There are ways to help your chances of being admitted to your dream school—even if your numbers are below what they are looking for.
These strategies can sometimes give you an admissions advantage:
Apply early: Law school is on a rolling admissions cycle. The earlier you apply, the better, potentially your chances might be. As the cycle commences, they start to accept students. As the number of available spaces diminish, it can become progressively harder to get in.
Tour the school: Although taking a tour of each law school is not as necessary as it may have been for college admissions, if it is a top choice school, you may want to make the extra effort to tour in person and show interest in the school.
Retake the LSAT: I know that you may not want to hear this, but taking an extra LSAT, even late in the game, might make a difference. It could also potentially help you get in off of a waitlist.
Connect with admissions: Find ways to connect with admissions at your dream school. Try to meet with them while touring. See if they have drop in zoom office hours. Meet with them at a law school fair. Find ways to connect individually with them and express that this is your first choice of law school. I have known several applicants who were admitted to law schools by connecting with admissions and having conversations about why they would make a great addition to that law school.
Go to the law school forum: The Law School Admissions Council sponsors a law school forum in many major cities during the admissions cycle. Most admissions representatives attend and there are also panels on law school admissions topics. It is a great opportunity to meet and network with admissions from your top schools. You can register for this event through LSAC online (www.lsac.org).
Work the waitlist: If your numbers are borderline, you may end up being waitlisted. If you are, prepare to continue to show demonstrated interest in the school, and keep in touch with them. At this point, they want to let people in off the waitlist who are committed to the school and will most likely enroll if admitted.
Take a year off before applying: If you take a year off before applying, you may have the chance to improve your credentials. You will have the spring semester of senior year to improve your grades, or to land an internship that could improve your resume.
Hillary Mantis is assistant dean of the Pre-law Program at Fordham University, and author of The Essential Guide to Law School Admissions. https://www.amazon.com/Essential-Guide-Law-School-Admissions-ebook/dp/B0BTDVYZ8C. Questions? You can reach her at altcareer@aol.com.
