It can be heartbreaking to be denied admission to your dream law school. Before giving up, it’s worth considering whether you may be able to improve your application and reapply. The ability to persevere, and to bounce back from a setback, will serve you well in your legal career.
Law schools are disinclined to reconsider the exact same application. Thus, as a reapplicant, it is important to refresh your application materials and to show a substantial change in your candidacy.
Revising Your Law School Application
At a minimum, you should write a more compelling personal statement. There is no formal requirement to rewrite your essay, but admissions officers will have access to your previous applications, and recycling the same personal statement would appear lazy.
If you haven’t shared your essays with others, take the opportunity to solicit input. When reapplicants reach out to me as a law school admissions coach, I often find that the essays they submitted contain potential red flags, like a haughty tone or a lack of commitment to a law-related career.
[READ: How to Show You Are Committed to Law School.]
It is less important to shake up other materials, like your recommendation letters and optional essays. However, if you think you can secure stronger recommendation letters or try a different tact with your other essays, it is better to revisit those materials as well.
Be sure to carefully read the instructions when the school releases its new application. It’s not uncommon for optional essays to shift from year to year.
Unless you made a critical error on your application or applied very late in the process, a change in your personal statement alone would be unlikely to tip the scale.
Improving Your Candidacy
To have a real shot, you would need to pair a new personal statement with a more concrete change in your candidacy, like new work experience or a better LSAT score.
If you don’t anticipate a promotion in your current job, consider taking time to gain legal experience as a paralegal or volunteer at a nonprofit or government office. That may help round out your resume in the absence of other career updates.
If you feel willing and able to retake the LSAT, this is the soundest step you can take to better your odds. Even a few extra points may make the difference.
Before diving back into test prep, reflect on any past weaknesses on the test and what you can do to shore up these gaps to break through a score rut.
Reapplying More Than Once
Without a significant change in your candidacy like a substantially higher LSAT score, I would discourage applicants from applying to the same school more than twice. Many top law schools, like Harvard Law School in Massachusetts, allow applicants to apply up to three times total.
[How to Decide Where to Apply for Law School]
If your dream school is a no-go, widen your target list by choosing some new law schools to apply to. Perhaps you can find a less-selective school in a similar location, or a school with offerings like programs or legal clinics that match your career goals.
Fortunately, there is no need to aim for only the highest targets. You don’t need to get into a tippy-top law school to have a highly successful career. Instead of fixating on a few dream schools, take a fresh look at some other highly regarded law schools that may be within slightly easier reach.
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How to Reapply to Law School originally appeared on usnews.com
