For whatever fall semester that you intend to enter law school, applications for that cycle become available in or around September one year prior. Although application deadlines vary and may not occur until spring, because law schools use a rolling admissions process, it is not in your best interest to wait until nearing a school’s spring deadline to apply. Rolling admissions means that law schools start evaluating and deciding on applications in fall, almost a year before classes start and well before the application deadline. Applying relatively early in the admissions process may increase your likelihood of admission because at the beginning of the process you are competing against a smaller pool of applicants for a larger number of available spots than you would later in the process.
A good rule of thumb is to plan to apply to law school one year before you wish to start. Applicants who apply right away in September have a higher chance of admission, and also an increased likelihood of being eligible for merit based scholarship aid (which all applicants are considered for, and are often awarded in large part due to GPA and LSAT scores). We recommend that applicants apply sometime between September and the end of November one year before they wish to start law school for best results. For more information on scholarships, see our Financing Law School page.
- 18-24 Months Before Law School
- 12-18 Months Before Law School
- 9-12 Months Before Law School
- 6-9 Months Before Law School
- 3-6 Months Before Law School
- 0-3 Months Before Law School
- Create your free LSAC account
- Consult the Financing Your Legal Education guide from nonprofit resource AccessLex to plan your application budget, including the costs to prepare for and register for the LSAT or GRE, the costs to sign up for the Credential Assembly Service (CAS), the cost of application fees, the cost of sending your Law School Reports (score reports) to schools, and potential costs of traveling to visit law schools. If you have financial need, make a plan ASAP to apply for the LSAC Fee Waiver which will could cover a good portion of these costs. ALWAYS appeal if you are denied, as the first time your fee waiver application is subject to an automated process, but appeals are reviewed by an actual person.
- Download our application guide, which explains the major components of a law school application and gives you tips for completing each piece.
- Meet with a pre-law advisor to discuss your LSAT or GRE timeline (When will you first take it? What is your retake option?)
- Decide on a test date to shoot for. The last good time to take your first LSAT is in early summer the year before starting law school if possible; make sure to research the deadline to register for the LSAT as it may be more than a month before the test date.
- Check out our LSAT/GRE page and decide how you plan to prepare for the test (Commercial Course? University Course? Self-Study? How many hours can you devote to your study per week?)
- Research Law Schools
- Review the Center for Pre-Law Advising advice on requesting letters of recommendation