Law FAQs

A: Usually the first step is registering to take the LSAT. The next step will be to use LSAC’s credential assembly service (LSDAS) to put together your academic and biographical information, letters of recommendation, and transcripts. This information, along with your LSAT test score and writing sample, are then sent to each law school to which you apply. Use the LSAT/LSDAS Checklist to make sure that you’ve covered all the details.

You may qualify for fee waivers for the LSAT, LSDAS, or your law school application. Visit www.lsac.org to learn more.

A: Historically, people with diversity have been underrepresented in the legal profession. The law school population (as well as the legal profession) does not currently reflect accurately the expanding diversity of our society. Law schools are committed to enriching the learning process for all students by promoting diversity in their classes. The diversity law schools might consider include contrasting economic, educational, and geographical backgrounds; different sexual orientations; varied familial or other personal experiences; or unusual careers, in addition to varied racial or ethnic backgrounds.

A: Yes, but it is important to know that law schools look at many different factors for admission, so it's unlikely one single thing will get you in or keep you out.  Your best bet is to start preparing now to become a strong candidate by taking challenging courses to build your analytical and critical reading skills. Getting into law school isn’t easy, but if you work hard and prepare yourself, you can do it. Visit www.LSAC.org to learn more.

A: It’s never too early to start thinking about law school and the many career options available to you when you obtain a law degree. Although there is no standard set of required prelaw courses, you can begin preparing now by taking challenging undergraduate courses that will strengthen your thinking, reading, and writing skills. Getting into law school isn’t easy, but if you’re willing to work hard and prepare yourself, you can do it.

A: Most law schools have a standard first-year curriculum with a choice of electives, in addition to some required courses in the second and third years. While there are some specialty focus areas such as patent law and taxation that students can choose, most law students choose to take a wide variety of courses to maximize their career options after law school. However, if you know that you want to specialize in a specific area of law after graduation, you should choose a law school that offers electives in that specialty. A number of law schools have dual-degree programs that can enhance your career opportunities even more.

A: Just like choosing your undergraduate school, you should do your homework before starting your search for a law school. You’ll want to decide what factors are most important to you (size of school, location, course offerings), assess your personal resources, think about family obligations, and talk to people you trust: college professors, prelaw advisors, law school admission professionals, law students, and others.

It’s never too early to start thinking about law school.  The decisions you make today will lead to more career choices down the road.

A: It takes three years of full-time study to obtain a JD (law) degree. JD stands for Juris Doctor—a law degree is a graduate degree. A few law schools are experimenting with shortening the traditional three-year program. There are many law schools that have part-time and evening programs that take up to four years to complete.

Earning your law degree is worth the time and effort. Check the ABA-LSAC Official Guide to ABA-Approved Law Schools for more information about specific programs at individual schools.

A: Law schools admit students who are likely to succeed. Just like undergraduate school, your success in law school depends on your willingness to work hard and apply yourself both individually and in study groups.

A: The best way to find out what law school is like is to speak with people who are in law school, who have recently graduated, or who are practicing law. Many law school websites have multimedia tours and presentations that are the next best thing to visiting the campus.

A: Law schools know that a diverse student body translates to an enriching learning environment. That’s why they select students who have a wide range of life experiences and different backgrounds, not just of races and ethnicities, but also geographical areas, sexual orientations, personal experiences, and so on. Law school diversity enables individuals from a wide range of backgrounds help create change and put themselves in a valuable career position that’s in demand.

As a lawyer, you can help shape future laws and provide legal services that help address equality in the justice system, represent athletes and entertainers, help yourself to start a new business, and so much more.

A: Law schools do not accept minorities on racial or ethnic status alone. Law schools are genuinely interested in student diversity, but race or ethnicity is only one factor among many. Aside from your LSAT scores and UGPA (undergraduate grade point average), they also consider your letters of recommendation, personal statement, work experience, community service, and so on.

A: Think of law school as an investment – one that can help open doors for you and can lead to a solid financial future for you and your family.

Need-based grants and scholarships are available to help you pay for law school. The library and the Web also have financial aid directories. If you’re interested in public service after law school, some programs will reduce your debt or even forgive your whole loan.

There are resources available to help – you just have to be proactive and explore what’s out there for you! Get informed; visit www.LSAC.org and contact your prelaw advisors and law school financial aid counselors for additional advice.

A: Everyone must make decisions about balancing their personal and professional lives. Like many professions, law careers can be demanding. However, you will learn time-management techniques in law school. After you graduate from law school, you will be able to apply time-management skills to your professional and personal life. Earning a law degree can help to put you in control of your life.

A: Some people believe that getting a law degree leads only to practicing as an attorney, but, depending on your particular interests, the skills you will learn in law school can open doors to many different types of careers. You may be interested in public service, business, government, mediation, public policy, and other careers that involve comprehending complex problems and finding solutions.

Depending on your interests, you could become a specialist or general practitioner:

• Specialists are lawyers who focus their expertise on one field of law – real estate, entertainment, criminal, and patent law to name a few. These lawyers are typically employed by larger law firms that provide a full range of legal services.
• General practitioners handle a variety of law issues, and therefore have more opportunities to work in several areas of law.

Start exploring the many career options that come with getting a law degree today!

A: Every law school has a career services office dedicated to helping graduates find job opportunities, and, as a result, most law school graduates find employment. Your success in law school and on the bar exam, and your dedication to the job hunt, are important elements in your search for the right job.

To find out more information on law schools’ job placement programs and placement statistics, click here or visit www.nalp.org.

A: Law practice is so diverse that it is not possible to describe the so-called typical lawyer. Each lawyer works with different clients and different legal problems. However, certain basic legal skills are required of all lawyers. They must know how to:

• analyze legal issues;
• find the common links in diverse documents;
• advocate the views of groups and individuals within the context of the legal system;
• provide intelligent counsel on the law’s requirements;
• write and speak clearly; and
• negotiate effectively.

Becoming a lawyer is hard work, but very rewarding in many ways. It is important, intellectually stimulating, challenging, and always changing. It can be financially lucrative, prestigious, and can open doors to many successful directions in life. Lawyers help people, change lives, and even make history. There are few other professions that have such broad potential.

A: There are so many ways that expertise in the law can help a community. With a law degree, you work on issues like:

• inequality in the justice system;
• employment discrimination;
• immigration;
• landlord/tenant disputes;
• divorce, child custody/support;
• and so many others.

By becoming a lawyer, you can help shape future laws and work to ensure that existing laws are enforced fairly for all people. If you want to help make a difference, consider a career in law and start preparing today!

A: The legal profession needs more lawyers who are African American, Asian American, Latino, and Native American to serve an increasingly diverse society.

A: Consider choosing courses that involve reading and analyzing complex material and developing logical and analytical reasoning and reading comprehension skills. Law schools generally care more about the skills you developed than your major. And by challenging yourself as an undergraduate, you will be better prepared to do well on the LSAT. Talk to the prelaw advisor or career counselor at your college, or the chair of your academic department, about your interest in law school and the types of courses available to help you prepare.

A: Since the American Bar Association doesn’t recommend specific undergraduate majors or groups of courses to prepare for a legal education, students are admitted to law school from almost every academic discipline.

Whatever major you select, you are encouraged to pursue an area of study that interests and challenges you. Take advantage of opportunities to develop your research and writing skills, choose challenging courses and instructors. The courses you choose as an undergrad will provide the foundation for your legal education, so choose wisely!

A: Undergraduate institutions often assign a person to act as an advisor to current and former students who are interested in pursuing a legal education. Prelaw advisors can help you select courses that will help you prepare for law school, locate preparation options for the LSAT, and find the information you will need to choose the right law school. The career services office at your school can help you get in touch with a prelaw advisor. There are prelaw clubs at many schools; these are also good sources of information.

A: You don’t have to invest a lot of money for preparation courses, but you do have to invest your time and energy to prepare. The effort is well worth it – having a law degree can open doors in your future!

To help you prepare, affordable test preparation books and software are available at www.LSAC.org and other sites online, as well as in bookstores. For several months or weeks before you plan to take the test, you should:

• read through the test questions and answers;
• decide your strategy for answering each type of question; and
• take entire sample tests under simulated, timed conditions.

Continue taking preparation tests until you feel confident about the time it takes you to get through the sections and your ability to answer the questions correctly.

If you feel you need the discipline of a test preparation course or workshop, your prelaw advisor may be able to suggest some low-cost options.

A: Students typically take the LSAT soon after their junior year in college. You should prepare to take the LSAT early to ensure that your law school applications are submitted on time. Your admission file will not be complete until the law school receives your application materials, including your LSAT score.

Another important reason to start preparing early: most scholarships and grants are awarded early in the process. For specific dates and times the LSAT is given and for more detailed information about registering for the test, go to www.LSAC.org.

A: All American Bar Association (ABA)-approved law schools and many non-ABA-approved law schools require applicants to take the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) as part of the admission process. The LSAT is given four times a year in designated testing centers around the world.

The LSAT is designed to measure skills that are considered essential for success in law school:

• reading and comprehension of complex texts with accuracy and insight;
• organization and management of information;
• ability to draw reasonable inferences from texts;
• ability to think critically; and
• analysis and evaluation of the reasoning and arguments of others.

The test consists of five 35-minute sections of multiple-choice questions and a 35-minute unscored writing sample, which is administered at the end of the test. Copies of the writing sample are sent to all law schools to which you apply.

For most law schools, the LSAT is an important, but not the only, criteria in evaluating applicants