VengefulDazzlingPegasus '03–'04 app cycle

Apply early (by October), and put a lot of thought into your application materials. Your application is the first case you’ll make in law school, so show them that you have the potential to do it well. Give yourself plenty of time to prepare for the LSAT. I focused on taking practice tests and then going through them carefully to make sure I fully understood why I missed any questions (I didn’t use a prep service). It’s all about recognizing patterns in how you think, so that you can avoid making the same kinds of mistakes on future tests. Most of all, apply optimistically! Better to get into only a couple of schools that are at the top of your range than to get in everywhere but not meet your full potential. Given the challenging current job market and how snobby the field of law can be, you’ll want to shoot for the stars to maximize your outcomes. Don’t apply anywhere you wouldn’t be psyched to attend–better to try again next year than to settle!