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Student Timeline
First-Year
- Narrow your choices for your major field of study. Law schools generally do not have preferred majors, so you want to focus on a course of study that interests you.
- Begin to explore careers in the law. Talk to attorneys about their experiences and look for internships and externships that will help introduce you to careers in law.
- Take courses that sharpen your critical thinking and reasoning skills. There are no required courses for law schools, but you want to hone your critical reading and analytical writing.
- Focus on your academics. Your GPA is a critical factor for law school admission, so you want to approach your academic career accordingly, beginning in your first year.
Sophomore
- Get to know your professors. Professors will be in a better position to write a strong letter of recommendation if they know more than just your grade in their class.
- Get involved in activities that interest you. While Rutgers has several pre-law organizations, you should get involved in other activities and organizations that interest you as well.
- Meet with a pre-law advisor. Pre-Law advisors are here to help you explore your options, and they have advising hours on different campuses.
- Attend Law School Admissions Council (LSAC) Forums. The LSAC offers a wealth of information and resources, including forums, which are held in cities throughout the United States.
Junior
- Continue to maintain a strong GPA and continue your involvement on campus and in the community, possibly through leadership opportunities within your organizations of interest.
- Begin to prepare for the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT). While there are numerous ways to prepare for the LSAT, the key is to prepare, including taking full-length/timed tests.
- Meet with a pre-law advisor again now that you have an established academic track record to begin talking about target law schools for which you'd be competitive based on the GPA.
- If you haven't already done so, visit the LSAC website to find the dates and locations for LSAC forums. Though they are free, it is good to register in advance.
Senior
- Begin to write your law school admission (personal) statement. Remember, you need to format each statement according to the individual school's specifications.
- Begin to research financial aid options for law schools. The LSAC's "Financing Law School" is a good place to start, but there are other useful financial aid resources.
- Request that official transcripts be sent to LSAC's Credential Assembly Service (CAS) from the registrar's office of each institution you have attended.
- Confirm with recommenders who you have previously asked to write letters of recommendation and provide them with copies of your resume, personal statement, and CAS recommender form.