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Is there a magic number for law school
applications? The rule of thumb is
typically no more than fifteen, but don’t let this magic number be the
end-all-be-all to your decision-making.
You may not need to apply to fifteen schools; it’s a lot and the price
of applications easily adds up!
First, narrow the list of schools to
which you apply. This one is obvious, of course, but it’s easy to fall into a
trap of “just one more!” If you’re confined to a certain
location, this will help narrow your list to only schools in that area. Create a limitation by using school
reputation. If you’ve already
decided on a specialized
area of practice, only apply to schools that will help you reach that goal. Consider that each application represents a
definite, significant fee. Unless you’re truly interested in attending that law
school, and will happily attend, don’t apply!
If you’re not sure, then the answer is
“No.” Don’t spend your money on fees if you’re not even sure you would
attend—and you should be certain you
would attend if you’ve done your research.
Law schools give you the admission
statistics of previous years’ classes, including the median LSATs and GPAs.
This is helpful in determining your odds of admission before you apply. To find
the probability of your admission, LSAC.org offers a free program that calculates
these results. Once you enter your LSAT score and undergraduate GPA, the
program will show your likelihood of acceptance into each law school.
Also, U.S. News provides the 25th percentile and 75th
percentile statistics for each school to help prospective students decide their
likelihood of admission. These results will save you money on needless application
fees and LSAC charges—but of course we often don’t like seeing that our chances
to our “dream” school are low. If there are schools beyond your reach that you
would still hope to attend, the factors described in Chapter
3 of my book can increase your likelihood of acceptance.
As to “safety schools,” there are two trains
of thought: the first is that you should apply to several, so that your time
and efforts will not have been wasted. The contrary view, however, is that a
safety school might be a bad bet. This is so precisely because it is a safety school: as a rule, the
easier it is to get in, the lower the school’s reputation, and thus the less
valuable is that school’s degree. So, be sure that you should attend that school, using the research we’ve
discussed, if you’re going to apply.
Finally, save money by researching
application fee waivers. Some schools offer application fee waivers if you
apply electronically instead of by paper application. Other schools offer waivers
if you apply before a certain deadline. There may be waivers available for
those who are in financial need and for those who are active in the military or
certain public service organizations. If you received a waiver from LSAC, some
law schools will honor that waiver and will also waive their application fee,
but may also require a separate application for you to receive the waiver. Be
aware of these deadlines and separate applications because, although it may
only be a $50 to $75 waiver, it adds up when you apply to multiple schools. Besides, if the bulk of the schools you apply
to have their fees waived, then you can afford to cast your net a bit wider.
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Until
Next Time,
Jenny
L. Maxey
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