Show Law Schools Interest, Share LSAT Scores in Later Applications

Welcome to the latest installment of Law Admissions Q&A, a monthly feature of Law Admissions Lowdown that provides admissions advice to readers who send in questions and admissions profiles.

If you have a question about law school, please email me for a chance to be featured next month.

This week's Q&A will focus on issues concerning applicants who have not yet submitted applications for the fall 2015 application cycle.

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Dear Shawn: I have not yet submitted my law school applications, so at this point I know that I have missed early decision application deadlines. There are, however, a couple of schools that are clearly at the top of my list. Even though I can't apply early decision, is there any way for me to tell to these schools how interested I am in their programs? -Very Interested

Dear Very Interested: Once the early decision deadline has passed, there are essentially two ways to express your particular interest in a school. The first way is to indicate your interest in your personal statement.

I recommend that applicants insert a school-specific paragraph into every personal statement, regardless of whether the school is a reach school, target school or safety school. This paragraph generally highlights specific programs, clinics, journals and other extracurricular activities that the school offers that would be particularly suited to the applicant's professional goals.

If you are applying to a school that is definitely your top choice, you should consider adding a statement in that paragraph that indicates that you would attend that school if admitted. Although this kind of statement doesn't carry as much weight as applying early decision, admissions committees will generally take it into account when evaluating your application.

[Follow these four final steps before submitting law school applications.]

Note also that even though writing in your personal statement that you would attend if admitted is not binding in the way that applying early decision is binding, you should only make that statement if it is true and you would definitely attend if admitted.

The second way to express your interest in attending a school is to write an additional, short essay expressing your strong interest in that school. This option is best for applicants who have specific reasons to want to attend the school. These reasons could be personal, academic or based on the school's area of academic expertise.

For example, a student applying to law school at the same university he or she attended as an undergraduate might write a short essay describing his or her positive experiences at and comfort with the university. This could also highlight any interaction he or she has had with that university's law school, including attending or sitting in on law school courses or taking undergraduate courses taught by law professors. -Shawn

Dear Shawn: I have a question about timing the submission of my applications. I took the LSAT in December, but my score wasn't what I had hoped, so I am retaking the test in February. All my applications are finished, but I'm unsure as to whether I should submit my applications now before my LSAT score is released or wait until I know my LSAT score to submit applications. -To Submit or Not to Submit

Dear To Submit or Not to Submit: This is a situation that many people who take the December and February LSATs encounter. In this situation, you want to ensure that schools will take into account your February LSAT score, which will presumably be higher than your December score.

Since you already have a valid LSAT score, submitting your applications before the February test results will likely cause schools to consider your application complete, which means that they will evaluate your candidacy before receiving your February LSAT score.

[Draft a law school budget early.]

There are two ways to solve this problem. First, many schools will accept your application and, upon request, flag the application with a note to wait until the February LSAT score is received to fully evaluate the application. If you go this route, make sure to contact all schools you're applying to and ensure that they will wait until they receive your February score. Second, you can simply wait until you receive your score and submit applications as soon as possible thereafter.

Note also that if your February score is significantly higher than your December score, you should consider writing an addendum explaining why schools should view your February score as the best indication of your abilities and encouraging them to put more weight on the February score and not the average of the two scores. -Shawn