This timeline is geared toward current undergraduates who will graduate in four years. If you have graduated from college, or are on an “extended year plan,” you should review the information listed for juniors and seniors and follow that timeline. As a rule of thumb, the application process begins in earnest one year prior to your enrollment. Since almost all law schools admit only in the late summer/early fall, you must prepare and mail your application materials the previous fall. But note that your preparation really must start even earlier than that, because you must allow time to prepare for the LSAT exam. In short, it is prudent to start preparing for law school two years before you intend to enroll.

____ Introduce yourself to the NEIU Pre-Law Advisor as soon as possible. Meet with the advisor once per year, or more if necessary.

____ Consider joining the NEIU Undergraduate Pre-Law Society.

____ Review the information on the Pre-Law Web Site regarding undergraduate course preparation. Remember, you do not need specific courses or majors for law school. What matters most is that you take rigorous, challenging courses and do well in them. However, some courses will prove more helpful than others in developing certain skills—for example, courses that stress writing and logical thinking will help to prepare you for law school.

____ Begin to compile your undergraduate portfolio. Keep your best papers, projects, etc. in a file so that when the time comes to ask for letters of recommendation, you will have your work to show the professor to remind him/her of who you are and the work you did for the course. You may even wish to have one portfolio for school and one for work.

____ Pursue extra-curricular activities. Remember, it is the quality, not the quantity, of activities that matters most to law schools. Many activities are worthwhile; they do not need to be law related. Consider volunteer work, for example. If you have a job, keep track of your accomplishments in it.

____ Talk to legal professionals. Whether to go to law school is a very important decision, and it should not be taken lightly. If you talk to practitioners, judges, prosecutors, paralegals, and legal assistants about their jobs, you will gain invaluable insight into the profession and be better able to make an informed decision about whether you wish to join it.

____ Do your homework. Start researching the law schools and the law school application process. Start by perusing the NEIU web site.

____ Next, visit some other pertinent and informative web sites, especially that of the Law School Admission Council (www.lsac.org). The LSAC site has links to almost all of the U.S. law schools. You should also look at the Boston College Law School Locator (www.bc.edu/bc_org/svp/carct/matrix.html), which allows you to input your GPA and LSAT score as a way to locate law schools in your numerical performance range. Consult the ABA/LSAC Official Guide to U.S. Law Schools. It is the best single reference source for learning the admissions requirements of each law school. (It is available on reserve, or electronically at the LSAC web site.) When you are a senior, you will need to consult these sources again, as you prepare a list of law schools to which you intend to apply.

____ September or as soon as possible after the semester starts: Select date you wish to take LSAT (usually the following June or October).

____ Attend the NEIU Pre-Law seminars offered by the Pre-Law Advisor.

Timetable if you select the JUNE LSAT

____ Sept-June: Prepare for LSAT.

____ Apr-May: Apply for LSAT (registration deadline is usually one month prior to test date). When you register for the LSAT, be sure to check YES in the appropriate box on your LSAT registration form, which releases your data to your pre-law advisor. We need this information to help us advise and place students, and it remains confidential.

____ June: Take LSAT.

____ July: Receive LSAT score.

Timetable if you select the OCTOBER LSAT

____ Sept. of Junior year-Sept. of Senior year: Prepare for LSAT.

____ Aug-Sept: Apply for LSAT (registration deadline is usually one month prior to test date). When you register for the LSAT, be sure to check YES in the appropriate box on your LSAT registration form, which releases your data to your pre-law advisor. We need this information to help us advise and place students, and it remains confidential.

____ Oct: Take LSAT.

____ Nov: Receive LSAT score.

____ Aug-early Sept: If you have not already done so, register for LSAT and subscribe to LSDAS service.

____ Aug-Sept: Have official transcript(s) sent to LSDAS with transcript request forms.

____ Aug-Sept: Request catalogs, applications, and financial aid information from law schools. [Note: See first entry under Junior Year regarding how to research and select the law schools to which you will apply.]

____ Sept-Oct: Attend seminars hosted by your Pre-Law Advisor regarding the application process, the personal statement, etc.

____ Sept-Oct: Meet with your Pre-Law Advisor to go over the list of schools you have selected, and to receive his/her recommendations about other possibilities.

____ September: Check LSDAS information for accuracy.

____ September (or earlier): Select persons to write letters of recommendation and talk to them. At least one letter should come from a faculty member.

____ September-October: Write personal statement.

____ Sept-Nov: Meet with admissions representatives at a local Law Fair, Law Forum, or Law School Caravan.

____ Oct-Nov: Fill out law school applications.

____ Oct-Nov: Formally request that letters of recommendation be sent to all of the schools you have chosen.

____ Nov-Dec: Send applications.

____ Nov-Dec: Follow up with law schools to be sure your application file is complete and that all letters of recommendation have been received.

____ Jan. (or sooner if possible): File your financial aid applications.

____ Mar-May: Receive decisions from law schools regarding your applications.

____ Mar-Jun: Select a law school. Be sure to pay your seat deposit on time.

____ June: Have a copy of your final transcript (certifying your graduation) sent to the law school you chose.

____ June: Inform your Pre-Law Advisor of your choice. He/she may be able to put you in contact with former NEIU students who are already there, and may wish to consult you in the future about your law school. Stay in touch!