advance will give you a goal and make rationalizing the sacrifices you make easier. At the same time, if you decide that you are more interested in getting a J.D. than the name of the school it comes from, deciding that early will help you attain your goals without succumbing to the apprehension and perfectionism common among aspiring law students.
  
  
• Know what’s important. Its sad but true, getting into law school is not like getting into most other grad schools. Your GPA and LSAT score will make or break your application. All the other wonderful stuff you did in college will not help you if those two numbers are not up to par. Knowing this early is beneficial in that it stresses the importance of grades and provides motivation stay in on Thursday nights and study. At the same time, knowing this can also prevent prospective law school students from going overboard and joining every club on campus just to get it on their resume.
  

• Get involved. While the two numbers mentioned above will be what gets you in the door, once you’re there you need to compete against people with the same GPAs and LSAT scores. This is why it pays to get involved in some extra curricular activities, get internships, and do volunteer work. It’s all about making yourself stand out from the crowd.

• Make yourself unique. In separating yourself from the crowd, don’t just do things that will make you appear more intelligent or more talented; do things that are unique. If you’re studying abroad, don’t go to England; go to South Africa. If you’re getting an internship, don’t work at a Fortune 500 company; work at a non-profit or an NGO. Give your life a spin that no one else will have.

• Create a story. One of the best pieces of advice I got in my application process was to make my life into a story: know what you want to focus on in law school and make all of your internships, jobs, and everything else in your life appear to be leading to that goal. It is greatly beneficial to be able to present your life as a logical series of experiences all pointing to what you want to study in law school and your goals afterwards.

• Play to your strengths. Do what you’re interested in, not what “everyone else” does. Sure 50% of law school students are poli-sci majors, but if you don’t like political science that wont do you any good. Law schools look more for success in what you have chosen to do than for any particular major or extracurricular activities.

• Talk to people who have done it. Reading my nine suggestions isn’t a substitute for this. Everyone who has gone through the application process has a different opinion of it and can share different hints and advice. Talk to as many people as possible and learn from their successes and failures.

• Don’t be afraid to put law school off. Many of the country’s top law schools are now favoring people who have been out of college for a few years and have some real-world experience. If you have doubts about going straight into law school, don’t do it. Hold off for a few years, it may help you greatly.

Getting into law school is all about work. The harder you work, the better you will do. However, it is also important that your work has a direction and is presented in a way that will impress law school selection committees. The best advice that I can give is to decide what you want and then work your butt off to get it. Make it clear to the admission committee that you are serious about your future career and have plenty of examples demonstrating your commitment to whatever goal law school will help you reach.

>>View our Services

>>View our College Guide

>>Back To Articles about College Experiences