NOTE: You can download our more detailed guidelines for your pre-law timetable here.

For your first couple of years of college, your principal focus should be on excelling in your courses and especially your major.  If your expectation is to apply to law school in your senior year (and bear in mind, most wait until after college graduation to do that, so adjust accordingly), then the junior year is a busy one.

Our timeline for pre-law students gives more detailed information and you should download that and refer to it often. 

Here are some highlights:

  • Freshman and Sophomore Years

    • Sign up for the pre-law email list, and make every effort to attend as many events publicized there as you can.
    • Register with the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC: lsac.org) and spend time exploring it.
    • Work on developing relationships with one or two of your closest mentors among the professors you study with: check whether there are opportunities to work on research projects with them, for example (because the more closely they’re acquainted with your abilities in and outside the classroom, the better they’ll be for letters of recommendation when you apply to law school).
    • NO LATER THAN THE END OF SOPHOMORE YEAR be sure you’ve met individually with the pre-law advisor, especially regarding mentoring and work experiences (see Experiences and Mentoring).

     

  • Junior Year

    • If possible arrange with the pre-law advisor for a mentoring or shadowing program.
    • Plan and carry out your LSAT prep schedule (see Preparing for the LSAT) and consult with the pre-law advisor about that.
    • Begin brainstorming your approach to the personal statement for the law school application (see Choosing Law Schools to Apply To, and Preparing the Application). Aim to have a draft by the spring of junior year.
    • Determine your reference writers.
    • Take the LSAT (spring and/or summer between junior and senior years).

  • Senior Year

    • Get your applications completed and submitted in September or October.
    • Depending on the timing and your ability to do so, consider making personal visits to law schools that have admitted or waitlisted you.
Again, those who apply after college graduation will need to adapt this timetable: consider your year-before-applying to be the same as junior year outlined above.