Law--The Application

LSAC FEE WAIVER INFORMATION
Starting in June 2006, LSAC will offer online fee waiver applications for the following services:  one LSAT per testing year, registration for the LSDAS (including  four free law school reports), and a copy of the Official LSAT Super Prep. Applicants may complete the fee waiver application at the time they create an LSAC online account, or they can access the online application at any time on the LSAC Online Services main page, where there will be a new Fee Waivers tab.

After the new fee waiver system is in place, online fee waiver applicants will receive immediate online notification of the conditional approval or denial of a fee waiver.  See LSAC fee waiver information for details. It is still recommended that applicants seeking fee waivers apply well in advance (several months) of the test registration deadline.

You may submit your law school applications by any of several different methods:

Application packet obtained directly from the law school
This is the “good old-fashioned way” to apply. Write, call or e-mail the individual schools to which you are applying to request that an application packet be sent you.
--Pros:
A time-honored method of applying
You can see exactly what's being sent to the school
--Cons:
Time-consuming
Need to find a typewriter to fill out forms

A law school 's own electronic application
Many law schools now have their own online application forms. Check the school's website to learn how it works.
--Pros:
Many schools state that they prefer this application method--some so much that they lower or waive the application fee
--Cons:
Applicants feel a “lack of control” over what a law school actually sees

LSAC electronic applications
LSDAS registrants with LSAC online accounts have free access to electronic JD applications for all ABA-approved law schools, including the "flow-as-you-go" common application information. This free distribution of online applications allows more applicants to electronically package their applications with the transcripts, letters of recomendation, and LSDAS law school reports that are being processed and sent to law schools by LSAC, at no additional cost.

Transcripts
You will need to order a transcript from Amherst to be sent to LSDAS. Submit a request to the Amherst College Registrar's Office, using the LSDAS transcript form (also available in the LSAT & LSDAS Registration and Information Book, available in the Career Center).

If you attended any other undergraduate institution, you will need to request a transcript from that institution, as well. This includes study abroad--request a transcript from the US program which sponsored your study abroad program, NOT from the foreign school itself. Contact your study abroad program if you have questions about how to fill out your LSDAS transcript request form for them.

NEW PROCEDURES FOR PROCESSING FOREIGN TRANSCRIPTS
Procedures for processing foreign transcripts will be changing at LSAC this summer.  Instructions will be available in applicants' online accounts in August.  The service will be announced to applicants the first time they log onto their LSAC account after June 3rd.

For Five-College courses, you do not need to request transcripts from Smith, Mt. Holyoke, UMASS, or Hampshire. LSDAS should recognize these as part of our Five-College consortium. Occasionally, LSDAS will mistakenly focus in on one of these institution's names and inform you of an “Unacknowledged Transcript” problem. You will need to call LSDAS and explain to the customer service agent that your course was taken as part of a consortium arrangement, that specific information about this arrangement appears on the back of the Amherst transcript you submitted, and ask them to check their notes about this. Unfortunately, it happens a bit too often, but is always easily corrected.

If you encounter another kind of “Unacknowledged Transcript” problem, contact the Amherst Pre-Law Advisor, who will help you sort it out.

Dean's Certification Letter
Many (but not all) schools ask applicants for a Dean's Certification Form. This is a document in which your undergraduate institution certifies certain information about your work there. These forms are usually completed by the Pre-Law Advisor on behalf of all applicants; however, if you have a relationship with another dean and would like to ask that dean to complete the form, that's fine.

Please send all Dean's Certification Forms (included in a law school's application packet, or downloadable from their website or from the school's LSAC electronic application) together to the address below. Be sure to fill out the applicant's portion of these forms, and include a stamped envelope for each form, properly addressed (instructions are on the forms).

Send to: Dean Rebecca Lee, Pre-Law Advisor
Career Center, #2210
Amherst College, PO Box 5000
Amherst, MA 01002-5000

Please allow 2-3 weeks to process these forms--we cannot guarantee a timely submission for last-minute requests.

Letters of Recommendation
This is an area about which law school applicants have many questions, and it's important to be well-informed, since recommendations are a key factor for law school admissions.

How many letters of recommendation do I need?
This can vary by school. Most schools require two letters of recommendation--from there, some ask or allow you to send more, others have two as a limit. Keep careful track of how many letters each of your schools wants/allows you to send. However, plan on a core of two very strong letters of recommendation.

Check carefully with each law school to which you're applying--they will often state their preferences as to whether or not they expect your letters to be from academic recommenders.

Graduating seniors, or alumni who have only been out of school for a year or so, will probably want to have two academic recommendations. Alumni who have had significant work experience since Amherst may choose a professor with whom they're still in close contact, plus a recommender from the workplace, or two recommenders from work or other post-graduate experience.

After the two core recommenders have been chosen, use any other recommendations allowed by various law schools as you see fit. For current students, this may be someone who supervised an internship or summer job, or someone with whom you worked in a community service capacity.

Whom shall I ask to write my letters of recommendation?
A very important question. The answer is: choose the people you think will write most strongly for you, NOT the people you think the law schools might want to hear from. Some examples follow:

Question: I've taken two courses from an LJST professor and did fairly well in them, though he doesn't know me that well. And I've taken four courses from an Art History professor who knows my work extremely well and thinks highly of me. Shouldn't I ask the LJST prof for a recommendation, because his field would carry more weight with law schools?

Answer: No. Choose the professor who knows your work best. It doesn't matter to law schools what discipline your professor is from, as long as he/she can give them a sense of your true academic strengths, giving them an idea of what sort of law school student you'll make.

Question: My mom is friends with a judge from my home state. This person doesn't know me well, but is happy to write me a law school recommendation on the basis of the family connection. Should I use this instead of a professor's recommendation?

Answer: No. Law schools are unimpressed by what are essentially “vanity” recommendations from those in the legal field, politicians, or alumni of the schools in question. It is NOT a matter of whom you know; rather, you want a recommender who can speak profoundly about your abilities, your character and what you can contribute to law school and the legal profession. Letters from politicians, lawyer friends or alumni of a particular law school might prove valuable as extra recommenders in an “on hold” or “wait list” situation, but don't choose them (unless they know your work very, very well) as one of the two core recommenders.

Should I use the LSDAS Letter of Recommendation Service?
The Law School Data Assembly Service (LSDAS) is a clearinghouse for transcript and LSAT information, but also offers an optional Letter of Recommendation service. This is a boon to your recommenders, as they only have to submit one letter to LSDAS, instead of sending copies of your letter to every law school. Some schools do not allow you to use the LSDAS service, and require your recommender to use their school recommendation forms and send the forms/letters directly to the school. Check these requirements carefully for each school to which you are applying.

NEW LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION (LOR) SERVICE ONLINE TUTORIALS
The Law School Admission Council has created four new online demonstrations about different aspects of LSAC’s Letter of Recommendation Service. Applicants can view the demos to learn generally about the service, how it works, what a general letter is, what a targeted letter is, and how to direct particular letters to specific law schools.

Personal Statement
The Personal Statement is a crucial part of your application. It's important to remember that, since the vast majority of law schools do not interview applicants, your personal statement will serve as the only way a law school will get to know who you are as a person. Also, to a great degree, law is about writing and communication. Some schools (as with Yale's 250 word essay) are trying to figure out how incisively and effectively you can express yourself.

Remember that law school admissions officers are reading 10,000-20,000 essays in the space of three months. They want to read something that will “grab them,” though advise against something that is too clever or contrived. They want to see “authenticity,” whether that is expressed through obvious sincerity, originality, wit or controversy. They want to come away from reading an essay with a sense of a person with whom they can identify, or of the applicant's personality.

How long should my Personal Statement be?
Check with each school to which you're applying. Some will specify a word length. Others will specify a page length. The standard is 1-2 pages, double-spaced.

What topic should I choose?
This is the hardest question to answer, since the answer is: you have to decide for yourself. A personal statement needs to be a reflection of who you are. You might find some good ideas by reading a book like “Essays that Worked for Law Schools,” edited by Boykin Curry (available in the Career Center Resource Library). Categories listed in this book include:

• Essays about Character
• Essays about why You and the School are Well-Matched
• Essays that Explain an Aberration
• Essays about Important Changes
• Essays about Entering the Legal Profession
• Contemplative Essays
• Essays about Crimes of All Sorts
• Essays about Applicants with Colorful Backgrounds

What topics should I avoid?
Most people say that they've heard “you shouldn't write an essay about why you want to go to law school.” That's not true--law schools are interested in why you want to go to law school, but are interested in hearing you present this idea in a captivating way.

There are, however, topics that are good to stay away from. Admissions officers encourage an applicant to be creative but “not too creative.” They won't get a sense of who you are from a review of “Legally Blond,” or a script for a crime drama. They admit to being put off by personal statements which begin: “When I was ten, my dad took me to court and I knew from that moment I'd be a lawyer. . . .” or something similar. And admissions folks also often gently state that personal statements about hardship, family deaths or health problems tend not to show an applicant in his/her best light. (If you have a particular hardship which has affected your life or schoolwork, it may be appropriate to write an addendum to your application.)

An Addendum

It is very common for applicants whose lives or academic work have been affected by various circumstances to include an addendum to a law school application. And, though some feel awkward about writing such an addendum, law school admissions officers really do want to know about these circumstances.

An addendum is appropriate, for example, to explain an aberration in your GPA, explain a lower overall GPA than you'd normally have earned, or to inform a law school about day-to-day issues you face in accomplishing academic work, such as health-related issues. An addendum can be appropriate to explain a low LSAT grade for a given test date, but be careful. Law schools would expect you to cancel a test score taken under adverse conditions, and do not look kindly on applicants making unnecessary excuses.

Your addendum should be no longer than one page. It should be concise and to the point, stating your circumstance with dignity. This is an opportunity to show law schools integrity in the face of difficulty.

Some law schools invite you to write an addendum describing a family connection you may have to that school. It's possible that a given applicant will have more than one addendum to their law school application.

The Pre-Law Advisor is available to counsel you on any questions you may have about an addendum.