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Law School Admission Council

Frequently Asked Questions - Diversity Initiatives

General Information

General Information

Why am I considered a minority applicant?

Your minority status is reported by you. Law schools consider your ethnic or racial status to be whatever you indicate on your LSAT registration forms. Your minority status alone is not a guarantee of admission, but simply helps admission committees form a more complete picture of who you are. More important to admission committees than whether you are a minority person is how your minority status has affected your life and what disadvantages you may have overcome.

Why are law schools interested in recruiting minority students?

Historically, minority group members have been underrepresented in the legal profession. A substantial discrepancy remains between the percentage of minority members in society versus the percentage in the legal profession. To promote diversity in the profession, all LSAC-member law schools actively seek qualified African American, Hispanic, Asian, and American Indian students as well as other students of color. (In addition, many schools consider such factors as economic and educational disadvantage when considering a candidate for admission.) Law schools find that diversity within the classroom enriches the learning process for all students.

How should I prepare for the LSAT?

It’s a good idea to allow yourself several months to prepare for the test. Research indicates that test takers who prepare for the LSAT perform better than those who do not. Preparation does not mean learning specific answers to specific questions. Nor does it mean intensive focused study of particular coursework. The best preparation for the test is a solid undergraduate education with an emphasis on reading and reasoning skills, linked to familiarity with the essentials of the test. Your preparation should help you become familiar with question types and answer formats, understand the rules and structure of the test, and adjust to the rigors of the time limitations. At some point before the test date, test takers should simulate the actual testing conditions they will encounter, using a disclosed LSAT form and actual timing constraints.

The most widely accessible and least expensive form of preparation are the actual, disclosed test questions and test forms that have been published in the Law School Admission Information Book PDF Icon or are available for purchase from LSAC.

If you decide additional coaching or instruction will help you, you will be best served by coaching before you take the test the first time. Various courses are offered by both colleges and commercial companies. LSAC does not endorse or evaluate any of these courses. You must determine for yourself whether you believe that such a course would be useful to you. Some people believe that these courses offer a disciplined context in which to prepare. Beware of courses that advertise certain shortcuts or tricks with which to "beat" the test. Ask others who have already taken the course for their evaluations.

How many times should I take the LSAT?

You should prepare adequately and take the LSAT only once when you are best prepared. All scores from each time you have taken the LSAT will be reported to the law schools to which you apply. Some schools may consider only your most recent score, whereas others may consider an average of all scores. Unless your preparation for the LSAT changes substantially from the way you prepared before taking it the first time, your subsequent LSAT scores will probably not improve significantly. It is possible that they will remain the same or even decline. The best course of action is to prepare thoroughly for the LSAT and take the test only once.

What LSAT score is required for admission to law school?

There is no single "magic" score. Each law school can tell you either the range of LSAT scores for its entering classes, or its median score. The range encompasses all scores from the lowest to the highest, whereas the median score simply means that half the class had scores below that point and half had scores above. Acceptable score ranges, like other admission factors, vary from school to school.

As a starting point, you can obtain a copy of The ABA-LSAC Official Guide to ABA-Approved Law Schools from LSAC or your local bookstore or you can go to the online version of the ABA/LSAC Official Guide. It contains charts indicating the number of applicants who applied and who were accepted nationally based on UGPA and LSAT percentile. Use these charts as a guide. Then investigate further by speaking to a prelaw advisor and to the particular law school’s admission office. You may want to ask the admission office about the UGPAs and LSAT scores for the previous year’s matriculated students. The relevant factor regarding LSAT scores and admission to law schools is how your score competes with those of other applicants to the law schools to which you apply.

What is the best prelaw major?

No particular major, course of study, or kind of bachelor’s degree is required for admission to law school. Virtually all law schools will consider a variety of majors and look closely at an applicant’s overall background before reaching an admission decision. What matters most is that you do progressively well in challenging courses, courses that require you to synthesize information and to write. Keep in mind that the kind of skills you must develop for law school include effective oral and written communication, analytical reasoning, and problem-solving skills. Your undergraduate education should include courses in which those skills were required.

In general, you should use your undergraduate education as an opportunity to explore and work on your intellectual development. It’s not necessary to take law-related courses as an undergraduate. Law schools don’t care what you know about the law when you arrive; they care about how well you can write and analyze problems.

What undergraduate grade point average (UGPA) is required for admission?

Again, as with LSAT scores, no single answer applies for all law schools. There is a wide range of UGPAs among applicants accepted to ABA-approved law schools. In general, you should strive for a strong undergraduate GPA from a progressively challenging courseload. Your overall UGPA is as important to law schools as the kinds of courses in which you enrolled. Many law schools also examine your performance trend throughout undergraduate school. That means they may discount a slow start in a student’s undergraduate career if he or she performs exceptionally well in the later school years. Similarly, admission committees may see an undergraduate’s strong start followed by a mediocre finish as an indication of less potential to do well in law school. It would be to your advantage to comment in your personal statement about any performance decline or any dramatic turnaround in your performance, as well as any events in your personal life that may have affected your grades.

When should I apply to law school? (Is it okay to wait until the deadline to apply?)

There are several reasons to complete your law school applications and take the LSAT as early as possible. First, you will have more time to fill in any gaps in your application file. Second, you might have more time to evaluate the schools that have accepted you—or to apply to other schools that you had not previously considered. Third, you will reduce the chance that a problem or error in paperwork might delay the review of your application. Admission offices are usually flooded with paperwork at the application deadline. Early applications can mean early decisions for some.

If you apply early, it is likely that you will be competing for more first-year seats. On the other hand, a late application may be reviewed more stringently because already-admitted applicants have reduced the number of available seats.

Also, a delayed application means a delayed decision. The period for applying for and receiving financial aid shortens. You also have less time to search for housing. You won’t have the option to file additional applications at other law schools until the next admission cycle. Rather than limit your options in all these areas, it makes good sense to file your application as early as possible. What is considered early differs from school to school, so inquire at each school where you intend to apply.

When should I apply for financial aid?

Competition for law school grants and scholarships is intense. That’s because such "free" money is scarce. The most widely available source of financial assistance comes from loan programs. Most students borrow the money they need for law school.

Generally speaking you should apply for financial aid at the same time you apply for admission. Federal financial aid forms cannot be filed before January 1 of the year in which you intend to enroll. Be prepared to file as soon after that date as possible. Many schools also require that you submit separate forms for their institution’s financial aid programs.

The key to finding financial aid for law school is being aggressive and mounting a wide search. Money does exist. Some of your best sources may be small grants from your local state or minority bar association, your state’s higher education commission, a fraternity or sorority to which you or your parents belong, or your local civic association. You should spend considerable time in the library reviewing financial aid directories targeted for higher education in general and for minorities and law students in particular. Even though some of these grants may be small, you may be eligible for more than one, and those small sums can add up to a significant amount.

Finally, remember that the law school is the primary source of information regarding money for legal education. Let them know of your interest early and follow up on all leads.

How should I decide where to apply?

Begin by gathering as much information about a variety of law schools as possible. Be sure that along with general information you inquire about the experience of minority students on the campuses you are considering. We emphasize gathering information about a variety of schools because it is imperative that you not limit your selection of schools initially.

Gather information from Law School Forums, held each fall in various cities nationwide; graduate and professional school days on law school campuses; publications including The ABA-LSAC Official Guide to ABA-Approved Law Schools available from LSAC and accessible online at our home page; your undergraduate prelaw advisor; and the law schools themselves.

As you evaluate the schools, you should pay particular attention to locale, school reputation, school atmosphere (particularly the on-campus environment that is reported by students of your minority background), and cost.

Once you collect all your information, you should apply to at least one school in each of the following categories: your dream schools, or ones you would love to attend but whose LSAT scores and GPAs are somewhat higher than your own; your realistic schools, or ones where your application will be in the mainstream of the minority applicant population; and your safe schools, or ones that are most likely to admit you.

It’s never too early to find out about the schools that may interest you, but don’t decide which ones to apply to until you assess yourself as an applicant and thoroughly research various law schools. Because law school admission is a highly selective process, it is imperative that you think about how interesting you will seem to law schools. Try to develop a realistic sense of how attractive you are to the schools to which you apply. This step will help you yield the best results from your law school selections.