Law School

Freshman and Sophomore year:

• Select a major in a field that both intersts you and allows you to excel academically.
• Begin to form relationships with professors, lecturers, and TAs so that they will know your work well enough to serve as recommenders in the future.
• Explore your career interests by seeking summer jobs or internships.

Junior Year:

• Meet with an advisor or the Career Center staff to assess you academic, extracurricular, and work experiences and to discuss the application process.
• Begin prepering for the LSAT; if you are ready, register for the June test administration.
• Secure a summer job or internship, if possible, in a law–related field.
• Research Law Schools and compile a list of tentative schools at www.gradschools.com.

Senior Year

• Register for with the Law School Admission Council site at www.LSAC.org to begin your application process. Have transcripts from all undergraduate institutions you have attended sent to your file and review for accuracy.
• Make sure your report is correct.
• Ask potential recommendation writers if they would be willing to write letters on your behalf. Provide them with the recommendation links/websites or the schools’ forms and sufficient information for detailed letters.
• Make arrangements to have dean’s certifications sent to schools which require them.
• Take the LSAT in October if you did not take the test in June.
• Begin drafting and revising your personal statement.
• Meet with an advisor who will help you assess the strength of your application in relation to the schools you are considering. Request critique of your personal statement draft.
• Complete application by early November.
• Take the LSAT in December if you did not take it previously or are retaking the test.
• Check with schools to make sure your files are complete.
• Complete the FAFSA and other need analysis forms such as Need Access as well as any institutional financial aid applications as soon after January 1st as possible.
• Write a follow–up letter to schools to update your application and express you continued interest in the school.
• Have financial aid files sent from Hood to all schools to which you are applying.
• Meet with your advisor in the spring to assess your options as schools respond to you.
• Take appropriate action on acceptances, wait–list status, and financial aid packages.
• Before leaving campus, have a final transcript sent to the law school you plan to attend and/or to any schools still considering your application.