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Christina’s passion for coaching began when she started informally coaching several friends and current law students through the application process. She is experienced with helping students draft and edit compelling personal statements, build strong resumes, and addendums, and write excellent diversity statements. Additionally, she has helped several students prepare for their law school interviews and has also worked with prospective students to help them secure thousands of dollars in scholarships through scholarship negotiation with schools and by applying to outside scholarship opportunities.
Hello, hello. Welcome, welcome. So, I’ll give everybody a few minutes to hop into the room and get settled. Maybe a minute or two. We’ll do a sound check on our end. Christina, I can see you, I can hear you.
Hi, everyone. I’m Christina. I am a third-year law student at Northwestern. We’re going to take a minute, but I can hear you and see you as well. I’m excited to do this webinar.
Fantastic. Okay, in the meantime, I’d love to take a moment to go over some housekeeping rules. We’re looking at running this webinar for about 45 minutes. We’ll spend half an hour dedicated to the presentation, and of course, we’ll leave some time at the end for questions and answers. With that being said, I just want to direct you to the Q&A box on the side. Please feel free to drop in your questions, and we’ll have Christina answer them at the end.
Also, this webinar is being recorded, and you will be receiving a copy of it, I believe, in two or three days, directly to your inbox. We encourage you to rewatch it, share it with your friends, family, other students who you think it might be valuable for, including the ones in your own club.
Again, we are Juris Education, a law school admissions consulting firm committed to helping ambitious pre-law students, such as yourselves, get accepted to the nation’s most prestigious institutions. We’re extremely passionate about breaking down higher education barriers and providing aspiring legal professionals with expert insights they need to strategically position themselves as the ultimate law school applicant.
And with that being said, I wanted to hop into tonight’s webinar guide for pre-law students. So, a little bit of an agenda:
Before we dive into navigating the pre-law landscape, Christina, do you want to take over and say a little bit more about yourself?
Yeah, so I’m going to talk about the journey to law school. It definitely starts in your undergrad years. I started thinking about law school before I graduated undergrad, but I still took two years in between. And you can obviously do both ways.
Again, my name is Christina Aldime. I am a third-year JD/MBA at Northwestern, and we’ll kind of talk about my experience as we walk through this webinar and touch on some key points that I think are important for people to start thinking about. And we’ll take questions at the end.
The importance of pre-law preparation: Make sure that you’re prepared to submit your application when you’re ready to go. There are a lot of decisions to be made about whether you want to go to law school, things about the application that, if you’re not thinking ahead, you will not be able to do as easily.
For example, if you know you want to go to law school, you might want to think about keeping in touch with professors so you can get letters of recommendation. Thinking about the classes that you want to take, think about the internships you want to have on your resume. Those are the kinds of things that you think about as a pre-law student.
Law school does not require any courses whatsoever. I know a lot of people who do political science, psychology, history, philosophy, English, and criminal justice. I say, do the subject that’s most interesting to you.
Obviously, some of these majors can be super helpful in the legal field just based on the knowledge that you have. But I say, do a major or learn something that’s interesting to you, or you feel like you can do your best, and you can connect with your professors and connect with the field because you’ll get better grades that way. Grades are a huge part of your law school application. Don’t do a major because you’ve heard it’s good for law school. They don’t require anything. Do something that will help you be your best self and maybe something that will help you later on, especially something that will help you get the internships that you might be interested in or subject matters that you think are interesting.
So, on your law school application, there will definitely be opportunities to highlight your leadership opportunities, any internships you’ve done, and just maybe giving law schools the opportunity to see you as a well-rounded candidate and someone who has considered the legal field or has some kind of connection or some sort of insight into why you want to go into the legal field.
And that could look like a mock trial, that can look like student government, that could look like providing support to your professors who might need help in research, that could look like doing legal internships, working for the district attorney’s office, working for the state attorney general. You have several summers available to you in your undergrad years. You could definitely take one, or even during the semester, do an internship that exposes you to the legal fields. I think that would be a really great way to signal to law schools that you’ve thought long and hard about the legal field and the types of jobs that you might want to do after you graduate.
So, we talked a lot about internships and exposure already and how it could help signal to law schools that you’re serious about going to law school, but it can also be a great way to build legal connections. In the legal field, networking is everything. Even when you apply to school, when you’re looking for jobs, and figuring out what you want to do during your law school summers and post-graduation, networking is a big, big part of your journey as a law student and even throughout your career as a lawyer because you want to build those connections, you want to see what’s out there.
You know, your mind can change. You can come into law school and think, “I want to do one thing,” but you end up wanting to do something else, and you want to have the network that can kind of share the knowledge and talk to you about what kind of jobs are out there, how to achieve your goals, and just kind of mentors and sponsors who are willing to write you letters of recommendation for a job and kind of let you know what’s what in the legal field or even at a company you want to work for.
Okay, so now we’ve talked a little bit about what you can do to prepare, but let’s talk a little bit about the law school application process. To apply to law school, you have to submit proof of your undergraduate degree. That typically looks like having your school send out your transcripts, and there is a process for that. I promise it’s through your school’s portal, and they’ll be able to put it on LSAC.
Something that’s not on this slide: LSAC is where your application is populated. That’s where you pay for your law school applications, that’s where everything is housed, and that’s the company that essentially communicates to the law schools for you. They get your degree, they get your LSAT score, you upload your personal statements, your letters of recommendation, your resume, and all those things.
Outside of your transcript and proof of your degree, you will have to take the LSAT or the GRE. We’ll definitely come back to talking more about both of those exams, why they’re important, and which one you should take.
Your personal statement is something to show a little bit more about who you are, things that aren’t measured by the numbers or the grades that are on your resume or your transcript, and to give the law schools a bigger picture of the candidate you will be coming into law school, the type of person they’ll be accepting.
Your letters of recommendation are letters on your behalf, written by your professors or your supervisor at work. Again, you can apply to law school straight from undergrad, or you can apply years after you’ve gained work experience. Both approaches absolutely work; it just changes what your application might look like.
Lastly, your resume. Earlier, we talked about leadership positions and showing who you are on campus. If you plan on going directly from undergrad to law school, the kind of leadership positions and the work that you do as an undergrad really matter because that’s what you’ll be able to fill your resume with. The jobs that you do, the internships that you participate in—that’s what the law schools will look at, and again, also the law firms, because once you start law school, you’ll want to have summer internships.
You won’t have time to do much once you start law school and start sending your resume to employers. So, maybe your first summer. It’s important to build those foundations from your undergrad. And of course, even a couple of years out, if you start working, it’s important to continue showing leadership and advocacy, or whatever points or traits about yourself that you want to highlight in the application process.
So, research and preparation. This is especially important if you want to go directly from undergrad into law school. Obviously, if you want to take a couple of years, you can put this off a little bit, but it’s just as important. Whenever you’re ready to apply, this is something you should definitely do.
You want to explore law schools. Where do you want to live? What kind of career do you want to have? What are your academic goals? What are your personal goals? You just want to look at what schools have to offer and give yourself a sense of what those schools are looking for—their admissions criteria. Do you meet the GPA? What kind of LSAT or GRE scores are they looking for? Who do you know that’s best positioned to write you letters of recommendation? Do they have more than one essay prompt?
Some schools just ask for a personal statement, while others have a personal statement and secondary essays. You’ll need to answer questions like, “Why our school?” and you must have an answer. Getting a sense of what those schools might require is important, so you can plan out the application process.
Lastly, you want to consider the type of school you want to go to, the atmosphere, the faculty, the programs. And of course, that goes into more nitty-gritty details once you’ve decided you’re ready to go to law school. But it’s something to think about as you narrow down the schools you might apply to, so you’re not applying too broadly and can focus on the applications that really matter.
So, you register for the LSAT through LSAC. I mentioned LSAC earlier—it’s the Law School Admission Council that houses everything. It houses your applications and your LSAT score, and it’s where you upload your resume and your personal statement, as well as any other statements you might need to write. You’ll be able to enroll, and they’ll give you all the details about what you need to do moving forward. You’ll also be able to pay, and that portal will be your best friend throughout the entire application process.
So, when you think about getting into law school, the first thing that comes to mind is the LSAT. Taking the LSAT, scoring on the LSAT. Lately, schools have also been accepting the GRE, so you can think about taking that exam too. That decision depends on your strengths, as the two exams are very different. We’ll get into that later.
When you look at the LSAT, a lot of schools post their median scores. If you know what schools you want to attend, you’ll know what scores you’re shooting for. To be honest, you want to aim as high as possible and give yourself time to retake the test if needed. Some schools may consider your highest score, even if you didn’t do so well the first time.
Okay, I know we’ll talk more about the GRE versus the LSAT later on, so I’ll just continue for now. When you sign up for LSAC, that’s where all your materials are housed. They also have a service where they will send out everything the law schools need to have. That’s where you’ll pay for some of your applications.
Each school requires a fee to apply, and depending on your LSAT score and how long you’ve had it, some schools might send you fee waivers based on your percentile. Additionally, some schools might give you a fee waiver if you reach out to them, attend their events, or contact the admissions council. There are also need-based fee waivers you can apply for, if necessary, and that’s all covered on LSAC.
Back to the LSAT. This is the structure and format of the LSAT:
As you can see here, they’re doing away with the logic games section starting in August 2024. Some people may not have to deal with that, which might make things easier. Some people love logic games, while others think it’s a waste of time. Some love the logical reasoning section, and most people have been doing reading comprehension their whole lives. There’s also always one unscored section, which the test-makers use to try out new questions. You won’t know which section is unscored, so do your best on the entire exam. There’s also a writing sample included, which you’ll take as part of the LSAT.
The LSAT scoring ranges from 120 to 180. It’s based on the number of questions you answer correctly. There’s no penalty for incorrect answers. Your raw score (the number of correct answers) is converted into a score within that range. The scale changes from year to year and exam to exam, depending on who’s taking the test and how hard the exam is. However, there are some good scales available that give you a sense of how many questions you need to answer correctly to achieve a particular score range.
The LSAT is administered several times throughout the year. You should register for your preferred date, time, and location in advance, as these testing centers fill up quickly. If you want to take the test at a nearby site without having to travel far, register early. The LSAT is offered at different times of day, sometimes in the morning or early afternoon. It’s up to you to decide when your brain is working best and when you typically prepare for the exam. That will give you a better sense of what time to take the test.
There are also accommodations available, and that’s something you should look into very early to make sure your needs are met for any disabilities, so there are no surprises on test day.
I’ll stay here for a little bit and talk about the GRE. Many law schools are now accepting the GRE because it’s the exam a lot of other graduate programs require. I think a lot of schools are seeing that the GRE can be an accurate measure of how well you could do based on your score. However, the data isn’t as concrete as LSAT data, as law schools have historically taken the LSAT. In the past few years, though, the GRE has become something law schools are starting to accept.
If you’re considering a dual-degree program, like a JD/MBA or another combination, you may be required to take the GRE or GMAT for other degrees. So, you should think about which exam makes the most sense based on the programs you’re looking into. Are you applying to more than one grad school program? You need to make that consideration based on your application strategy and also what you’re good at.
They’re removing the logic games section from the LSAT, but if you felt that logic games weren’t your strength, you might prefer the GRE because it includes math and other subjects not covered on the LSAT. This could be better suited to your skill set. So, understanding what each test covers and using that knowledge to your advantage is important.
So, you want to start your application early. Obviously, I think applications open in September. The earlier you get your application in, the easier it is to get into school.
That being said, do not sacrifice the quality of your application to get it in by September 1st. October is okay. I would say, before Thanksgiving is awesome, just because there are people doing early decision and all those things, so you're not really going to get an answer that quickly. But trying to get it in as soon as possible can only help you.
And to do that, to submit it early, you have to start your application early. You can’t start, you know, in the last week of August and think you’re going to submit it in September. You won’t be ready. It requires a lot of moving pieces, so you should definitely start much, much earlier so that once September rolls around, you’re ready to just press submit.
LSAC opens early, and you can have things on the site earlier on and wait until you can actually start the individual applications. But you can start putting your application materials on the LSAC portal.
Again, do your research—do your research on the schools, where you want to live, what you’re interested in. And research not only focuses on the numbers or what LSAT or GPA the school is looking for, but also what the alumni are saying about the schools. Research is very important in terms of word of mouth, and the people who have come from that school—how are they doing? What are they doing? Do they feel supported at that school? Talking to them through LinkedIn or reaching out to the admissions committee of that school can give you a sense of who has come out of the school and why they love the school they attended.
Focus on your grades and test scores. These are super important—one of the biggest deciding factors for who gets into what law school. A lot of schools post their median scores for both grades and test scores. You can get a sense of where you stand just by looking it up on their website, and there are a lot of websites that compile the information in one place for a ton of schools. So, definitely look those up.
You want to personalize your application. When you’re thinking about drafting your application or the different pieces of it, you want to think, "What do I want the admissions committee to know about me after they’ve read my application? And have I reinforced that thing—whatever it is?" It could be maybe three points: "I want them to know that I’m adaptive," or "I want them to know that I’m passionate about advocacy," or "I want them to know that I’m scrappy." However you want to describe yourself, have you shown that in your application and reinforced it through every part of it? Have you shown it through your transcript, your resume, and the kinds of jobs you’ve taken? Then continue to reinforce it with your personal statement and the story that you want to tell.
That’s how you’re able to build a bigger picture and present a more well-rounded candidate than someone who’s just a GPA and an LSAT score.
Letters of recommendation are also part of the picture. Who can best speak to the narrative that you want to show the law schools? And who are the professors who can highlight the traits you are trying to communicate to the admissions committee?
I know some people might want to get a letter of recommendation from someone who might be a director or someone higher up at school or work, but if they don’t know your work and haven’t worked closely with you, the letter will read that way. They won’t be able to say as much. They won’t be able to say, "I have spent a lot of time with this person. I know the way they work. I know their capabilities, and you'd be lucky to have them at your law school."
It’s better to get someone you’ve genuinely worked with, who has immense respect for you, and who wants to see you take the next step in your journey, rather than someone who kind of knows you and is okay with writing the letter but will likely use a template and doesn’t have concrete examples to say, "This person has been my student for two years. This person has worked for me for this amount of time and has made my life better in these ways."
Be genuine. Be yourself. You want to be accepted for who you are. Honestly, being more genuine is the best way to get the law schools to love you or want you at their school. A lot of these schools have an interview process, whether in person or virtually, and you want to be genuine in order for them to want you and accept you into their school.
Stay organized. Super important. There are so many moving parts. You’re writing a personal statement, and let’s say you’re applying to 10 different schools. You have this one personal statement that you might change slightly depending on the school, but it’s largely the same thing. The last thing you want to do is send the wrong personal statement to the wrong school, or send the wrong supplemental essay to the wrong school.
What that communicates is that you’re not organized, that you don’t care about that school, and that everyone is getting a cookie-cutter template. You want to make sure things are labeled correctly and that things are being sent in a way that makes you look organized. Once you start making careless mistakes like submitting the wrong document, no matter what you try to communicate to the schools, that’s going to be a glaring red flag, especially when you’re competing against a lot of other students who may have the same grades and LSAT scores that you do.
Prepare for interviews. This also ties into being genuine. You want to be genuine, but you also want to be prepared for your interviews. When the time comes, you want to be able to accurately speak to the application that you spent so long preparing.
There are a lot of methods you can use to prepare for interviews. For example, you can look up common interview questions online. I go to Northwestern, and I had to interview. It was definitely a process. I found the questions I thought they might ask me, I wrote answers for them, and I practiced. It’s important to practice so you know what you’re going to say, so you don’t sound like you’re unprepared. But you definitely don’t want to sound rehearsed, and that’s where preparation and being genuine come together.
When you talk to someone on the admissions committee or an alum, or whoever they choose to interview you, you want them to be able to say, "This is a person we want at our school."
Stay positive. There is a lot of information out there, and a lot of people are applying for law school. They’re super stressed out about it. It is a long process. The exams are exhausting. There are so many moving parts, and it’s expensive. You really want to get into the school of your choice, but sometimes it doesn’t always happen. You might end up on a waitlist or not get the scores you want.
There are so many things that could happen in the law school application process that can be difficult, but it’s important to stay positive. It’s important to keep your head up and keep moving. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
The way you can continue to be successful and get through that marathon is by staying positive and remembering that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. You want to go to law school. You want to do this. And this is just one hurdle or one step in that process. What will be, will be, and you will get accepted to the school of your choice, especially if you’re prepared, do your research, stay organized, and start early.
Thank you so much. Have a great afternoon.
Bye!
