With the calendar having turned towards August and with law school admissions officers often turning from one computer monitor (showing their email inbox, in case any of their incoming students decides to cancel their enrollment plans) to another (showing Olympic coverage, in case a gold medal event begins), last week’s blog theme of holding the line remains true. This is a time when admissions officers are publicly reacting rather than acting. They can only make further offers of admission if one of their currently deposited students opts to drop. They can only update their websites with information for the upcoming year—application instructions, deadlines, travel calendars—once LSAC processes their application, their in-house tech team gives them authorization to update information, and law fair hosts publicly announce their events. As such, they're taking some cues from the Heartbreakers.

But we here at this blog believe in action so we’ll take a quick look at the news around the world of law school admissions and then provide some suggestions for what prospective applicants can do while waiting for applications to open.

LSAT Registration Numbers

Per information from LSAC’s LSAT Registrants and Test Taker Volumes report, August LSAT numbers remain quite high on the eve of the exam:

This week’s August LSAT registration total of 24,852 represents a 5.5% decline in registrations from last week and a 15% decline from the high-water mark of 29,317 just after the registration deadline. A 15-20% drop from the registration deadline until test day is very normal. And even if numbers decline another few percentage points (a 20% total decline would drop us down to ~23,500 test takers), that number would still represent a huge increase in August LSAT test takers versus the past two years.

If August registrants end up rescheduling, it would have to be for either the October or November LSATs. This is because the registration deadline has already passed for the September test. So in next week’s blog, we’ll be interested in seeing not only the final numbers for August post-exam, but also if the registration numbers for October and November follow the trend we’ve been seeing for every test over the past year—a higher and higher increase in registrations.

What Can You Be Doing Now—Researching and Networking

And with that looming and likely increase in applications on the horizon, we come to a question we often receive from students—what should I be doing right now? Some answers to that question are fairly self-evident:

  • If you’re taking the LSAT in August, September, or October, be sure to put in your practice time. Even adding a point or two can have a big effect on both your chances of admission and merit scholarship.
  • Get moving on your “master documents.” These are the documents that you will use for all of your applications with little to no edits. The biggies are your personal statement, résumé, diversity statement, addenda, and a character and fitness explanation (if necessary).

But we’re going to propose another item that can really help to improve your application—research and networking!

Notice how our list of master documents didn’t include any school-specific pieces. While you may find that you eventually develop a bit of a template for each school’s “Why School X” statement, the quality of these pieces will rest in large part on how well you can make the following argument—why is this school a good fit for you? If all an applicant knows about the school is their US News rank, that’s not going to be a compelling argument! But with a little elbow grease, students can generate material that will really help them as they approach their school-specific documents.

To frame this discussion, we’re going to use one of our favorite Why School X prompts—Michigan’s supplemental essay number one:

“Say more about your interest in the University of Michigan Law School. Why might Michigan be a good fit for you culturally, academically, or professionally?”

What we love about this prompt is how the Michigan admissions team gives three suggestions right at the end of their question. Let’s reorder them a bit from the easiest to the hardest to research.

  • Academically—What specific courses, programs of study, specializations, and clinics does the school have to offer? How does this tie in with what you want to study in law school? For example, if your personal statement is about wanting to be a tax lawyer, then the Why School X statement would be a good time to say that one reason you’re interested in attending this school is because of their coursework in the area and low-income tax clinic.
  • Professionally—What career outcomes does the school typically have? Where do their grads work? This is the time to mention your interest in pursuing a career that aligns with the school’s typical outcomes.
  • Culturally—Why are you a good fit for the school, or, why is the school a good fit for you? The word “culture” can mean the larger “vibe” of a school. That can be hard to ascertain even with the research/networking suggestions we’re going to provide below. You really can’t do a vibe check unless you’re at the school. But what you can do is explain some broader reasons why you’re interested in the school (you have friends who attended, you have family in the area, you had a stuffy of their mascot when you were little, etc.).

So how can you figure this all out?

Website research. Although it’s basic, “basic” is always a good starting point! This is especially true for academic and professional outcomes. 

Every law school will have a listing of their academic offerings on their website … but every law school will have the same basic classes that cover a broad range of subject matters. If we leave our research at the “basic” level, we won’t have any differentiating factors. So let’s go a little deeper! Try to see if the school has any specializations, clinics, externships, and study abroad opportunities that interest you.

You can also get a sense of a school’s professional outcomes via their website. Check out their pages for their career center and alumni relations office. How are these offices organized? What kinds of events do they offer to currently enrolled students? Where do recent graduates go for their first jobs … and what kinds of jobs (i.e., at law firms, in government agencies, clerkships, etc.)? Another great resource for this information are the ABA’s required disclosures—be sure to click on the “Employment Outcomes” tab on the left.

Although you can also learn about a school’s culture from their website, this tends to be a bit superficial. So, to that end, it’s usually better to….

Network. This is where the wheat is separated from the chaff regarding law school research!

“Networking” can seem like a scary word for some applicants. However, just think of it as having some conversations with people “in the know.” And a pretty broad—but true—generalization of the legal field is that it’s big on networking. Lawyers know lawyers from bumping into them in the courtroom, seeing them at bar association events, or recommending potential clients to them. So networking with a prospective law student is pretty squarely in most lawyers’ (and law students’) comfort zone!

The easiest people to network with will be those who share something with you—a common alma mater, a common friend or business connection, etc. This is a great time to use both your undergrad alumni network and your LinkedIn network. Regarding the former, many schools have databases that allow you to search for alumni by grad schools. You can also connect with your pre-law advisor to see if they know anyone who has attended the school you’re trying to research. Additionally, LinkedIn can be a good resource for finding these kinds of connections. Although admittedly a social media network that skews a little [cough cough] older, rest assured that this will be a resource you use down the road. Why? Because hiring managers at law firms tend to be [cough cough] older. So think of this as just getting a jump on your future job search!

Once you find a few possible connections, send them an email. This can be a pretty simple message: introduce yourself, establish your connection (“I found your name in the __ University database—I hope you’re excited about the upcoming football season” or “I’m a student of Prof. __’s and she recommended that you would be a good person to connect with”), mention your interest in applying to the law school that they attended, and then ask if you can connect to chat about their law school experiences. If you send out four or five messages, chances are that you’ll get hits on at least two or three.

Attending law fairs … but we’re going to leave this one for now! We’ll expand on this more when law fair season begins!

This research and networking serves two main goals. The first and most germane to this blog is rather clear—you can incorporate all this research into your Why School X document. All of this information—discussing specific academic paths that match your interests, professional outcomes that align with what you want from your future, mentions of good conversations you’ve had with current students and alums about the school culture—informs the admissions office that you’d be a good fit and you know how to do your homework. Those are good things in the near future (“This seems like a student who would get a lot out of attending our school!”) and the long term (“This seems like a student who would interview well!”).

But the second goal is more subtle. At the end of the admissions process, you’ll receive admit offers from a few schools. At that point, you’re going to need to make a decision on where to attend. This is going to be a HUGE decision and is going to require a bit of research for you to figure out the best fit. Starting this research now helps you to accelerate the decision process later.

We also know that researching schools and networking can be a heavy lift. To alleviate this concern, we recommend starting small. Don’t think about networking with alums from every school on your list. We get exhausted just thinking about that! So start with your top two, three, or four schools. Really dive into your research and networking for those places. If you have further time down the road, you can expand your efforts to other schools on your list.

And just remind yourself—you’re putting in the work now, to have better admit offers later, to accelerate your deposit decision even later. It’ll all pay dividends in the end!

7Sage Events

A reminder that we are hosting weekly live classes on different components of the application process in the coming months. Up next—a session on Wednesday, August 7 regarding diversity statements. Registration is required but free.