Law school admissions decisions are based on numerous factors. Historically, strong undergraduate grades and high scores on the Law School Admission Test, commonly referred to as the LSAT, have been chief among them.
But applicants whose numbers don’t match those of their dream schools still have a chance to prove themselves in other ways. “Soft” factors like life and work experience, extracurricular involvement, diverse backgrounds, leadership positions held and the quality of recommendation letters can help law schools determine if an applicant is a good investment.
“Every year, applicants get into schools that are reaches,” says Mike Spivey, founder of Spivey Consulting, a law school admissions consulting firm.
Such factors may be even more important if schools move away from emphasizing LSAT scores. In recent years, some schools have started accepting the Graduate Record Exam, or GRE, in lieu of the LSAT. And in November, the American Bar Association voted to allow ABA-accredited schools to stop requiring the LSAT or other standardized tests for admission, starting in fall 2025. Though the decision is not final, some experts say this move could give schools more flexibility in choosing who they admit.
Law schools are trying to determine if applicants can master the legal writing and analytical skills they will need and are looking for students with potential, says Katherine Scannell, vice dean for institutional success at Washington University Law School in Missouri.
“When you’re applying to a top law school, we want to make sure that when you’re here, you can succeed,” Scannell says. “If an applicant is deciding not to report an LSAT score, those soft factors are going to be very important.”
Washington University allows students to redact their LSAT score or undergraduate GPA in their application, Scannell says, adding that those numbers don’t always represent an applicant’s potential.
[Avoid 5 Common Law School Application Cliches]
Still, building a successful application is no easy task, experts say, and applying to law school can get expensive, which means applicants need to be strategic about when and where they apply. Here are four tips on how to choose the right reach schools and make an effective sales pitch.
Study the Admissions Statistics
For now, law school admissions is still very numbers-based, says Anna Ivey, founder of Ivey Consulting and a former dean of admissions at the University of Chicago Law School.
Applicants can find the median LSAT score and GPA of a school’s previously admitted class on the school’s website, Spivey says. Admissions consultants advise applicants to see whether their scores and grades fall within the 25th-to-75th percentile range at their dream schools or near those target numbers.
The LSAT is scored on a range from 120 to 180. Scores in the high 160s are above the median among admitted students at most ranked law schools in the U.S. News Best Law Schools rankings, but more prestigious and selective programs typically enroll students with a score of 170 or higher.
There’s no exact method to convert GRE scores to LSAT scores, and vice versa, but law schools tend to compare the two based on percentile. If an applicant’s GRE score is in the 90th percentile, that will roughly translate to a 90th-percentile LSAT score, generally around 165. Educational Testing Service, the nonprofit organization that designs and administers the GRE, provides a tool to convert GRE scores into equivalent LSAT scores.
Understanding how your score compares to a school’s average can help you decide whether it’s worth it to apply, says Demi Ongolo, senior consultant at Juris Education, a law school admissions consulting firm. Another tool to help determine that is the Law School Admission Council’s LSAT/GPA calculator, where applicants can plug in their data to see their odds of admission to a particular school.
That comes with a disclaimer about its limitations, though. Additionally, some schools — including top schools like Yale University, Stanford University and Columbia University, as well as some lower-ranked schools — have opted out of including their names in the results.
While the tool can be used as a self-assessment, keep in mind that the result is far from exact, Ivey says.
Write a Compelling Personal Statement
Admissions experts say a strong personal statement is a must for a reach school, and the most compelling essays offer insight into why an applicant wants to study law, how the applicant thinks and the motivations for choosing a particular school.
Your resume and transcript should highlight academic achievements. “And then that frees up your essay to talk about back story, to talk about your motivations, where that fire in the belly comes from,” Ivey says.
[READ: 12 Law Schools Where Students Had the Highest LSAT Scores.]
Space is limited, typically to two pages double-spaced, Ivey says. Students need to figure out how to work within those limits while still conveying what they want to about themselves and why they want to attend that particular law school.
“As an applicant, if you want to stand out, you better have that figured out,” Ivey says. “Because a lot of people applying to law school don’t, and that will affect the outcome for you.”
Highlight Your Genuine Self
Spivey’s main message to applicants is simple: Be yourself. Don’t try to oversell or over-impress on the application, he says. If test scores are low, don’t try to overcompensate.
“Sincerity is the greatest sales point,” says Spivey, who previously worked in admissions at Vanderbilt University Law School. “The No. 1 thing employers look for when they hire people is sincerity. Well guess what admissions is? It’s no different. It’s essentially a hiring process.”
Applicants shouldn’t shy away from discussing their failures either, says Scannell. That can be another avenue to showing sincerity, she says, and it helps schools understand an applicant’s full story.
Spivey reflected on a law school candidate when he was at Vanderbilt , who had maintained a 4.0 GPA but had LSAT scores in the low 150s, “which is the classic phenotype of a reach, because he was so far below our LSAT median,” Spivey says. “Normally we would have a lot of people with 4.0s and a 165 LSAT.”
Although the student had no law experience, he came across as genuine and had life experience, such as working as a bouncer to earn money during college. His unfamiliar path and personality were intriguing, Spivey says, and the student was admitted off the waitlist — and ended up graduating in the top 10% of his class and becoming a major donor.
Spivey says he also worked with a client who interned with NFL Films, though she knew little about football. He appreciated that the student challenged herself in an unfamiliar environment, and it became the subject of her personal statement. She eventually got into the University of Michigan Law School, he says.
These are examples of applicants who differentiated themselves from the rest of the pool, Spivey says.
“You’ve got to be detail-oriented and a professional, but also if you have something that just really stands out, then you’re going to be the name that the admissions committee remembers later in the cycle,” he says.
Cultivate a Relationship With Schools
Another big piece of the puzzle, Spivey says, is maintaining a good working relationship with admissions officers.
Law schools are assessing applicants on their personality as well as academics, so leaving admissions officers with a good impression can go a long way. He cautions against being “hyper salesy” and instead engaging in what he calls “professional persistence.”
He encourages applicants to attend forums or fairs, visit the school in person to meet admissions officers and keep them updated about a new job or a higher score on a retake of the LSAT.
[6 Deciding Factors in Law School Admissions]
Not only does an in-person visit allow admissions officers to put a face with a name, but Ongolo says people tend to stay and work in the area where they attend law school. Knowledge of that city or region can help in admissions, and applicants can see what their life might be like for those three years or beyond.
“I think that’s critical, especially when students write those essays about why they want to go to this school,” Ongolo says. “The admissions office can tell that you just Googled a couple of things about the school, versus if you went there to actually experience something and you write about how you see your life unfolding in this place.”
It’s important to not be overbearing or annoying with follow-up messaging, Spivey says.
“Over time, if you can develop a professional relationship — not abusive, not too many emails — and just stay in touch and meet with decision-makers, they will remember you,” he says.
While these tips can help, experts caution that self-assessment remains a vital component of the process.
“Reach means there’s a possibility, but you should still be realistic,” Ongolo says. “I have seen applicants where the numbers are completely far away and they set all of their eggs in that basket. Just be encouraged that it might not be the best fit for you in that sense, but it doesn’t mean you can’t have a great law school experience and a great legal future.”
Searching for a law school? Get our complete rankings of Best Law Schools.
More from U.S. News
Leverage Summer Internships for Law School Applications
Plan for Law School as an Undergraduate
Sell Yourself to Reach Law Schools originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 12/30/22: This story was previously published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
