Law School Admissions: How to Prepare While in Undergrad

Planning for law school applications during undergrad can be tricky. You might even come into college knowing you want to go to law school after you graduate, but have no idea how to start preparing. I came into college with my sights set on going to law school and I wanted to start getting everything together for applications, but I didn’t know how. Regardless of how far along in college you are, this advice should help you to prepare!

• Search for a pre-law organization on campus. My college had a Pre-Law Association for undergrads to get information on law school applications, talk to law students, and practice LSAT questions. They also had a pre-law advisor in the career center (a law student) who provided feedback on applications and answered questions. I would recommend looking for something similar on your campus to get connected with the resources and students with similar interests.
• Plan out when you’ll be studying for and taking the LSAT. The LSAT requires roughly a few months of studying or even more if you’re taking it twice. Try to make an academic plan with your advisor/counselor to know which courses you’ll be taking and when. Having an academic plan is really helpful in order to plan an easier/lighter schedule during the time you’ll be studying for the exam. You don’t want to get into your third or fourth year of college and find you’re stuck with a tough schedule AND you have to study for the LSAT. I personally planned out a quarter of the minimum amount of units with courses that had light workloads while I studied for the LSAT. I took the LSAT in June right after my third year, in order to have extra time before applications in case I wanted to take it twice. (I speak more in depth about the LSAT in the “My experience with the LSAT” blog post, which can be found here.)
• Take note of any achievements, even the small ones. Achievements, whether academic or from your extracurriculars/job/internships, should be kept on a list somewhere. It’s good to keep a running list somewhere in your phone’s notes or on your laptop or future use in your law school resume and maybe even your personal statement!
• Extracurriculars. More is not always better. Invest your time and effort into a few organizations and clubs and work on rising up within those organizations. Try to get into a position within one of them if you’re able to! In college, I was loosely tied to a BUNCH of organizations and wish I had narrowed it down and really put some effort into just a few of them. Law schools want to see your commitment to something, so fewer organizations (for longer periods of time) is better, especially if you hold a position of some sort within the org.
• Make strong connections with your professors. Academic letters of recommendation are often required in law school applications. Pick a few professors who teach your classes throughout college and make good connections with them. It’s pretty simple. You can email them questions, go to office hours, and truly put in the effort in the classes they teach. It’s especially helpful if the professor is approachable and willing to connect with you, and you’ll find most instructors are! Make sure to maintain the connections with emails semi-frequently after you’re done with the course, or enroll in another course that they teach in order to continue interacting with them. (More on the topic of letters of rec, coming to the blog soon!)
• Choose the major you’ll enjoy, not the one you think is better for your application. Most students think they HAVE to major in political science to get into law school. Wrong! You can have any major and go to law school. (Even something STEM-related, like engineering.) I first came into college as a political science major because I thought it would be the best choice for law school. The truth is, law schools love having a diverse group of majors in their student bodies. I ended up switching to Environmental Policy (a B.S.!) despite the tough science and math courses I’d have to take. I didn’t have perfect grades in the end, but I loved the major and I still got into great law schools. Don’t confine yourself to a major just because you think thats what you’re supposed to pick. Do what you’re interested in. When I look around in class, there’s a ton of diversity in what people studied in undergrad.
• If you’re able to, get an internship. Take your first year or two of college get adjusted to school and focus on learning, and then go out and try to find an internship. And here’s a secret: it doesn’t need to be law-related! Law schools want to see you have something on your resume. This could be satisfied with a position in a club as well, but adding an internship will look great and also provide you with a supervisor for a professional letter of rec. I was a student assistant (intern) at the California Environmental Protection Agency as an undergrad, and I also interned at a public defender’s office for a short time to get an opportunity to interact with attorneys. Both opportunities provided me with letters of rec and great connections for the future. (I do recognize not everyone is able to get an internship in college, especially since many internships are unpaid. It’s only one of many paths an undergrad could take to prep for applications, and if you’re not able to get an internship, do not worry. Law schools understand this. Clubs are still great, and whatever work experience you do have will still be able to go on your law school resume!)

I hope this post helps you in your law school admissions process! As always, my tips are just suggestions and crafted from my own personal experience. Everyone is different, so definitely try to search out as many perspectives on law school admissions as possible in order to find what works for you 🙂