Table of Contents

1. Summary
2. Timeline
3. October: 12 months before you submit your applications
4. December: 10 months before you submit your applications
5. January: 9 Months before you submit your applications
6. April: 6 Months before you submit your applications
7. May: 5 Months before you submit your applications
8. June: 4 Months before you submit your applications
9. July: 3 months before you submit your applications
10. August: 1-2 months before you submit your applications
11. September through until you hit submit on your applications
12. February to April: Applications submitted
13. May to August: Almost time to get to law school
14. Related Articles

Summary

To apply to law school you have to complete the following steps:

Step 1) Learn about law school and the application process and decide you want to go

Step 2) Create an LSAC account at lsac.org

Step 3) Make an application schedule to plan out all the way to submitting applications

Step 4) Prepare for the LSAT

Step 5) Identify your Letter of Recommendation writers and ask them if they are willing to write your letter

Step 6) Start writing your personal statement

Step 7) Take the LSAT

Step 8) Prepare for the LSAT again

Step 9) Take the LSAT again

Step 10) Gather and submit all of the application materials online

Timeline to apply to law school in some more detail:

Each law school has a slightly different application deadline, you should give yourself at least 12 months to complete the necessary steps. If you are within that window, don’t worry. You can do it faster, or you can put off your application for a year. The main reason we say to plan for a year is to allow you to take the LSAT twice and still apply early in the application window. 

This timeline assumes you are taking the LSAT which is still the most popular test for law school. However, many schools are now accepting the GRE which makes your test prep a little easier if you are also applying to non-law school programs.  

Making the decision to apply to law school is exciting! But the excitement is quickly overshadowed by worry and confusion. When do I apply? How? What do I need todo ?

One way to put your best foot forward and increase your chances of getting in is to start the application process early. Since most law schools use ‘rolling admissions’, applying earlier is better for you! 

In general, you should start the application process by September the year before you want to apply. Meaning 2 years before you want to attend. If you’re an undergrad, this means starting the process at the beginning of your Junior year. 

With that overall timeline in place, we can break down what you should consider doing in those 12 months. 

October: 12 months before you submit your applications

Create an LSAC.org account. The LSAC is the Law School Admission Council, a nonprofit organization that provides a variety of services to prospective law school students, including administering the LSAT (Law School Admission Test) and hosting the application process for some schools. Get comfortable with the LSAC website because you will be using it quite a bit on your law school application journey, you will also be paying them quite a bit of money, but that is a rant for another post. If applying to law schools is going to create a financial burden the LSAC does offer fee waivers which you should check and apply to. 

December: 10 months before you submit your applications

Start preparation for the LSAT. This may seem a little early, but we recommend starting this early for two reasons. First, for most, the end of December is a relatively slow time that we think is a great time to get started studying. Second, getting introduced to the LSAT this early will allow you to determine the best way for you to study (all at once, bit by bit, or some combination thereof) and to determine what LSAT tests you want to take. Based on our own experience and from looking at the data from over 40,000 applicants, we recommend planning your schedule so that you can take the LSAT twice prior to finalizing your application.  

In December you should decide if you want to take the February LSAT because the deadline is usually at the end of December. 

January: 9 Months before you submit your applications

We recommend planning to take the April and August LSATs. You can even register for both and then get a refund for the August test if you crush the April one. 

In January you should sign up for the LSAT (assuming you haven’t already signed up for the February one). 

You should solidify how you are going to study. There are many options for how to study for the LSAT including: online courses, live courses, tutors, self study. All options have pros and cons. If you want some guidance on determining how to choose a study option check out our guidance post here.

In general we recommend giving yourself 3-month blocks to study for the test. This means you should start studying in January for the April test and May for the August test. 

Finally you should start studying! 

April: 6 Months before you submit your applications 

Take the April LSAT which usually falls around the middle of the month. It takes about 3 weeks for you to get your LSAT score, so you will get your score in the beginning of May. Regardless of how you feel like you did after you walk out of the exam, we recommend taking those three weeks OFF from studying! At this point you have just finished a pretty intense three months of studying either on your own or with a company. Taking three weeks to decompress will help you get into the right headspace to get your results and maybe do more studying to take the test again. 

May: 5 Months before you submit your applications 

1. Get your test results (Well done! Regardless of how you did, preparing for and taking the LSAT is hard work)!!! 
2. Sign up for the Credential Assembly Service (CAS) via your LSAC.org account to start getting ready to apply. 
3. Reach out to people who you want to write your letters of recommendation (LORs). Schools require between 1 and 3. If possible, consider having a balance of professional and academic letter writers. 

June: 4 Months before you submit your applications

1. Decide if you are going to take the LSAT again and if so, sign up for the August test. 
2. Finalize the list of schools you plan to which you plan to apply. If a school’s LSAT feels out of reach, don’t get too discouraged. A new approach to studying can have drastic effects on your LSAT success, and you still have time to do a full course and take the test again. 
3. Sign up for another prep course (if you want).

July: 3 months before you submit your applications

Start to gather the necessary materials for your applications. The LSAC CAS will help you compile all the docs. 

Most schools require the following:

Easier:

1. Application form
2. LSAT score
3. Undergraduate transcript (can take a few weeks)

Harder:

1. Resume
2. Letters of recommendation (between 1-3 depending on the school)

Hardest/Most Painful

1. Personal statement
2. Application fee

Only some schools require the following and they are sometimes optional:

1. Supplemental essays 
2. Diversity statement 
3. Why ____ Law School?

August

1. If you are happy with your score then some schools accept applications as early as August so you can apply now! Don’t rush your letters and essays though. Applying in October to any school is still great. You are better off with a great application in October, than a weak application in August.
2. Take the LSAT again

September through until you hit submit Continue to gather and refine your application materials. Submit when you are happy with them! Don't forget applying earlier is better than later!

Refine your application materials. They will never be perfect, but they should be continually worked, reviewed, and improved. 

Did we mention refining your application materials

February to April " data-kt-scroll-offset="100" tabindex="-1">Feb-to-AprilThis is when you will hear back from schools. You will get accepted, waitlisted, or denied. You can use our status checker to make it a little easier to find out quickly if you have an update on your profile. 

May to August " data-kt-scroll-offset="100" tabindex="-1">May-to-AugustIf you are waitlisted (and hoping to get off and get accepted), then you should continue to keep in touch with the school. You can submit a letter of continued interest (LOCI) and should stay in touch with the admissions committee. 

Once you have determined what school you are going to go to then the next step is to prepare to go!

Related Articles " data-kt-scroll-offset="100" tabindex="-1">related#lsd-id#

1. What Law School should I go to?
2. When Should I Apply to Law School?
3. There is an LSAC, and an LSAT, and a Spivey, and I want a powerful score, but also 7 Sages sound helpful
4. Preparing for Law School
5. How Do I Pay for Law School?