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What to Enclose with the Law School Application Form

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  6. What to Enclose with the Law School Application Form

published September 24, 2013

By Author - LawCrossing
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( 4 votes, average: 3.2 out of 5)
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Depending on the school, you'll have to enclose supplementary forms and other materials. Here, in no particular order, are some common items:
 
  • The required application fee. A few state schools have a discount for residents. Some schools will waive the application fee under certain circumstances; if you're poor, consider requesting an informational interview for this purpose.
     
  • One or more preaddressed postcards, if they are included in your application packet. The law school will use them to notify you of the status of your application. A typical school will ask you to return two or three. Some simply say "We have received your application." Others may say "Your application is complete"; or "Your application is in-complete; we are missing Address, stamp, and include the preprinted postcards even if, as I recommend, you send your application by certified mail. The law school will use the postcards anyway as a matter of routine, and it may upset their record-keeping if they are omitted.

     
  • One or more essays.
     
  • Letters of recommendation, in sealed envelopes, if you are applying to one of the few schools that wants you to collect and forward these letters rather than having them sent directly to the law school.
     
  • One or two writing samples. These may be publications, articles you've written for your student newspaper or literary magazine, essays that won prizes, or even very well-received school papers. (A good independent study paper is particularly impressive because you took the initiative to develop your own project, do the research, and then organize and write the report.) A writing sample doesn't need to be on a legal topic, and it's not necessary for you to mimic the heavily footnoted style you've seen in law reviews. But whatever you send should indicate that capable professionals-editors, awards committees, creative writing teachers- have judged your writing skills as strong.
     
  • Writing samples should be brief (30 pages or fewer in manuscript form) and should consist of original manuscript, photocopies, or tear sheets. If you've written a book, you can submit a published copy. But avoid bulky typescripts. As a rule of thumb, whatever you send should fit, along with the application form itself, into a standard manila file folder. If you've written a graduate thesis, dissertation, or major essay, it's better to send an abstract or a research design rather than the entire volume. (But ask your dissertation adviser to write a letter of recommendation commenting on the scholarly importance of your project.)
     
  • One word of caution: The writing sample must be evidence that you can write clearly and well. Don't assume that your writing meets these standards just because it has been published. Some publications, and not just student-edited ones, are notoriously poorly edited. They regularly print articles filled with typographical errors and sloppy prose. If you send a law school an essay filled with howlers, you'll create the impression that you're a sloppy and careless writer. Proofread your sample carefully, or have a good writer proofread it for you.
     
  • Some law schools want you to fill out and return a declaration of residence, which will be used to determine your eligibility for the in-state resident tuition discount. If a residence form is included with your packet of application forms, read it carefully and follow the directions. You may have to have it notarized; this means that you will have to sign it in front of a notary public, who will ask you for identification and then affix a seal to the declaration indicating that your identification matches the signature. Notaries public are sometimes listed in the Yellow Pages and can commonly be found in the offices of lawyers and real estate agents. Your college controller or registrar may also have a notary public available. Expect to pay a small fee for the service.
     
  • Some residence forms require you to supply evidence of your resident status. Enclose photocopies of whatever is required.
     
  • Financial aid forms. Each law school has its own rules for school-based financial aid. Most require you to apply for financial aid separately, after you apply for admission but before some deadline (see appendix C). A few schools ask you to request financial aid when you apply for admission, and a few others ask you to include a special form with your application for admission indicating whether or not you intend to apply for financial aid. If you need support, you should follow these rules exactly.

What Not to Send
 
  • A cover letter is unnecessary. This may disappoint you if you've learned to write a good cover letter in one of those courses that prepare you to apply for jobs in the business world. It won't hurt you to write a cover letter calling attention to some asset or advantage you possess: "I hope you'll look favorably on my good grades/good LSAT score/extensive work experience." But because the cover letter may not be read, be sure you repeat any information in it elsewhere in the application forms.
     
  • Excuse notes, for things you've explained away on the application form. I once read an essay in which a student explained away his bad freshman-year grades by noting that he had to take strong prescription medicine that made him drowsy and unable to study. This is fine: it's a one-time-only problem that has since been fixed. But the candidate also submitted a photocopy of his medical records, a section from the Physicians' Desk Reference about the recorded side effects of the medication, and a note from his mother. This copious documentation only called repeated attention to his poor semester. Don't overdo the excuses. Focus attention on your good points.
     
  • As a rule, avoid sending bulky or oversized material. The medical records are a case in point. I've had students submit bulky art works and even essays written on large chunks of wood. They wanted to attract attention to them-selves. They certainly succeeded in attracting the attention of the over-worked secretary who had to keep track of the material and who couldn't fit it into a standard manila folder. Such attention is rarely desirable. If you wish the law school to consider large art works or installations or performance art, you're best advised to submit photos, slides, or video-cassettes.
     
  • But you shouldn't send photos of yourself. Portraits seem innocuous, but they were traditionally used to enforce racial discrimination.
     
  • A few schools still allow you to provide an optional photo, and Pepperdine allows you to file with your application the identification photo that you will need to submit if you're accepted. But most law schools now refuse to accept photo portraits.
     
  • There's no need to send copies of award certificates or honors, either, unless they are so unusual that you weren't able to describe them fully on the application form.
     
  • Older lawyers may have advised you to include copies of your military discharge papers with your law school applications. It certainly won't hurt to identify yourself as a veteran. But the papers are no longer necessary. They were used to identify students whose education had been interrupted, or might be interrupted by the draft, which is no longer in effect.

  1. Legal Jobs
  2. Legal Articles
  3. Law Students
  4. Law Student Career Advice
  5. Selecting a Law School
  6. What to Enclose with the Law School Application Form

published September 24, 2013

By Author - LawCrossing
( 4 votes, average: 3.2 out of 5)
What do you think about this article? Rate it using the stars above and let us know what you think in the comments below.

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