The quick answer of when to apply to law school is when you are ready. The law school application process is always ongoing. It happens every year. The two key questions you need to decide are (1) at what phase of my life do I want to apply and (2) when in the cycle do I want to apply.
What phase of my life should I apply to law schools?
Prospective law students always want to know when they should apply for law school. Generally, what they mean is one of the following questions?
Should I apply to law school right after undergraduate?
Should I work before I attend law school?
Am I too old to go to law school?
Am I too young to go to law school?
Attend Law School Immediately?
Whether you want to attend law school straight out of undergraduate or not is a personal decision. Some students benefit from continuing right through to law school immediately. These students benefit from being used to studying and staying up late. They are comfortable with low living expenses and generally do not have anyone that depends on them like a spouse or child. However, going straight to law school after undergraduate can often lead to burn out. From elementary school through law school, that is about 21 years straight of schooling.
Work Before Law School?
Other college students can benefit from going to graduate school or pursuing a career before entering law school. These students may take non legal jobs and gain an understanding of responsibility and communication skills from working in the real world. Taking a break from school to follow a career path can benefit these students when they eventually return to pursue law degrees because they may have matured more than they otherwise would have. Additionally, many law students that enter law school after having real world experience find themselves in better financial situations. This means they may require less financial aid when starting law school.
Too Old for Law School?
Nobody is too old to attend law school. There are many stories of people that are 50 or older attending law school as a second, third, or even fourth career path. We personally know many law students who began their legal education with family responsibilities already established. Everyone has different personal circumstances but it is truly never to late to begin a new legal career. However, understand that the later you being your legal careers, on average the less earning potential you ultimately may have.
Too Young for Law School?
Some people are too young for law school! In the United States, you cannot submit law school applications until your senior year of undergraduate. This is because law schools require an undergraduate degree or higher to apply to. law school.
When Should Law School Applicants Apply?
If you want to give yourself the best chance at top law schools, you need to start early. Generally, this means start preparing for the LSAC in April with the goal of getting all your application materials ready for the first early application deadlines. Most law schools have early application deadlines around November 1.
Aspiring law students will benefit by preparing early for the law school admission test. The law school admission test is generally offered multiple times per year. For example, there is usually a law school admission test offered every month. However, it can take about a month to get your scores back. So, you want to plan to have your test taken and scores back prior to the law school deadline you are eyeing.
How Should Law Students Prepare for the LSAC?
Preparing for the law school admissions test will require doing many practice tests. You will want to find old practice exams to take to improve your lsat score. By hiring an LSAT tutor you can improve your test scores over time. Prospective students should know that this may take a couple months to truly master the exam and achieve the highest possible LSAT score you can. You will want to try your hardest on this because along with undergraduate GPA, your LSAT scores make up half the equation for whether you get in to a law school or not. This is why so many students attending law school begin their preparation during their senior year.
Once you have prepared and taken the law school admission test to achieve your high LSAT score, you still need to fill out an application, apply to the individual law schools you are hoping to enter, and fill out information regarding financial aid. Some schools have campus resources to help with this process but it is best to know how to do it on your own. Law school is a significant investment so it is worth it to conduct research on the best law school for your situation. Utilizing all the campus resources you can including meeting with a pre law advisor if you have one.
A Sample Timeline of A Prospective Law Student
What follows is a personal story of a law student’s journey to law school as someone coming from a career.
Pre-April
I always knew I wanted to go to law school and ultimately practice in the legal profession. But, I never knew when it would be the right time to get a law degree. So, because i was so uncertain about the legal profession I got a job after undergraduate to gain some real world experience. And, I got a job that had nothing to do with the legal profession. I didn’t even know how to go about interning at a law firm.
So, unlike my classmate that somehow knew they wanted to be law students since they were born, I became a regular 9-5 worker. It was mostly good but i always knew I could make much more in the legal field. And, my writing skills and analytical skills were much better than other people I knew who went to law school.
So, I decided to go back to school to get a law degree. The problem is I had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t even know what the best law schools were. All I knew was that I wanted to go to law school and earn a high salary.
Instead of researching law schools or applying to be a paralegal or legal assistant, I simply looked for an LSAT tutor. I knew that if I did well on the LSAT, I could get into a top law school. And, maybe the tutor would help me with going to law school.
May
In May, I signed up for an LSAT prep class with the hopes of improving my score and eventually attending law school.
June
June through August, I took dozens of LSAT prep tests hoping to improve my score so I could go to law school.
September
In September, I took the test. For the month while I awaited the score that would determine if I could go to law school, I prepare my applications for the various law schools that I determine I may want to go to.
I received my LSAT score in October and luckily it was high enough that I would be able to go to law school. (I had also registered for a later test date in case I needed to retake for a higher score).
October-November
In October and throughout November I applied to a number of different law schools. I received some admissions and some waitlist notifications. Ultimately, I decided on a law school that admitted me early. I let the other law schools I had applied to know I had made my decision. I attended admitted law student day in February.
Thus, within less than ten months, I went from knowing basically nothing about law school to knowing where I would go to law school. The following August I began my law school classes. A short three years later, I started my first job at a law firm and began my career in the legal field.