Application Preparation

• Attend our annual fall Law Fair and other events to meet with law schools. 
• XploreJD, where applicants can review and weight law schools based on your selected priorities, such as location, cost, enrollment, diversity, curriculum, and outcomes.
• Std 509 profiles of ABA-approved law schools, where applicants can examine tuition and fees, first-time bar passage rates, total 1L enrollment, scholarships, and more.
• Analytix, where applicants can analyze, research, and compare law school specific information.
• Law School Transparency, where applicants can compare schools based on employment outcomes, admissions and more.
• MaxPre-Law, where applicants can explore resources designed for aspiring law students.
• ABA Guide to Pre-Law, where prospective students can see the ABA's recommendations for pre-law students. 

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The digital LSAT is a standardized exam required for law school admissions.  An LSAT score is valid for 5 years. LSAT scores are typically issued within a three week timeframe.

Offered multiple times per year, the digital LSAT consists of four 35 min. sections of multiple choice questions measuring reading comprehension, analytical reasoning, and logical reasoning along with a 35 min. writing section. Completed after you take the LSAT, but before you submit your application, the unscored writing sample is forwarded to law schools for review. 

Applicants should prepare for the LSAT at least 3-6 months for 15-20 hours per week in advance of their desired exam date. LSAC offers free resources for preparing for the LSAT.  Taking at least 15-20 practice tests ahead of the actual LSAT exam is helpful. 

Avoid taking the digital LSAT multiple times as law schools see every attempt, even the cancelled scores. While candidates may take LSAT five times in a single testing year and/or sevem times within the current and five past testing years, taking the LSAT multiple times may raise questions about professional judgement and academic discipline. For more detailed information on LSAT preparation, refer to this link.

To determine the target LSAT scores for schools of interest, candidates may consult the LSAC Official Guide to ABA-Approved Law Schools or the ABA Standard 509 form.

Law school admissions requires official transcripts from every higher education institution attended.  Applicants are responsible for sending transcripts from every U.S. school where they have received college credit, including dual enrollment during high school, summer school at a community college as well as study abroad programs if you attended the foreign university for a year or longer. LSAC will calculate a cumulative GPA based on all of your undergraduate coursework, not only your time at UT Austin. For more detailed instructions on how to submit your transcript from UT Austin, refer to this link. The LSAC Credential Assembly Services (CAS) website has more information on how to request transcripts from all of your attended institutions. 

A resume included in law school applications serves a different purpose than a resume for a prospective employer. Aspiring law students should prepare an expanded resume that highlights their education, academic accomplishments, professional experiences, leadership, community service, and extracurricular activities. Plan to work with a pre-law career coach to review your admissions materials. Your appointment can include feedback for your personal statement, resume, and other optional statements to ensure that your entire application effectively conveys your strengths.

Students applying to law school during their senior year (and recent college graduates) should plan to submit at least two academic letters of recommendation to LSAC's Credential Assembly Service (CAS). Letters should detail applicant’s academic performance, intellectual engagement, maturity, writing and research skills, knowledge and interest in law, analytical and reasoning skills, among other attributes relevant to law school. Applicants should provide recommenders with adequate time (1-2 months) to prepare the letters well in advance of application deadlines. Academic letters of recommendation written by academic faculty including professors, instructors, TAs and GAs are strongly preferred. Letters from employment supervisors who can directly speak to an applicant’s leadership ability, professionalism, work ethic, problem solving and critical thinking skills, and interest in and knowledge of the legal profession are acceptable. Consult LSAC’s CAS website for more details on how to submit your letters of recommendation. 

A personal statement should be customized based on each law school's application specifications. Most personal statements are 2-3 pages long (size 11 or 12 font, double-spaced). All other components being equal, a well-written personal statement can positively differentiate candidates from other similarly situated candidates. Before writing the personal statement, applicants should carefully consider about what they would like the admissions committee to know about them by reflecting on their values and motivations for applying to law school. The personal statement is not the space to address information that is already reflected in a resume, undergraduate record or optional addendum/essays. For additional guidance on how to craft your personal statement, refer to the Writing Element Guide.

As the personal statement is a writing sample for entry into a professional school, a statement should not contain any typos or grammar and punctuation errors. Meet with a pre-law career coach to discuss potential topics and/or if you need assistance with substantive reviews or edits of your personal statement. Due to the high volume of students currently applying, appointments for written elements review are limited to 2 per student, drafts must be emailed at least 24 hours in advance of the appointment. Please be advised that all University employees are legally required to report any Title IX violations referenced in your admissions essays to UT's Title IX office. 

 Law schools offer applicants the opportunity to provide supplemental responses, such as a diversity statement, a Why X Law School statement, an essay addressing specific or optional prompts, or an addendum to address an area of concern or discrepancy in the application that requires additional explanation (ex. dips in GPA, multiple LSAT scores, or a character and fitness issue). Meet with a pre-law career coach to discuss how to address potential concerns with a law school application.

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