Applying to law school can be a tedious and tiresome undertaking for many pre-law students at Binghamton University.
According to Mary Daly, the pre-law adviser at BU, students need to concentrate not only on test preparation for the Law School Admissions Test, but also on working to keep grades up and meet all of the application requirements.
Many of the pre-law students at BU start dealing with the admissions process from the minute they enter college, Daly said.
The first and often most dreaded step of the law school admissions process is taking the LSAT. Not only are students required to take the exam, but they are required to do well in order to be competitive in law school.
Daly suggested preparing for the exam for at least two to six months and taking as many practice tests as possible.
A 2007 BU alumnus, Daniel Isaacs, who majored in psychology and philosophy, is currently in his second year at Brooklyn Law School.
Despite the challenges of the LSAT, it “is certainly a doable test,” according to Isaacs, who said he believed the LSAT to be “more stressful than hard.”
But this is easily understandable, because the exam is such a large part of an admissions application, he added.
Isaacs said he picked a minimum score when he took the exam and decided he would retake it only if he didn’t make that number.
“If you think you can do better, then definitely take it again,” Isaacs said.
Still, Daly stressed that the LSAT is not the only part of the admissions application schools take into consideration.
They will take all aspects of a student’s college career into account, such as transcripts, resumes, personal statements and letters of recommendation, Daly said.
Another important factor is a student’s extracurricular activities, which should normally include something related to the legal field, such as joining the speech and debate team, the pre-law fraternity or other such groups, beginning sophomore year.
“Your extracurricular activities should increase your skills, challenge you and show a leadership position,” Daly said.
During senior year, all of a student’s activities, their LSAT score and other qualifications will be combined into the admissions package.
Most applications for law school are on a rolling admissions basis, Daly said, meaning the sooner students get applications on the admissions desk, the better off they are.
Daly said that students should start working on their applications before getting the LSAT score. This way, all they have left to do is drop in the LSAT score for the application to be done.
She also suggested that students try to send in applications before Thanksgiving so they’re received earlier by schools that decide on a rolling basis.
Isaacs said he recommended that students apply to a good number of schools.
“Around eight schools I think is good,” Isaacs said. “A few safety schools, some good matches and couple of reach schools.”
According to Daly, there are many information sessions and programs held at BU to give students a chance to get information about law school. Other programs include several law fairs, orientation sessions for freshmen and separate information sessions for juniors and seniors.
Daly said the pre-law advisers also help students develop their personal statements.
“Students can receive help from advisers and the Writing Center for everything from deciding a topic to revising the many drafts,” Daly said.