Application Tips

What you need to know about letters of recommendation:

• Two letters of recommendation are required, and at least one should be written in the past year
• You may submit no more than four letters
• Ask for a recommendation from someone who will write a great letter about you
• If you ask someone and they are hesitant, it is likely a sign that you should ask someone else
• One letter should be from someone in academia if you are in college or have recently graduated
• One letter should be from an employer if you have been in the workforce for several years
• The second letter may be from a colleague, friend, co-worker, etc., but a second letter from an employer or professor is often preferred
• Recommender should speak to your work ethic and/or classroom abilities

The personal statement is your opportunity to provide a candid evaluation of yourself and to make the admission committee feel your passion and desire to study the law. If you find yourself struggling to talk about how great you are, ask someone close to you – mother, father, friend, etc. – why they think you are great. Another suggestion is to think about something that has been very meaningful or a large part of your life and has particularly shaped who you are today. The personal statement is your opportunity to tell the admission committee something about yourself that they would not otherwise know from reading the rest of your application or résumé.

Here are a few things to consider including in your personal statement:

• Evidence of your abilities and strengths
• Motivation to study law
• Examples of leadership abilities
• Evidence of your maturity
• Evidence of your organizational skills
• Information regarding any educational or financial obstacles you have overcome
• Disabilities that may have affected your academic performance

Please remember that the personal statement is a writing sample; there should be no typos. If you begin or end with a quote, make sure that it is relevant to the rest of your statement.

Be sure to tailor your résumé to law school admission. You should expand on and provide more details than the application allows regarding leadership roles, community service, and work/internship experience.

Be sure to read the instructions in the Character & Fitness section of your law school application(s) very carefully. It is important that you correctly answer each question and disclose the information asked for in each question. Some law schools may ask you to disclose incidents that other law schools do not ask for, so be sure you are providing all of the information each law school has asked you to disclose. Never try to hide something; the repercussions of doing so will almost always be worse than the actual incident. A few years ago, the South Carolina Supreme Court published this opinion about the consequences of not disclosing all Character and Fitness incidents. You DO NOT want to be in this person’s position in a few years because you forgot to disclose a speeding ticket or some other incident! If you are unsure as to whether an incident needs to be disclosed, reach out to the law school and ask. They will gladly help you.