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I'm going into (technically) my second semester of my senior year. However, I plan on doing one more year of undergrad to boost my gpa. If I'm starting my LSAT prep for the June 6 test, when would I begin applying?

3 months start is a good goal. So mid March.
EDIT: oh, you meant the application. Sorry, thought you meant LSAT prep. Should begin the APP process in September. Your goal is to submit it all by October 31st.

March 2012?

GotKazan wrote:March 2012?

2011...start your PS at least 2 months before you want to apply (which is probably sept. 1) and give professors about 2 months to submit LORs.

It would really surprise me if you couldn't figure this out on your own... but if you want to go right after your undergrad. You would apply this upcoming Sept-feb/march/april etc. when rolling admissions open. If you want to wait an additional year then the following fall. Since your still in school you may want to think strongly whether you have adequate time to prepare for the June 11 test because October 11 test would still be considered early enough for admissions and would give you the summer to prepare. Just my .02 from personal experience.

GotKazan wrote:However, I plan on doing one more year of undergrad to boost my gpa.

I'm assuming you're already aware of and have worked this out to work around the "first bachelor's degree" issue? Just wanted to throw that out there in case you weren't aware of it.

TLSanders wrote:

GotKazan wrote:However, I plan on doing one more year of undergrad to boost my gpa.

I'm assuming you're already aware of and have worked this out to work around the "first bachelor's degree" issue? Just wanted to throw that out there in case you weren't aware of it.

No, not at all. What's the issue?

GotKazan wrote:

TLSanders wrote:

GotKazan wrote:However, I plan on doing one more year of undergrad to boost my gpa.

I'm assuming you're already aware of and have worked this out to work around the "first bachelor's degree" issue? Just wanted to throw that out there in case you weren't aware of it.

No, not at all. What's the issue?

LSAC only counts the credit hours you complete toward your first bachelor's degree. So, if you graduate and continue classes after you receive your degree, LSAC won't count any of those additional credits toward your LSAC GPA.

Just make sure you don't actually file for graduation until you're done with all the classes you want to take and you'll be fine (I racked up 161 credit hours under my first bachelors degree for the same reason--degree only required 120).

If you're not taking another year, you definitely want to get all your stuff ready and polished by the time applications open - the early bird gets the worm. Even if you have to retake in October, you can submit first and have them hold for your new score. There's no problem in asking for letters of rec now, provided that you do have professors that can write something thoughtful and detailed, as opposed to a form letter.

By first degree , it means all the classes you took before they gave you the diploma.


I'm doing something similar , will take the lsat before the senior year and depending on my gpa, Will decide whether to add another year worth of classes or graduate earlier and get some work experience before applying early.


Plus that would give me enough time in case something goes wrong with the lsat , to put plan retake in to effect.

Sign up for your LSAC account and all that now. Figure out who you are going to ask to write your recommendations, and ask them by february( with the goal of having them submitted by the end of spring semester) Start prepping in march and if you have to re take prep over the summer. LOR's take a while, and can be the most unpredictable part of the process. Getting them out of the way now, puts all of the responsibility in your lap. While you are waiting for your june score, start writing your personal statement. If you have to re take, start studying again in august. Use july to finish your statement ( there are tons of people on tls who will help you proofread it). finalize your applications in september ( or after the october test if you have to retake), and send them in as soon as possible. The earilier you submit your applications, the better your chances are at being accepted and with money offered to you.

northwood wrote:Sign up for your LSAC account and all that now. Figure out who you are going to ask to write your recommendations, and ask them by february( with the goal of having them submitted by the end of spring semester) Start prepping in march and if you have to re take prep over the summer. LOR's take a while, and can be the most unpredictable part of the process. Getting them out of the way now, puts all of the responsibility in your lap. While you are waiting for your june score, start writing your personal statement. If you have to re take, start studying again in august. Use july to finish your statement ( there are tons of people on tls who will help you proofread it). finalize your applications in september ( or after the october test if you have to retake), and send them in as soon as possible. The earilier you submit your applications, the better your chances are at being accepted and with money offered to you.

I have heard its a good idea to give the LOR writers a draft of your personal statement. Obviously I don't have a personal statement written out yet for next fall, but you think its better to just get the LORs so early instead of waiting till summer?

Yes, only because of the unpredictable nature of the writers. Some may get them done quickly, while other writers will take a while to get it done. This is the one parrt of the application that is out of your hands, once you ask them to write it. YOu dont want to pester them, but you want to give them enough time to write a detailed and insightful letter. If you have a good rapport with the writers, sending them a brief outline of what you want to do, ( what you have done in the past) or your resume will help them write the letter.

Also: Since you want to get the applications complete as early as possible., this is the only semester that you have to get the letters out. You have the entire summer to perfect your personal statement, but once school ends, your professors may be very hard to get in touch with them.

^^^ I also have a question about LOR. Are there any downfalls for asking someone to write a LOR too early? Do they put a date on the letter? And would it backfire for those schools who read it by fall, as the letter would seem too old and irrelevant (If there is a date on it)? Also, how are LORs submitted? I haven't registered for LSAC.org yet so I wouldn't know, but do professors send them there and then it is stored and kept till you start applying etc? If you need multiple copies of the same exact letter for multiple schools how is that done? Sorry for the questions, I am just a bit clueless about the process.

You can keep and use the LORs for a few years. While I dont konw of the exact expiration date for each letter, generally the rule of thumb is use it within 3 years. ( IT ultimately is up to each law school) Once you sign up for a LSAC account, you willbe able to print out a form, and give it to the person, and ahve them mail it to the LSAC center. SInce you have the person send it to the center, LSAC electronically sends the letters to each school. You have to pick which letters you want to be sent, and only those letters are given to each school. I had 3 letters written on my behalf, and used them at 17 schools. that I applied to

northwood wrote:You can keep and use the LORs for a few years. While I dont konw of the exact expiration date for each letter, generally the rule of thumb is use it within 3 years. ( IT ultimately is up to each law school) Once you sign up for a LSAC account, you willbe able to print out a form, and give it to the person, and ahve them mail it to the LSAC center. SInce you have the person send it to the center, LSAC electronically sends the letters to each school. You have to pick which letters you want to be sent, and only those letters are given to each school. I had 3 letters written on my behalf, and used them at 17 schools. that I applied to

Oh okay I appreciate the info. Umm few other questions though if you don't mind me asking. Do LORs usually have a date on it thats written by the professor? I just find it weird if a professor would date it on feb for example, but then I am using it for people to read by oct and nov opposed to having the date sound more recent (written maybe in aug or sept). Or is it this expiration date you are talking about the time it has been in the LSAC center? Also, how would it work if you would like your professor to write it for a specific school? How can you then get it sent to multiple schools without having to bother your professor to write one for each specific one? Or do most schools require a general LOR instead of one directed at them?

The date on the letter doesn't matter. Your professors are your professors NOW and that's what the schools want to hear about (they're not going to be teaching you in August so the letter wouldn't be any different if written then anyway). Some people get their letters before they graduate and then work for a year or two before even applying to schools, it's easier to get them while you're still in touch and professors are still in professor mode (as opposed to summer when they may be on vacation etc). You'll also be more fresh in your professors mind right now than you will be in August when they haven't seen or spoken to you in months.

The only reason your letters "expire" is because your account with LSAC will expire 5 years from when you sign up and they're the ones who have the letter.

The way that the letters get sent to the schools is that LSAC sends them for you. So you just ask your professor to write your recommendation letter and then they send that letter to LSAC. Then when you apply you assign letters to each school and they get sent off. If you would like your professor to write it for a specific school you say, "Hey prof will you write this for X school?" and then they write the letter keeping in mind that they are writing it for that specific school. You can get a targeted letter and a general letter from the same prof, the LOR form that is sent with the letters to LSAC will distinguish them (so one form will say "For Stanford LS" and the other form will say "For All schools".

Some schools prefer to have targeted letters and if a certain school is really important to you you can get the targeted letter for that school. It's easier on you and your professors if you only do targeted letters for a school that is really important to you. For the rest, a general letter will do.

ETA: I hope this helps but just so you know, the answers to your questions are all over the forum and LSAC, please use search if it's working.

Get your shit done and apply when apps open in August/September 2011.

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