Preparing for Law School
A common concern of prospective law students is what they should do to prepare for law school. Usually, this involves the development of a strategy to maximize one's chances of acceptance at one of the top law schools. Unlike medicine there is no one recommended course of study. Law schools are receptive to all majors. The five criteria admissions committees base their acceptance decisions upon are: Grade Point Average (adjusted by the Law School Data Assembly), Law School Admission Test scores, Letters of Recommendation, Personal Statement, and Activities. Of these, GPA and LSAT performance are by far the most important.
Choosing A Major
Before discussing these five areas it is appropriate to consider the implications of choosing a major. Many people will point to the large numbers of History and Political Science majors accepted by law schools as indicative of the existence of a bias in favor of these types of majors. The proliferation of History and Political Science majors in law school has more to do with the fact that so many of these majors apply to law school. This has led some students to make a mistake in choosing a major; trying to improve their chances with admission officials they major in Political Science or History even though they may not enjoy the subject matter at all. Unless they are truly exceptional students this attitude inevitably leads to mediocre grades. One consideration in choosing a major is to maximize your chances of attaining the highest GPA of which you are capable. It is much better to choose a major that you find stimulating and interesting. The resulting grades should then most accurately reflect your abilities as a student.
On the other hand, majoring in Political Science could be a good choice. First, the requirements for the major are sufficiently flexible to allow for broad exposure to other subject areas. The exposure acquired here may lead to an interest that will ultimately guide your choice of a law specialization or indeed persuade you that personal happiness lies outside the world of law. Second, many of the courses offered by the Political Science Department expose the student to the type of issues lawyers work with daily. These courses consist of Political Science 166, Judicial Politics and Policy-Making; Political Science 167, Constitutional Law: Fundamental Freedoms; Political Science 168, Constitutional Law: Criminal Justice; Political Science 196A1B, Moot Court: Legal Research, Writing, and Advocacy. You should be aware that other departments offer a number of courses that are relevant to the study of law. These include Philosophy 7, Critical Thinking; Philosophy 183, Philosophy of Law; Anthropology 127, Political Anthropology; Economics 119, Law and Economics; Sociology 159, Sociology of Law; History 153, History of the Common Law.
Grade Point Average
The fact that the GP A appears first in this discussion of admission criteria is not accidental. Attaining a high GP A should be among your highest priorities in preparing for law school. The difference between an A- (3.7) average and a B+ (3.3) is immense in terms of acceptance rates at the top schools.
Law School Admission Test
Your LSAT scores along with your GPA comprise the primary means of determining your eligibility at a law school. While there are many methods used by different schools to reach an admission decision many use the LSAT scores and GPA to accumulate a pool of students from which the successful applicants are chosen.
The Law School Admission Test (LSAT) is a half-day standardized test. It consists of five 35-minute sections of multiple-choice questions and one 3D-minute writing sample. All Law School Admission Council-member law schools require the LSAT, and more than 240 law schools in the United States and Canada use the results as part of their application procedures.
The multiple-choice questions that make up most of the LSAT reflect a broad variety of academic fields of study.
Four of the five 35-minute sections contribute to the test taker's score. These sections include one Reading Comprehension section, one Analytical Reasoning section, and two Logical Reasoning sections. The fifth 35- minute section (the variable section) contains additional questions that do not contribute to your score.
The 30-minute writing sample is not scored by Law School Admission Services, but a copy is sent to each law school to which the LSAT is reported. Each law school determines how it will use the writing sample.
Since the LSAT doesn't test specific knowledge many people mistakenly think that they can't prepare for the test. The Learning and Study Skills Center offers periodic opportunities to take a mock test under simulated conditions. You should consider taking this test sometime during the Junior year. The results can help you determine what type of further preparation is needed. The Learning Center will help you to evaluate your scores and will be able to direct you to a writing specialist who will advise you on the strengths and weaknesses of your writing sample.
The importance of preparing for the writing section should not be overlooked. Since it is ungraded many students ignore this section in their preparation strategy. The role it can play is in helping a school decide between two or more equally qualified students. The importance of writing ability in a law school curriculum causes the admissions committee to try and choose students who have writing skills. The writing sample becomes an opportunity for you to display those talents.
Students should take the LSAT in the early fall of the senior year. Because law schools will generally average the scores on the LSAT, it is usually of no benefit to repeat the test. Studies have shown that, on the whole, students who repeat the LSAT do increase their scores, but by only a few points.
When you subscribe to the Law School Admission Services to register to take the LSAT, they will send you sample questions and you will have the opportunity to purchase actual tests given previously. Once you have mastered the techniques of the different sections, the best preparation is to take as many actual LSATs as possible. Not only do you become familiar with the question types, but you also will become more comfortable and more confident.
To become familiar with the techniques to maximize scoring in each section you can go to a local bookstore and purchase a preparation book, computer program or you can sign up for a preparation course. Which avenue you choose should be based on your individual circumstances.
Commercial preparation courses are by no means inexpensive. As of June 1999, the cost for the Kaplan or Princeton course is around $1,000. Before you decide you can't afford the cost, consider the difference between real and false economy. As discussed in the section on whether law is the correct career for you, your opportunities after law school depends to a great extent on where you go to school. Several hundred dollars spent now could result in a salary difference of thousands of dollars in just a few years.
Applying For A Law School
As a general rule, students who wish to maximize their chances of gaining admission to a law school should apply to as many law schools as their financial situation will permit. Ideally a student should apply to two or three law schools whose requirements appear to be slightly above the academic record of the student, two or three schools of law whose requirements the student's record seems to meet, and two or three schools of law whose requirements appear to be below the academic record of the student. To do so requires an investment of approximately $40-60 per application (non-refundable). There are application fee waivers available through individual law schools.
The deadline for submitting applications varies from school to school. Students should attempt to submit a completed application to the law schools to which they wish to apply as early as possible, preferably not later than December. Some law schools have a rolling admission policy whereby the school evaluates applications and informs candidates of the school's admission decision on a continuous basis over several months, beginning in late fall through mid-summer.
Recommended Application Schedule
June or October - Take LSAT
September - Send postcards to law schools requesting catalogs and application forms Register for the Law School Data Assembly Service (LSDAS) and send transcripts when directed.
Late November/Early December - Send applications to law schools. Notify LSDAS to forward your file to the appropriate schools. Have letters of reference written and placed on file at the Career Planning and Placement Office.
January - Make certain that law schools have received all application materials and the correct LSDAS file.
Letters of Recommendation
The letters of recommendation are important in your package because they provide the admissions people with information about you that goes beyond "the numbers." It is important to you that these letters provide information that cannot be learned from your transcript. This implies that the professors who write your recommendation letters know more about you than the grade you received from the course. To enable professors to write this type of letter it is necessary that they know you as a person not merely as a student identification number. A good choice to write a letter is the teacher whom you have had for multiple classes, who has given you your top grades, and with whom you have built some kind of relationship. When completing your packet to the faculty be sure to include a resume. This helps the faculty broaden his knowledge of who you are.
Schools have different requirements on the minimum and maximum number of recommendations they want in your application package. You have a right to read your letters of recommendation but, the schools will discount any letter that you have not waived your right to see. You should open a file with Career Services located in the Veitch Student Center and they will keep these letters and mail them to the designated schools while maintaining their confidential nature.
Letters of recommendation offer you an opportunity to give an explanation for any weakness you may have in other areas of your application. If your GPA is less than stellar, this is an opportunity for an explanation from someone other than yourself. A teacher who is aware of the time you spent on campus activities, to the detriment of your grades, can give the admissions committee a reason to give less weight than usual to your GPA. If your LSAT scores were deficient, a letter from a professor who is acquainted with your school work can make a case that the LSAT score was not representative of your abilities. This may give your explanation (in your personal statement) more credence.
Activities
Schools consider your activities in determining whether your presence in the school will contribute to the diversity and interest of the student body. Schools conscientiously try to assemble a student body that enhances the learning atmosphere of the school. Many people believe that as much learning takes place outside of the classroom as within it. Activities provide evidence that you will be able to relate to the other students outside of the classroom.
If you have spent most of your free time working instead of socializing, it is important that you make this - known on your application or personal statement. Emphasize the value you feel you have gained from working. If the job had a particular value be sure to emphasize that. Internships relating to your major or law school are invaluable learning experiences and worth talking about.
Personal Statement
The personal statement is your opportunity to cast the most favorable light on your application. Remember that your application will be judged on the total picture so a weak area can be balanced by other strong areas. If your grades have been less than remarkable, an essay that relates a childhood full of educational disadvantages may cause an admissions officer to look at your GPA with a new understanding. If you have had work experience, now is the time to explain how it has impacted your life and possibly made you a better person or a better student of the law.
The other function the personal statement performs for the law schools is that it allows them another opportunity to judge your writing ability. The writing section demonstrated your ability to write under a time restraint, the personal statement shows your talent to write without such restraints. If your writing skills were not well represented by your LSAT sample, the personal statement must be extremely well written to overcome that negative impression. Be sure to take the opportunity to obtain expert help with your statement. The Learning Skills Center has people who will be able to read your statement and make suggestions on style and presentation. The Department of Political Science puts on a seminar in the fall quarter on "How To Write a Personal Statement." You may also consult the pre-law advisor, Professor John Christian Laursen, who will be willing to read your statement and assess the content.
Sources of Information
LSAT/I1SDAS REGISTRATION AND INFORMATION BOOK: May be obtained in the Political Science Department and Career Services. This book includes directions on how to apply for the LSAT, sample questions, Law School Data Assembly Services and others. This publication as well as The Official Guide To U.S. Law Schools and law school catalogs are available from the Political Science Department Office, Watkins 2205 and Career Services at Veitch Center.
A law school forum is held each Fall in Los Angeles. Representatives of approximately forty schools of law make themselves available to students in order to answer questions and provide information. For additional information students are encouraged to speak with the pre-law adviser, Professor John Christian Laursen located in Room 2224 Watkins.
Law Schools in California
There are many schools of law in California. Some are approved by the American Bar Association and the State of California, some only by the state, and others are unapproved by any accreditation agency. There are sixteen American Bar Association approved law schools in California. A student with a law degree from such a school is eligible to take the bar exam in any state in the nation. A person receiving a law degree from a law school approved only by the State of California will probably be allowed to take the bar exam only in California. A student who chooses to attend a law school unapproved by either the A.B.A., or the State of California must take what is known as a "Baby Bar Examination" at the end of the first year of law study; if he or she passes it successfully, an additional three years of study are required before the California State Bar Examination may be taken.
Approved List of the American Bar Association: California Law Schools
Golden Gate University, School of Law
536 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 442-6630
Stanford University, School of Law
Stanford, CA 94305
(415) 723-4985
Loyola Univ. of L.A., School of Law
919 S. Albany Street, Los Angeles, CA 90015
(213) 736-1180
Calif. Western School of Law
225 Cedar, San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 239-0391
Pepperdine University, School of Law
24255 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, CA 90265
(310) 456-4631
University of California, School of Law
5 Boalt Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720
(510) 642-2274
Southwestern University, School of Law
675 South Westmoreland Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90005-3992
(213) 738-6717
University of California, School of Law
Davis, CA 95616
(916) 752-6477
University of California, School of Law
Law Admissions Office
71 Dodd Hall, Box 951445, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1445
University of California, Hastings College of Law
200 McAllister Street, San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 565-4623
University of Santa Clara, School of Law
500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, CA 95053
(408) 554-4800
University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law
3200 Fifth Avenue, Sacramento, CA 95817
(916) 736-7105
University of So. California, Law Center
University Park, Los Angeles, CA 90089
(213) 740- 7331
Whittier College School of Law
3333 Harbor Blvd., Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(800) 808-8188
University of San Diego, School of Law
5998 Alcala Park, San Diego, CA 92110
(619)260-4528
Applicants From Disadvantaged Backgrounds
Many law schools attempt to have a student population that is broadly reflective of talented students drawn from a variety of backgrounds. In order to accomplish this, these schools recognize that it is often necessary to consider GPA and the score on the LSAT in relationship to any substantial disadvantage an applicant has had to overcome. For example, an applicant who has managed to overcome the disadvantages that often accompanies poverty or discrimination based on racial or ethnic background will generally be considered in the initial pool of talented applicants even though the applicant's GP A and/or LSAT score are marginal. It is important, therefore, that your personal statement reflect any disadvantaged background and that you provide the LSDAS with accurate ethnic information.
Making Effective Use of the Campus Pre-Law Advisor
Regardless of where your major department is located you should make an appointment with the campus Pre- Law Advisor, Professor John Christian Laursen in Room 2224 Watkins Hall. It is especially important that you make an appointment prior to completing the application process for the LSAT and that you keep in contact with the advisor throughout the other stages of applying to law schools.
