Students applying to law school are faced with the difficult task of balancing their academic and extracurricular obligations with the time-consuming process of preparing their applications.
Balancing these two things is even more important for those students still completing their undergraduate degrees, as their academic performance during this period affects their undergraduate GPAs, an extremely important factor in the admissions process.
There are several simple, yet time-consuming items that students can take care of to make the most of winter break, a time when most students have no academic obligations and can devote much more time and energy to their applications.
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Specifically, students can use this time to work on obtaining letters of recommendation, submitting transcripts, beginning to prepare financial aid applications, LSAT preparation and application essays.
— Letters of recommendation: Submitting letters of recommendations and uploading them to the Law School Admissions Council’s Credential Assembly Service is an important item to remove from your checklist early. Most undergraduate students will be requesting letters of recommendation from undergraduate professors, and now is a great time to request letters from academic recommenders.
Like students, professors will generally have more time and availability after the semester ends and will often be able to submit a letter of recommendation during winter break. Remember that it may take the CAS two or three weeks to fully process the letters of recommendation.
— Transcripts: In addition to arranging for the submission of letters of recommendation, applicants must upload transcripts to CAS and prepare written applications for each school. Just like uploading transcripts, letters of recommendation can take up to three weeks to be processed and submitted to schools. Don’t let these submissions push back your timeline for submitting your applications.
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— Financial aid applications: Completing financial aid applications is a final administrative matter that is often overlooked. These are generally separate applications that must be submitted in addition to applications for admission.
The deadlines for financial aid applications are usually in the spring or later, but, like preparing the applications for admission, require applicants to gather a lot of information about themselves. Among the paperwork generally required for financial aid applications are documentation of current financial aid status and the income tax returns of both the applicant and the applicant’s parents or guardians.
— LSAT preparation: If you are preparing for the LSAT during winter break, you should focus your time. First, spend the first couple of weeks homing in on weaknesses in all three sections. Then, spend the remaining weeks before school begins by taking four practice tests per week.
Once school starts again, roll back to three or so tests per week to allow time for school obligations, but take additional timed or untimed sections during shorter down periods in your day.
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— Work on application essays: Winter break is a great time to work on application essays, especially the personal statement. Many of my clients who are still in school elect to do the bulk of their essay work during winter break.
I would encourage you to do some brainstorming and outlining of your essays during the semester. This period of introspection doesn’t require a huge number of hours, but often requires a few weeks to make sure one has considered all potential essay topics.
Consider taking the following three concrete steps during winter break to prepare your application essays. First, use time with friends and family to help you brainstorm topics. Bouncing ideas off those who know you best will often lead to the strongest essay topics.
Second, begin the drafting process by writing long first drafts of your essays. Third, take a few days off between drafts to allow yourself to passively think about the drafts and how to improve them. Everybody writes differently, but spreading out the writing process — a luxury that winter break provides — takes the pressure off of creating a perfect essay quickly and usually results in a stronger finished product.
How are you spending your winter break to meet law school deadlines? Email me or tweet me.
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Use Winter Break to Get Ahead on Law School Applications originally appeared on usnews.com
