PrelawAdvisor.com Advisee Admission Successes, 2006-2007 Admission Cycle

PrelawAdvisor.com advisees earned admission offers from the following schools during the 2006-2007 admission cycle. This cycle appears to me to have been the most challenging for applicants since I began working in law school admissions in 1996. Plan carefully as you think about application efforts this fall for a 2008 law school start, or if you are considering an effort to transfer upward from your current law school. Feel free to contact me at BradDobeck@aol.com. Please see my website www.PrelawAdvisor.com for more information about my approach to assisting law school and graduate school applicants.

1. American University, Washington College of Law.
2. Boston College Law School.
3. Boston University School of Law.
4. Brooklyn Law School.
5. University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall).
6. Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University.
7. The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law.
8. Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs.
9. Cornell Law School.
10. Duke University School of Law.
11. Fordham University School of Law.
12. George Mason University School of Law.
13. George Washington University Law School.
14. Georgetown University Law Center.
15. University of Michigan Law School.
16. New York University School of Law.
17. Northwestern University School of Law.
18. University of Pennsylvania Law School.
19. Seton Hall University School of Law.
20. University of Virginia School of Law.
21. University of Washington School of Law.
22. Washington University in St. Louis School of Law.
23. William & Mary Law School.

Is an applicant's LSAT score really all that important to the law schools?

Many law school applicants grossly underestimate the importance of their LSAT score in the law school admission process. They reason, "Certainly, who I am and what I've achieved in my life so far is vastly more important than my performance on a single standardized test." This is rational, but wrong, because of the enormous market impact of the US News & World Report ranking system. Law schools feel great pressure to produce entering classes with high LSAT scores. Thus, extraordinary weight is placed on one's performance on the LSAT. I caution all of my advisees to first construct a developmental path that maximizes the probability of high official LSAT performance.

Often times, parents—even lawyer parents—get this wrong. Their common sense (and parental affection!) tell them that the law schools cannot possibly weigh their child’s LSAT performance so significantly, when considered against the other achievements in their child’s life. Yet the reality is that small differences in LSAT performance result in enormous differences in the decisions of law school admissions officials. As one example, I’ve seen a three-point rise in an advisee’s LSAT score suddenly cause one respected regional law school to award a three-year, full-tuition scholarship (plus a signing bonus!) to the advisee, and another law school, an elite national one, to move him promptly from waitlisted to admitted. In another case, a truly brilliant advisee with a powerfully competitive record was waitlisted at a Top 5 law school. Why? This advisee lacked just one LSAT point. One point.

For more information about my recommendations, please see my detailed advice on top LSAT performance at PrelawAdvisor.com.

Law schools consider as many as 54 factors in reviewing an application: Do you know them?

While your highest LSAT score and your undergraduate GPA (as officially determined by LSAC) are by far the two most important factors that a law school admissions committee considers, there are actually 54 factors that you should consider in crafting your application. Do you know them? See the full list at my website www.PrelawAdvisor.com.

Should current college seniors take the December 1, 2007 LSAT?

Many college students aiming for law school feel pressure to take the LSAT during their senior year.

In general, I oppose this.

Seniors in college should be focusing on the unique opportunities of their last year of college. College will come to an end--forever--for these undergraduates, in May or June of their senior year. But the LSAT will continue to be available four times a year, every year, on and on into the future.

Seniors, make your final year special, in terms of: (1) academic excellence; (2) extracurricular activities; and (3) creative use of the community around your college. Do not be pressured into a premature LSAT.

It can have a highly negative impact on your ability to reach top law schools in the future. If you put a low LSAT score on your record as a senior, you've damaged your record before top schools. Even a later high LSAT is somewhat diminished by an initial low LSAT (though the law schools are now permitted to report only the highest LSAT of each enrolling law student, rather than the average LSAT score. This change was announced during the summer of 2006.) Thus if you get a mediocre 150 as a senior, and then two years later a brilliant 170, for law school admission purposes, while you are still a 170, your record is not as persuasive if you had earned just the brilliant 170 alone. Therefore, consider the timeline I provide at my website PrelawAdvisor.com.

"Help me find the right law school...for me!"

I am regularly asked this question. I can help you determine the right answer.

Let me begin by asking you a series of non-stressful questions, the answers to which will narrow down the vast range of law schools to some appropriate choices for our further consideration.

1. First, let's think about physical location. Do you envision going to law school in an urban, suburban or rural setting?

2. Do you want to remain in such a setting after law school is over for you?

3. Do you think you want a national, regional, or local law school? National law schools are the toughest in terms of admission challenge, but offer the greatest access to the national job market. However, they are likely to be the most expensive. Regional law schools, often public, can be quite respected in their region or state, and can be less expensive than private law schools, but they often lack a national reach in terms of the job market. Local law schools are the easiest challenge in terms of admission, but typically receive only limited interest from legal employers beyond the local market. And private local law schools can be very expensive.

4. Consider the reach of the school in the job market. Begin to get a sense of who recruits there by checking the NALP Directory.

5. Do you want a law school that is cooperative in its culture? Or competitive?

6. How harsh or friendly is the school's grading policy? Does the school provide class ranking data? Or does it refrain from doing so? An excellent source of information on these issues is The 2007 BCG Attorney Guide to America’s Top 50 Law Schools.

7. How diverse is the student body there? Are you going to feel comfortable there, and part of the community?

8. What about the political character of the professors and students? Does the law school have what you are looking for?

9. Does the law school have a religious affiliation that you might want?

10. What about the law school's cost? Do students really pay the stated tuition cost, or do many receive discounts through aid, grants and scholarships?

11. Does the area surrounding the law school offer you some of the things that you want for recreation, personal growth, fun, learning, meeting people, jobs, and institutions that matter to you?

12. As you visit a potential school's website--or better the actual physical setting of a potential law school--what is your reaction to their facilities? Are they new, or old? How comfortable are the students? Is there convenient internet access for everyone? Adequate library and study space? What about parking? Public transportation? And what about personal safety, in the school and neighborhood?

13. If you are physically there, stroll into a public bathroom for a quick look. This might sound odd to you, but it can reveal something important about the culture of the school. Is the bathroom dirty or clean? Supplied adequately, or missing important things? Is the bathroom covered with angry student graffiti, or are the walls and stalls clean?

14. Consider the average age and life experience of students at this law school. Are they mostly fresh from college, or do they have some work experience? Which do you want?

Also consider the information at PrelawAdvisor.com as you begin to make your law school plans. For more information on how I can assist you, or to answer your questions, please send an e-mail to BradDobeck@aol.com.