The Prelaw Advisor

When Does the Fall 2008 Application Period Begin for Top Law Schools?

2008-09-29T12:32:00.001-05:00

September 29, 2008

A check today of the websites of the top 20 law schools as currently ranked by US News & World Report reveals this information about when they will start receiving applications for the 2008-2009 application period:

1. Yale Law School: September 1.

2. Harvard Law School: September 15.

3. Stanford Law School: September 1.

4. Columbia Law School: September 1.

5. NYU School of Law: Application available now.

6. University of California—Berkeley Law: Application available now.

7. University of Chicago Law School: September 1.

7. University of Pennsylvania Law School: October 1.

9. Northwestern University School of Law: October 1.

9. University of Michigan Law School: September 1.

9. University of Virginia School of Law: September 1.

12. Cornell Law School: Application available now.

12. Duke University School of Law: September 1.

14. Georgetown University Law Center: September 25.

15. Vanderbilt University Law School: October 1.

16. UCLA School of Law: Application available now.

16. University of Texas School of Law: August 2008.

18. University of Southern California School of Law: September 1.

19. Washington University in St. Louis School of Law: September 1.

20. George Washington University Law School: October 1.

For assistance in planning your applications to top law schools, please see my website, www.PrelawAdvisor.com, or send an e-mail to BradDobeck@aol.com .

How do I transfer to a better, higher-tier law school?

2008-09-12T09:20:00.000-05:00

The law school transfer application process works most effectively in the following scenario.

An applicant applies to a top law school, with a strong file, a strong GPA, but with a relatively low LSAT. Because of the top school's LSAT sensitivity, the applicant is rejected, but reluctantly.

The applicant is admitted to a lower-tier school. The applicant, now a 1L law student at the lower-tier school, works very effectively, earning top grades. At the end of year one, when the grades come out, this student is easily within the top 5% of her 1L class. Maybe she's even number one or number two in her 1L class. She has cultivated an excellent relationship with three professors--over the whole year--never once mentioning a transfer desire. Now, with top grades undeniably earned, she asks for their help as recommenders on a transfer application to the higher-tier law school. They reluctantly agree, not wanting to lose a top student, but certainly understanding her desire, and recognizing that their law school does benefit to some degree if a few of their top students can win a transfer to a higher-tier law school. These professors regard her as one of the best students they've ever had. They say so, in writing. She writes a brilliant personal statement, which has zero whining. She employs the principles advocated by PrelawAdvisor.com. She launches this carefully crafted application, early in the target school's transfer cycle (late spring, early summer).

Because the LSAT scores and college GPAs of transfer students are not publicly measured (like enrolling 1Ls are in the US News & World Report), these don't play any great role. A check back at her original application reveals that she previously had a deal-making application--except for her LSAT score. But her brilliant performance at the lower-tier school in her 1L year convinces them that she really has tier-one talent. She is admitted.

So, what you have to do is build a brilliant first year, and then "market" it to thoughtfully and realistically chosen target schools. At PrelawAdvisor.com, I'm ready to help you.

I have of course helped people with less than this dream scenario. Let me know about your situation, and I'll help you move forward, to the best of my ability.

Ranking Top Law Schools by Employer Interest (September 2008)

2008-09-12T09:17:00.000-05:00

How effective are top law schools in attracting legal employers?

You may not be thinking of this now, as a law school applicant, but it is extremely important to think about how effective your desired law school is in attracting the law-related employers you will be interested in working for, after your second year of law school, and on into your future.

Use the excellent website of the National Association for Law Placement, www.nalpdirectory.com, a truly outstanding service to applicants and students, to see which employers are involved in your target law school’s on-campus recruiting program. Are there many employers? Are they from locations of interest to you? Are you seeing depth and breadth to the list of such employers? Are you seeing more than just law firms? Are the most respected law firms in the cities and states of interest to you recruiting at your target schools?

Which schools attract the most employers to on-campus interviewing? Consider this list, from September 2008 NALP data. In a sense, it represents a logical way to rank law schools:

Georgetown…..822 employers
Virginia…..760 employers
Harvard…..713 employers
Michigan…..652 employers
NYU…..637 employers
Columbia…..627 employers
Duke…..591 employers
Penn…..588 employers
George Washington…..559 employers
Berkeley…..528 employers
Northwestern…..527 employers
Stanford…..506 employers
Chicago…..504 employers
Vanderbilt…..462 employers
Texas…..415 employers
UCLA…..405 employers
Yale…..403 employers
USC…..357 employers
Cornell…..346 employers
Notre Dame…..335 employers
Boston College…..292 employers
Boston U…..289 employers; Emory…..289 employers
North Carolina…..221 employers
Washington & Lee…..205 employers
William & Mary…..202 employers
Illinois…..196 employers
Wash. U. (St. Louis)…..194 employers
U. of Iowa…..171 employers
Minnesota…..124 employers
U. of Washington…..107 employers

To discuss the impact of these factors on your planning for law school, send an e-mail to me at BradDobeck@aol.com. For more information about my work for law school applicants, please see my website PrelawAdvisor.com.

I have a sub-140 LSAT score in practice. What should I do now?

2008-09-11T17:48:00.000-05:00

The bad news: You certainly aren't ready for real LSAT. Do not apply to law school...yet. The law schools regard the LSAT as more or less the IQ test for law school. At a practice score of say, 138, you are at a point where over 90% of official LSAT results are above you. Law schools will have the gravest concerns about your abilities, if you give them this score officially.

The good news: The LSAT can be mastered. If you are below 140, you are currently extremely low on the LSAT learning curve. But you can move forward.

Let me share the most positive story of LSAT mastery I've come across over the years. Note that this path was inexpensive. It did not require high-priced LSAT tutoring or courses. But it did require a considerable amount of time, in a disciplined and effective program of self-development.

"It took me about half a year to prepare for the test since I was still in school and had other exams to cope with. What I did was really simple! I took a test under simulated conditions on Monday. On Tuesday, I went over the test again, problem by problem, and analyzed the answers and marked the questions I didn't really understand well, without any time restraint. On Wednesday, I took a break. Thursdays through Saturdays I repeated my Monday through Wednesday schedule. On Sunday, I restudied the difficult questions in the two sets I took in that week. The entire process took me 17 weeks. I took two weeks off to deal with school exams. In total it took me 19 weeks. At first glance, you may think I spent a great deal of time preparing for the LSAT. I took 34 practice tests! But counting the hours, it's not that much. I believe I spent an average of six hours on each test, including two review sessions. That adds up to around 200 hours in total. My score improved from 151 on the first test (a 49^th-percentile score that would definitely not be attractive to top law schools) to low/mid 170s on the last five tests. My actual test score was 177.” (This is a stunning 99.8^th-percentile score that will cause law school admissions officials to fall out of their chairs).

“My improvement from the low 150s to the low 160s was quick, about seven to eight tests. But it took me 15-20 tests to go from 160 to 170. Once I broke 170, I stayed in the low to mid 170s for the remaining seven to nine tests. It seems to me that about three weeks and six to eight tests are needed to consolidate a level. That's why I think it's important to take as many real tests as possible (at least 25, 30+ is preferred).”

“I graduated from a college in northeast and am going to law school in the same region next semester."

He was admitted to Harvard Law School with his 177.

If you are struggling with a low LSAT score in practice, you will benefit by having a comprehensive plan developed for you by me at PrelawAdvisor.com. Don’t act solely on your own assumptions about how the law school admissions process will work. Don’t trust the law schools to lift you to your goal. Law schools are better understood as simply creating an obstacle course for you to conquer and solve effectively. Send an e-mail to BradDobeck@aol.com, and we can go to work together, building a solid, multi-year plan for your career progress.

I've earned an official 170+ LSAT score. How do I best take advantage of it?

2008-09-11T17:46:00.000-05:00

Congratulations! You've really got the "right stuff," in the minds of law school admissions decision makers. They are going to be extremely interested in you. But be aware that you need to protect your interests carefully. Given your high LSAT score, law schools will be eager to present you with opportunities that benefit their interests. You need an advocate and advisor who will help you make the most of such a high LSAT score, someone who will put your interests first.

Recognize these points:

1. Understand why the law schools are so strongly attracted to persons with high official LSAT scores. The US News & World Report ranking phenomenon creates enormous incentives for law schools to seek high-LSAT students. If they can attract them, their numbers go up, and in time they can move up in the rankings. The USN&WR ranking system is enormously influential. Love schools love to have bragging rights to enrolling students with high LSAT scores. The law school admission process is a competition for cognitive talent.

2. Don't rely on a high LSAT alone to carry you into an elite, top 10 or top 5 law school. You need to present the whole package, to the maximum extent possible: a great GPA, a strong undergraduate school (or at least a highly respected path through a lesser undergraduate school), a brilliant personal statement, the right timing, and strongly supportive recommendations from properly selected and prepared recommenders. Look to PrelawAdvisor.com to assist you in hitting this "sweet spot."

3. Include in your strategy a plan to win some law school admission offers that include a full-tuition scholarship. You might not end up taking it, but at least work carefully to create such an option. You can save yourself and your family thousands and thousands of dollars this way. But you have to craft your message just right. I can help you do this. I've actually seen a law school make this offer to get a highly attractive candidate: (1) A full-tuition scholarship for all three years; (2) free room and board; (3) free books; (4) a $1,000 month stipend; and (5) a no-cost LL.M degree (the advanced law degree one can choose to earn after earning a JD degree). The price for law school can be quite variable, for highly attractive candidates.

Maximize the potential of your high LSAT by working with PrelawAdvisor.com. To begin, send an e-mail to me at BradDobeck@aol.com.

I'm a new college freshman, planning on law school in the future. What do I do now?

2008-09-10T08:33:00.000-05:00

The short answer, one that eventually will greatly distinguish you down the road, is....get great grades. Get great grades. The common pattern of GPAs of college students seeking law school admission in the future, is a bumpy first year, with relatively lower grades, followed by progressively improving grades in the second, third and fourth years of college. But it is clearly those applicants with the very highest GPAs (meaning high grades during the freshman year, as well as the rest of their college years) who break into the top ten--especially the top five--elite law schools. If Yale, Stanford and Harvard have law schools with enrolling student classes in the 3.8 GPA range, you can't afford too many grades lower than an "A".

So, if you want to be the most effective future competitor for a spot at an elite law school, stay focused now, in your freshman year, on all your courses. Do what gets measured. Attend all your classes. Get to know your professors. Do all your reading. Contribute positively to class discussions. Prepare thoroughly for each exam. Seek to discover what your professors' old exams are like. Perhaps they are on file at your school in a way that is accessible to you, such as at your school's library.

In addition, move forward in other ways. Engage your college's community in a creative way. Get involved in activities and projects of interest to you, especially if they can be law-related. Some examples: offer volunteer service to a local legal aid clinic. Just walk in, introduce yourself, and use the magic "v" word: "I'm a new college freshman at (name your school) and I want to volunteer some time to your organization." The doors will spring open. You may be doing low-level clerical work at first, but stay with it, and you will climb the learning curve, and begin to learn the work of the lawyers there. Make yourself indispensable there, with the time you have to give.

Or pick a political or social cause of interest to you, on campus or in the surrounding community. What are you passionate about? What changes would you like to see made to society? What are the organization's lawyers doing? How does the current state of the law affect things? Join in and help out. In the internet age, your potential field of influence is global.

For more assistance in making your plans for law school, please see my website www.PrelawAdvisor.com.

I'm planning on applying to law school, but I have a criminal record. What should I do?

2008-09-10T08:32:00.001-05:00

I frequently deal with law school advisees who have had a brush with the law in their past. It might have been underage drinking, with the use of a false ID card. It might have been a speeding ticket, or one for violation of some other motor vehicle law, such as curfew violation or failure to use a seatbelt. It could have been a noise violation in your college setting.

Here's how to handle the issue of disclosing a criminal record in a law school application.

1. Don't hide anything. Make a full disclosure. Answer the law school's question fully and with complete honesty. Some law schools require the disclosure of matters officially expunged from the criminal record. Disclose them. I actually recommend that you disclose all matters, including expunged convictions.

2. "Fall on your sword." In other words, "Admit your mistake(s) emphatically." What was wrong is wrong. Don't try to justify bad behavior or let yourself off the hook. Don't make the argument that "Everybody was doing it." Convince them now that you would never engage in such behavior again.

3. Remember that you will have to make a full disclosure as well--down the road--to the state bar of the state where you will want to practice law. State bars may look back to your law school application to see what you said about your criminal record. It had better be a full, complete and entirely honest disclosure, conforming precisely to the disclosure you make on your bar exam, or--frankly--you may not be admitted to the bar. So don't cut any corners in this extremely important area of your law school applications.

If you need help in this area, please see my website, www.PrelawAdvisor.com or send an e-mail to BradDobeck@aol.com.

How to Find the Right Law School for You

2008-09-09T12:07:00.001-05:00

“What’s 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 2008 BCG Attorney Search 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. Are the bathrooms dirty or clean? Supplied adequately, or missing important things? Are the bathrooms 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.

PrelawAdvisor.com Advisee Admission Successes, 2006-2008

2008-09-09T08:32:00.001-05:00

PrelawAdvisor.com advisees earned admission offers from the following schools during the 2006-2008 admission cycles. These two cycles appears to me to have been among the very 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 2009 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.

American University, Washington College of Law.
Boston College Law School.
Boston University School of Law.
Brooklyn Law School.
University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall).
University of California, Davis School of Law (King Hall).
California Western School of Law.
Campbell University, Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law.
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University.
The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law.
The University of Chicago Law School.
Columbia University School of Law.
Cornell Law School.
University of Denver Sturm College of Law.
Duke University School of Law.
Fordham University School of Law.
George Mason University School of Law.
George Washington University Law School.
Georgetown University Law Center.
Georgetown University, Paralegal Studies Program.
University of Michigan Law School.
New York University School of Law.
Northwestern University School of Law.
Ohio Northern University-Claude W. Petit College of Law (with a major scholarship offer).
University of Pennsylvania Law School.
Regent University School of Law.
St. John’s University School of Law (with a full-tuition scholarship offer).
Santa Clara University School of Law.
Seton Hall University School of Law.
Stanford University Law School.
Thomas Jefferson School of Law (with a major scholarship offer).
University of Virginia School of Law.
University of Washington School of Law.
Washington University in St. Louis School of Law.
West Virginia University College of Law.
William & Mary Law School.

Outstanding Advice for the Potential Law School Applicant

2008-06-02T16:46:00.002-05:00

I want to draw your attention to some exceptionally insightful writing of Central Michigan University Professor Emeritus David Guenther. I recently came across his internet work "To Be Or Not To Be [A Lawyer], That Is The Question." In it, Professor Guenther offered his top ten reasons as to why someone should not want to become a lawyer, followed by his top ten reasons as to why someone should want to become a lawyer.

In my opinion, Professor Guenther generously shared from his life and professional experience valuable nuggets of information enormously useful to the potential law school applicant. If you are stuck in trying to craft a personal statement for your target law school, see if Professor Guenther's ideas stimulate your thinking. Notice his balanced use of life learning, humor, advice sensitively proffered, and tight, effective writing. He models what the serious law school applicant should strive for in his or her written work for a law school admissions committee.

Thank you, Professor Guenther.

Am I Ready for Law School?

2008-05-12T09:49:00.001-05:00

If you have any doubt about your level of skill, interest, or readiness to study the law, purchase and read a copy of The Bramble Bush—The Classic Lectures on the Law and Law School, now updated and published anew in 2008 by Oxford University Press. The author, the late Professor Karl N. Llewellyn (1893-1962), who taught at the law schools of Yale, Columbia and the University of Chicago, was one of the most respected American legal educators and scholars in the profession. Oxford University Press invited me to comment on its publication.

In its latest form, The Bramble Bush, one of the most famous American lawbooks, is enhanced and clarified by a new introduction and notes from Professor Steve Sheppard of the University of Arkansas. Professor Sheppard’s additions are essential for the modern reader to understand the context and witticisms of Professor Llewellyn. Professor Sheppard also offers a useful bibliography of further reading on law school, the law, and preparation for law school.

The person considering law school will find The Bramble Bush challenging reading. Each sentence—and each footnote referenced—must be thoughtfully considered. The modern reader will find it dense, challenging, but ultimately insightfully enlightening…if the time is taken for a careful and thorough reading.

The book’s name was prompted by a nursery rhyme provided on the opening page. You might find Professor Llewellyn’s penchant for obscure puns a bit annoying, but the future student of the law must adjust himself or herself to the eccentricities of law professors and judges. Law professors often write to impress first their colleagues. New law students will discover a world in which the major players are only law professors. They harshly and humorously interact with each other, and they feel fully empowered to take liberty to criticize, condemn and belittle the very judges and jurists one might expect them to treat with respect.

Think of The Bramble Bush as a qualifying exercise. If you have the patience, persistence, comfort level, and interest to read it, this suggests that you are ready for law school work. If you cannot stand this book, and find it an ordeal to read more than a few pages at a time, steer clear of law school. Law school is a bramble bush. You need to prepare yourself for the reality of its experience.

The Bramble Bush offers rich and nuanced answers to questions about what the law is, the case system, the nature of law school, and your legal studies beyond the first year. You will greatly benefit if you let Professor Llewellyn (with Professor Sheppard’s essential assistance) take you by the hand for this journey. But pay close attention, don’t skim, have patience…and read every footnote as you go along.

For more information useful to law school applicants, please see my website www.PrelawAdvisor.com. For questions, send an e-mail to BradDobeck@aol.com.