Differentiation is the key to admissions—which makes intuitive sense. If a school receives 5,000 applications and admits 500, you need to positively differentiate from 4,500 other applicants. The simplest and most impactful way to do this is empirically—having an LSAT score and undergraduate GPA above both medians is always the best starting point; it automatically positively differentiates you from a large portion of the applicant pool. But most applicants are not above both medians for their entire school list, with at least one or a few "dream schools" where they will need to differentiate in areas other than the numbers to be admitted. So what are those other areas?
Our team (former law school admissions officers with 250+ years of experience) came up with the following list of ways that applicants can positively differentiate themselves in the application process. Keep in mind that this is not all-encompassing; there are thousands of ways to positively differentiate yourself, and this is just what we came up with to serve as a helpful starting point.
First, there are the concrete factors, the application components themselves.
Law School Application Components
- LSAT/GRE Score — Your high score is by far the most important factor, but also considered are the total number of takes, cancellations, other scores, and the recency of scores. This is also sometimes considered within the context of the LSAT College Mean and the applicant’s score/score band in comparison.
- LSAC-Calculated Cumulative uGPA — This is the most important academic factor, as it is what goes into the school's statistics for calculating their medians.
- Timing and Context — When did you apply? What does the overall applicant pool for the school look like at that time? Is applicant volume up or down? Is the school on track to meet their target medians/other class targets (e.g. in-state vs. out-of-state proportions for public universities, gender balance, diversity), and do you help them reach one or more of those targets?
- Diversity — Can you contribute a perspective to the class that is traditionally underrepresented in law school and in the legal field? Do you bring some other form of diversity to the class, such as military experience/veteran status, socioeconomic status, having an unusual or difficult upbringing, geographic diversity, having lived with a disability, or having gone through some other hardship in life? These factors were once primarily assessed through the "Diversity Statement," but more recently, law schools have been transitioning to broader prompts known as "Life Experience/Perspective Essays" (or "E/P essays"). You can read about those new prompts (and how to handle them) here.
- Character & Fitness Issues — What matters here is not only the actual severity of the C&F issues, though that absolutely does matter, but also how you address them and whether you take responsibility for them or not. Also considered are how long ago the incident(s) occurred and whether there have been repeated occurrences similar in nature. If you have a character and fitness issue and are wondering how to address it (and how it will impact your applications), check out this video.
- Personal Statement — A personal statement can be done well in a number of different ways (see our examples of great personal statements here), so we won't outline what exactly has to go into a PS to make it great, but ultimately, admissions officers read the personal statement to see whether you can express yourself well and whether you have the self-awareness and maturity to discuss experiences you've had and then reflect on how they have changed you in some way, ultimately presenting yourself in a positive light. Successful personal statements often reflect one or more of the qualities listed in the second part of this blog. You can listen to our Status Check with Spivey episode doing a deep-dive into law school personal statements (with four former law school admissions officers) here.
- Resume — Law schools assess a number of factors when looking at applicants' resumes. Do you have work experience, and if so how much, and in what field(s)? If you've been working for a while, does your experience show increasing levels of responsibility over time? Did you work during college? Have you had meaningful internship or other summer experiences? Were you involved on your undergraduate campus, and in what capacity? Do you have leadership experience? Have your experiences equipped you with skills useful for law school and the legal profession? What are your interests?
- Full Academic Transcripts — In addition to the LSAC uGPA, also considered is the greater context of that GPA: the transcripts. This includes trends in grades, where you went to school, how others did at your university (cumulative GPA percentile rank), major(s)/minor(s) and what sorts of classes you took, how long ago you graduated, withdrawals, whether you transferred, whether you had one particularly bad semester, and whether there were gaps in your education. Also considered is any graduate education, how you performed academically in that setting, and the other details of that (where you attended, how recently, what you studied, etc.).
- LSAT/GPA Addenda — If one of these is written, what the applicant says and how they say it matters. Does it sound like they're making excuses? Were there valid reasons behind the obstacles they faced? If there was a personal or health issue that impeded their ability to perform, has that issue since resolved, or does the applicant otherwise have a plan to be able to do well in law school despite those issues?
- Interview — If the law school offers interviews, they will evaluate how you perform in that context. How do you do under pressure? Can you think on your feet? Do you present yourself well in a professional setting? How would you do in an interview for legal employment? Schools look for mature, self-aware, thoughtful answers as well as general interpersonal demeanor. Additionally, if a law school offers interviews to all applicants (vs. discretionary invitations), just the fact of whether you chose to do an interview or not gives them some amount of information about how highly you prioritize their law school and whether you are more or less likely to attend.
- "Why X" Essays/Other Optional Essays — How sincerely interested are you in the law school? Did you take the time to write any optional essays? Do you have any ties to the law school, the greater university, or even the city/state where it's located? If not, did you take the time to carefully research the law school and connect some of its classes/professors/programs/clinics to your own experience/interests? Note that this is less of a factor at some of the very top schools.
- Letters of Recommendation — Most of the time, letters of recommendation are from perfectly good choices and say perfectly nice things. Letters of recommendation can make a negative difference when the applicant solicits a recommendation from someone who’s a big name but doesn’t really know them, a professor who gave them an A but doesn’t have anything else to say about them, or the rare negative letter.
- LSAT Writing Sample — The LSAT writing sample will sometimes be considered, especially if an admissions officer has concerns about your writing/language ability.
Second, there are the less concrete factors, the overall skills and traits that law school admissions officers are looking for throughout the application. These don't necessarily show up in one particular spot on the application, but they are absolutely assessed and considered by law school admissions officers.
Other Positive Law School Admissions Factors
- Employability — This is somewhat an amalgamation of many of the characteristics listed below, but it is very common for aspects of the application to strongly convey this trait or a lack of it, and for that to be a significant positive or negative for the application. The most employable applicants are those whose applications convey maturity, professionalism, and at least some indication of their goals and why they are hoping to go to law school. Other factors that can contribute to an applicant's perceived employability include work experience/past job performance, how well you do in an interview, and even things like eligibility for the patent bar.
- Reasoning for Going to Law School — How well-thought-out is your decision to attend law school? This doesn't necessarily need to be conveyed through any one particular part of the application, but from reading the application as a whole, the admissions officer should be able to understand, to some degree, where you are coming from and where you hope to be headed.
- Writing Skills — Every written component of an ideal application should be clear, concise, grammatically correct, mature, and informative.
- Professionalism — Professionalism is conveyed in both form and content. In your essays, do you use appropriate, well-formatted headers and titles? Are fonts and spacing consistent across documents? Is the tone throughout your application appropriate and professional, avoiding being sarcastic, cynical, callous, or overly casual?
- Maturity and Self-Awareness — Maturity is an especially important trait to convey in your application if you are going to law school straight from college, but for any applicant, it is important that your materials reflect a level of emotional and intellectual maturity and understanding of yourself.
- Leadership — Have you held positions with genuine responsibility/leadership (through volunteering, extracurricular activities, or employment)?
- Judgment — Do you display judgment in what you have chosen to include in your application? Are all of your statements appropriate, necessary, and concise? Do you put your best foot forward in all aspects of your application?
- Attention to Detail — Did you pay attention to the format of your phone number on the application form? Did you leave blank sections that you could have filled in? Are there typos in your application? Just one or two of these small mistakes probably aren't a big deal, but admissions officers do notice them, and if you have a bunch, it will likely convey sloppiness/lack of attention to detail.
- Authenticity — A great personal statement doesn't have to talk about an extraordinary experience or an event of massive importance, but it does have to be sincere. Essays that seem inauthentic or forced have a negative effect on the application. Did study abroad really change your life? Did (insert pop culture reference here) really influence you to pursue a law degree?
- Well-Roundedness — This can be especially showcased in the interests section of the resume, or in any optional essay/short answer prompt that asks about your life outside of work or school. Do you have different things going on, or are you just focused on one aspect of your life? What have you done outside of your comfort zone? How have you challenged yourself? What do you do in your free time?
- General Likability — Admissions officers want to admit people who they like, who will add to the law school community in a positive way. They want to build a 1L class that will enjoy their time together, both working together collaboratively in the classroom and making meaningful connections outside of it. Will you contribute to that goal?