{"id":139,"date":"2018-02-14T20:50:14","date_gmt":"2018-02-14T20:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/political-science-and-law\/?page_id=139"},"modified":"2018-02-14T20:50:14","modified_gmt":"2018-02-14T20:50:14","slug":"top-10-law-school-application-mistakes","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/political-science-and-law\/pre-law-resources\/top-10-law-school-application-mistakes\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 10 Law School Application Mistakes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>by Paula A. Charland<\/p>\n<p>(former Director of Admissions, Syracuse University College of Law and Director of MBA Recruitment, Syracuse University School of Management)<\/p>\n<p><strong>10. Taking the LSAT &#8220;cold&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>scores remain on record for years<\/li>\n<li>many schools average multiple attempts on LSAT<\/li>\n<li>the top contenders are prepping for weeks beforehand<\/li>\n<li>one cannot study for test, but one can (should) prepare for it!<\/li>\n<li>there are accessible, low-cost alternatives to expensive prep courses&#8230;no excuses<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>9. Waiting for the last minute to request letters of recommendation<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>professors will receive multiple requests in late fall<\/li>\n<li>good letters can make a difference in a close case!<\/li>\n<li>given a reasonable time frame, and some &#8220;coaching&#8221;, most faculty will do a good job<\/li>\n<li>letters that are rushed are often worthless in the process<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>8. Not being organized\/missing deadlines<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>keep copies of everything you send to a law school<\/li>\n<li>pay attention to application deadlines and policies (they vary!)<\/li>\n<li>early applications generally receive more favorable consideration<\/li>\n<li>merit money is awarded early; don&#8217;t miss out!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>7. Applying to too few law schools<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Everybody needs a safety school!<\/li>\n<li>those who apply only to the Ivies may be disappointed<\/li>\n<li>apply to a range of &#8220;safety&#8221;, &#8220;good chance&#8221;, and &#8220;dream&#8221; schools<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>6. Applying too late for admission and\/or financial aid<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>late applications may not receive full consideration at rolling admissions schools<\/li>\n<li>taking the February LSAT for fall admission is very risky<\/li>\n<li>we&#8217;re not kidding about those financial aid deadlines!<\/li>\n<li>too late = no award package from the institution<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>5. The imperfect personal statement<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>typos are far too common; have someone proof for you!<\/li>\n<li>the tone of the statement should be positive; don&#8217;t write with anger or other inappropriate emotion<\/li>\n<li>no tell-all confessionals (e.g. family stuff, relationships, etc.)<\/li>\n<li>stay away from cuteness<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>4. Extreme creativity<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>avoid outrageousness (not the kind of attention you want!)<\/li>\n<li>gift-wrapping applications at holiday time<\/li>\n<li>no videos (unless asked for one)<\/li>\n<li>8&#215;10 glossies are silly<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>3. Desperation moves<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>avoid any appearance of an unbalanced psyche<\/li>\n<li>letter to the dean (will be forwarded to the admissions director, anyway)<\/li>\n<li>demanding a meeting with the admissions director<\/li>\n<li>flying across the country to demand a personal interview<\/li>\n<li>viewing the admissions process as a &#8220;life or death&#8221; situation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>2. Sloppiness<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>aim for professionalism in all your contacts with admissions offices<\/li>\n<li>proof any subsequent written communications just as you would your personal statement *don&#8217;t send the in application pieces (something will get lost)<\/li>\n<li>if you are notified that something is missing, respond promptly!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>1. Dishonesty<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>disclose all information that is requested<\/li>\n<li>in most cases, academic probations and\/or warnings must be disclosed<\/li>\n<li>if you don&#8217;t understand a question, call and ask the admissions office for an interpretation<\/li>\n<li>don&#8217;t embellish on your accomplishments<\/li>\n<li>don&#8217;t omit information that would be relevant to the admissions decision<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Paula A. Charland (former Director of Admissions, Syracuse University College of Law and Director of MBA Recruitment, Syracuse University School of Management) 10. Taking the LSAT &#8220;cold&#8221; scores remain on record for years many schools average multiple attempts on LSAT the top contenders are prepping for weeks beforehand one cannot study for test, but [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":511,"parent":29,"menu_order":4,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-139","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/political-science-and-law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/political-science-and-law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/political-science-and-law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/political-science-and-law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/political-science-and-law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/political-science-and-law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/139\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1319,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/political-science-and-law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/139\/revisions\/1319"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/political-science-and-law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/29"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/political-science-and-law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/political-science-and-law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}