Start with the Basics -- Writing!

Most law schools don't have their applications ready until September or October. In fact, most law schools don't even have paper apps any more.  You must complete them through the school's web page or the LSAC online application service. Even if you fill the app out early, you can't submit it until October 1 at many schools. As a result, applicants put off preparing, and then find themselves suddenly behind schedule. But this need not happen. You can begin working as early as the summer before your junior year.

Focus on Your Writing Skills

While you're thinking about what to say, pay some attention to how you'll say it.  The easiest way to "waste" your opportunity to wow them with your essays is by having poor writing skills.  Boy, am I sick of telling people about their poor grammar.  Kids, your grammar sucks!   Instead of spending hundreds of hours reading the chat boards, how about learning how to write like a pre-computer-generation literate person?  You'll have to, to succeed in law school.  Better to learn now than after you get a "C" in legal writing.   Click here to see whether you're guilty of some of the things I'm sickest of.

In 2005, Michael Santana was beta-testing an online legal writing prep course, and kindly offered it to my clients for free.  Both of the clients who took it thought it was very helpful, and I noticed a marked improvement in their writing.  So if you aren't positive about when to use an apostrophe, or if you get lost in complex sentences, look up his course. 

Once you've brushed up your basic writing skills, you can begin working on the 3 R's -- résumés, recommendations, and registering with LSAC.