How long is an LSAT score valid for?

Five years.

If I have multiple LSAT scores on my record, will admissions committees use the highest score, or average the scores?

Some schools will average your scores, others will focus your highest score

Should I take a prep course?

The LSAT is a test that you can prepare for. Therefore, you should evaluate yourself as a test-taker and decide whether you have the discipline to prepare on your own without a course or whether you need the structure and deadlines that a course can offer you. Additionally, taking a diagnostic test before studying is often a helpful way to evaluate how much preparation will be required to get your score within the range you are aiming for. Whether or not you take a course, it is usually a good idea to block off a significant chunk of time to dedicate exclusively to preparing for the LSAT.

Should I use the LSAC letter of recommendation service (part of my CAS subscription)?

It is up to you, although you should first check if the law school to which you're applying requires that you send letters of recommendation through LSAC. Keep in mind that if you route the recommendation letters through LSAC, this saves you and your instructor a lot of work that would have been spent in preparing separate envelopes. You also save on postage stamps!

Should I waive my right of access to see the letters of recommendation being written on my behalf?

That is a decision that only you can make. However, we recommend that you waive your right to see the letter to ensure that there is no doubt in the minds of the admissions committees that the recommender wrote the letter without restraint.

What classes should I take now to prepare for law school?

Unlike medical school and some other graduate schools, law schools do not require any specific courses. There is no ideal pre-law undergraduate concentration.

Rather, law schools are most concerned with a student’s ability to analyze and to write effectively. The best approach to preparing for law school is to develop these skills broadly through an array of coursework. Some familiarity with economics and political theory may be helpful as background, though taking these courses will not improve your odds of being accepted to law school.

What kind of financial aid is available for law school?

Unfortunately, grant aid is much more difficult to obtain from law school financial aid offices, compared to undergraduate financial aid. At many schools, most students must accept a standard loan package (consisting of both Federal and private student loans) before becoming eligible for grant aid (if such aid is available at all). These loans are deferred while the student is still in school, but interest generally accrues during law school. Many law schools consider the parents' financial situation and make it difficult for the student to prove financial independence (which might help the student to obtain grant aid) unless he has been living away from his parents for several years. Some law schools such as NYU provide a limited number of merit-based grant scholarships, which are highly competitive and prestigious. Many law schools have loan forgiveness policies for after you graduate, depending on your post-graduation income. You should investigate all of these issues when deciding where to apply and then which law school to matriculate at. You will probably not be asked to fill out a financial aid application form until after you accept an admission offer.

When should I take the LSAT?

The earlier, the better. The LSAT is given four times in each calendar year: early February, early June, late September or early October, and early December. The best time to do the LSAT is probably in February during your junior year, or in June after your junior year. Due to the Harvard College schedule, these dates give you a couple weeks prior to the test to devote yourself to LSAT studying. Taking the test in your junior year is a good idea because it affords you the opportunity to re-take the test later if you did not perform your best (see below). Additionally, seniors tend to be very busy with job applications, law school applications, theses, and extracurricular leadership during the fall of their senior year, so it is difficult to also prepare for the LSAT. Furthermore, it is advantageous to submit your application early in the season, so it is great if your LSAT is already done when the summer ends. If you are going to take the LSAT in the fall, the September/October date is preferable to December. If you are an alumnus applying to law school, the same general advice applies: The earlier, the better!

Will law schools be more impressed if a professor writes my recommendation, or should I ask my teaching fellow who knows me better?

As a rule of thumb, you should always ask for a recommendation from the person who best knows you and your work. Law schools will not be impressed by a letter of recommendation from a professor that comments on little more than the grade you earned in his or her class. If your teaching fellow is more familiar with the quality of your work, by all means ask him or her to write you the recommendation. Moreover, do not be shy about asking your recommender whether he or she feels comfortable writing you a good letter. Occasionally, a professor may co-sign a letter drafted by a teaching fellow. If you are acquainted with both the professor and the teaching fellow, you may wish to inquire as to whether this would be appropriate.

If you have been out of school for two years or more, a professional recommendation is also appropriate in addition to the academic recommendations.

How do I apply for a fee waiver for the LSAT / CAS / law schools?

First, how should you apply for a fee waiver from LSAT/CAS? You must fill out this form and also include your most recent federal tax forms. Also include your CAS registration application. You should send in this application before you register for either LSAT or CAS. Mail your application to to the address on the form. More documents providing instructions on filling out the fee waiver application form are available here. If a fee waiver is granted, it covers both CAS and LSAT.

Second, what about requesting a waiver for each individual law school's application fee (usually $75)? There is no standard form for requesting a fee waiver from each school; you need to contact each admissions office directly to receive their application.For example: see this Stanford Law School page and this Harvard Law School page and this U. Michigan page (search the webpages for “waiver”). You should ideally submit your fee waiver request before you complete the law school's application. When you are about to submit your application for that law school to the “Shopping Cart” in the LSAC web interface, you should choose the option of “Pay later” rather than giving your credit card info at that time. Hopefully, the law school will approve your request, and then you'll never need to pay anything.

How many letters do I need?

For law school applications, sending two from undergraduate instructors is generally a minimum. It’s preferable to have extras in your house file to help your advisor write your House Letter, and to give you some flexibility about which to send. Note that you should not count your Dean’s Letter from the house toward the minimum number of letters required by a school. If you have been out of school for two years or more, a professional recommendation is also appropriate in addition to the academic recommendations.

How should recommenders address their letters?

“To Whom it May Concern” is okay, though “Dear Law School Admissions Committee” is less sterile. Anything else is up to you and your recommender. Generally, law schools understand that most applicants apply to multiple schools and recommenders need not address letters specifically to each school.

I am planning to apply to Canadian law schools. What should I do?

You still need to register for the LSAT and write the test. However, Canadian law schools do not participate in LSDAS, so if you are applying to only Canadian law schools, you do not need to register for LSDAS. In general, you should apply directly to the admissions offices of your targeted Canadian law schools. You provide your LSAC number to the Canadian law schools, which will request your LSAT score from LSAC. We will still compose a “Dean's Letter” for you and submit it to the Canadian law schools (if you give us stamped/addressed envelopes), although that is not required. If you are applying to Ontario law schools, you will make use of the OLSAS application clearinghouse, which functions much like LSDAS: You send in your transcript, recommendation letters, etc. to the clearinghouse. For more information on OLSAS, see here.

I am a sophomore or junior in Lowell House. I am interested in law school and am interested in applying in a future year. What house resources are available to me?

The resident tutors and nonresident staff are available to you any time. As with nonresident and resident tutors in any discipline, the prelaw staff can take you to their classes, discuss their experiences, etc. Don’t hesitate to contact any of us – our contact information is listed in the face book.

Even if you are unsure whether to apply, we are available to help you think through this decision. This is one of the most important aspects of our role, and we are happy to talk with you about more general career planning questions and about whether or not law school is a good fit for your interests and goals. Please feel free to talk with us even if you are unsure whether law school is right for you.

I applied once to my preferred school and was not admitted. Is there any point in reapplying?

While the competitiveness of admissions at a given school varies a little bit year by year, only around 20% of students who reapply to a school (after being denied admission) get admitted. Consulting the Law School Grids can help you estimate your probability of admission. Seniors with weak grades can increase their competitiveness by completing a thesis and working for two or three years or excelling in another academic program.

I don’t think I did as well on the LSAT as I could have. Should I cancel my score?

Again, it depends. If you think that your performance on the test was significantly worse than your performance on practice tests, cancellation is an option. Generally, schools do not penalize you significantly for one cancellation, especially if the subsequent score is strong. However, you generally should not cancel your score unless you think that your performance on the exam was much worse than you are capable of. Note that if you are planning to apply to schools the same year that you take the LSAT, re-taking the LSAT in December may hurt your chances of admission because the admissions committee will not consider your application until your scores are reported, i.e., later on in the admissions process than applicants who took the October LSAT.

I have a letter of recommendation on file at Lowell, but didn’t get an access waiver form from my recommender. I now want to waive my right of access and have the letter sent to law school(s). What should I do?

The only effective way to waive access “retroactively” is to have your recommender re-submit his/her letter to Lowell with a waiver form. The date on the resubmitted letter should not be earlier than the date on the waiver form. However, whether your recommender changes more than the date is up to him/her.

I’m considering applying to law school this coming fall. How do I find out what I need to know?

Email Marco Basile, the Pew-Law Committee's Chair, at marco.p.basile [at] gmail.com. We will pair you with a Pre-Law Advisor and provide you with the deadlines for application materials throughout the summer and fall.

In the meantime, read the Lowell House pre-law application procedures carefully as explained on this website.

• Plan to take the LSAT by September or October of the year you apply.

• Ensure that you have contacted the Lowell House Office by September in order to register for the Lowell Pre-Law Program. This requires giving written permission to (1) allow the pre-law committee access to your file and (2) declare whether or not you waive your right of access to the House letter. You must fill out the standard release form to accomplish this. Provide your pre-law advisor with an updated resume.

• Apply to law schools early. Admission is on a rolling basis and the earlier your application is filed, the better your chance for admission.

• Prepare your application carefully. Ask for advice on your application essay from your pre-law tutor and others around you.

• Apply to several law schools (we recommend 8-10) and aim high.

• Track down the people who could write letters of recommendation for you. The sooner you ask them, the better.