So… you’ve sold your soul and gone pre-law. If you don’t feel that metaphor now, then you will later. And believe it or not, I don’t say that to scare you. It’s simply that achieving law school success can require quite the buy-in. It’s intense. You will more than likely have to dedicate time, lots and lots of time, to accessing the law school of your dreams, the scholarship your pocketbook requires, and the career you aspire to. The best things in life often take the most work.
Now, if you are an aspiring lawyer who…
- has a planned gap year
- is not looking for merit-aid scholarships.
- already has a 170+ LSAT score
then this article is not for you.
This law school timeline is for the K-JD students who need preparation to overcome a lack of work experience, potential debt, and average test scores. I write from experience. Let’s get into it.
Freshman Year
“Your major doesn’t matter! Your major doesn’t matter!” pre-law advisors scream at you. Sure, I would buy that… except that statement hides a lot of nuances. It’s said that statistics, math, and computer science majors achieve extremely high median LSAT scores due to their logic-based studies. This doesn’t mean that you have to be one of these majors, but it does suggest that the college classes you take matter. Beyond test scores, wouldn’t it be helpful to have experience in a constitutional law course, a moot court team, or a legal internship before you go to law school? Wouldn’t this additionally show potential schools that you are serious about law?
So, to use an absurd analogy: you don’t have to be an astronaut to go to space… but it would help.
Planning your bachelor’s around graduate school is okay, especially if you have always dreamed of that path. I would not recommend graduate school being the deciding factor in what you ultimately study because things change! You want to give yourself at least a plan B. But, in the case of law school, I would recommend pursuing logic-heavy courses, legal extracurriculars, and any opportunity that lets you imagine what law school and a legal career will contain.
Also, if you are a freshman reader who is not sure about law school, don’t worry! Get your core curriculum out of the way and spend the year exploring options. You are only 18, and the world is a big place.
Sophomore Year
GPA! My hope is that freshman year general education courses left you with an easy 4.00, but if I’m wrong, now is the time to shine. Sophomore year is about focusing on academics, exploring critical analysis courses that strengthen logical thinking skills, and seriously considering your future.
Junior Fall
This is the start of the true law school timeline. You are a mere 12 months out from submitting applications. Can you believe it? Also, no one tells you that this is the start of it all. I find that cruel. It is not crazy to give yourself a year to…
- study for an incredibly important test
- write tons of application essays
- ask for letters of recommendation
- research schools
- shadow outline the next three years of your adult life
You need to know your goals loosely at this point because they shape everything. If you want to go to a T-14 and you get a 144 on your LSAT diagnostic in September of your junior year, then, I hesitate to inform you, you probably have a year of studying in front of you.
Junior fall is the time to get serious about your future and take an LSAT practice test online to see where you are at. Go from there.
Junior Spring
“The August LSAT is on time!” “The November LSAT isn’t too late!” These are just more statements that totally lack nuance! It doesn’t matter what people say; it matters where you are. Sure, if you secure your goal score in August, then the August LSAT is perfectly on time, but if you bomb the August LSAT without a good score on the books, then you will enter a law school nightmare of insecurity, chaos, and despair.
If you are not relying on merit scholarships, then the November LSAT is likely fine, but it’s generally recommended to apply early when scholarships are on the line so that your application doesn’t arrive after they’ve met their scholarship cap. Schools only have so much money, and they generally start giving it out in October. If you arrive in December with your November LSAT score… there might not be enough to go around.
These hypotheticals are merely to say that you need to get serious about your law school timeline. It’s the only one that matters.
So, I recommend trying to prep for a spring LSAT. January, April, or June are all okay. If you aim for one of these tests and find yourself falling short before, consider cancelling your registration and getting on the books for a later test. They say the best time to take the LSAT is when your practice scores reflect your goal. This is true. It’s also true that you need a score to apply, so don’t neglect timing.
Summer
If you already have a great score on the books, you deserve a standing ovation. If you don’t, do not worry. Keep studying! Prepare for August or September tests and consider October test dates.
Now is also the time to ask for letters of recommendation, start and finish your personal statement, track down transcripts, and upload them all to LSAC.org.
Make a school list. Track important dates, from scholarship deadlines to priority deadlines.
Basically, make sure you are as close as possible to a complete application.
Senior Fall
This is the time you’ve been waiting for! Applications! I’ll have to update this article when I’m done with them all. For now, good luck.