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Hacking the Law School Application

AKA Get as much free stuff as you can
Tags: applying, free stuff, LSAT
Apr 2, 2023

This list is broken down into distinct parts of the law school application process.

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  1. Making the Decision to go to Law School
  2. LSAT Prep
  3. Taking the LSAT
  4. Putting Together Your Application
  5. Applying to Law School
  6. Preparing for Law School
  7. Related Articles

Making the Decision to go to law school

  1. LSD Articles
  2. LSD.Law has a lot of free articles and resources to help teach you about law school and the application process. 
  3. Everything on the site is free and nearly all data is user generated. Join the movement to make law school more accessible by becoming a member today
  4. Book: Don’t Go To Law School (Unless) by Paul Campos
  5. The book is not free, but you can find a flowchart of the main message here.
  6. It is a little negative about the decision to go to law school, so it might push you away from applying. However, if a flowchart convinces you not to go to law school, then you probably shouldn’t go. Law school is a long, expensive, and doesn’t necessarily set you up to make enough money to justify the cost, so you should think hard about the decision before you agree to go.   
  7. Law School Admission SubReddit
  8. LSD has an article about r/lawschooladmissions that is worth checking out before logging onto r/lsa and explains some of the pros and cons. 

LSAT Prep

  1. PowerScore
  2. All of PowerScore is not free, but they do have some free resources
  3. If you have an LSAC fee waiver you can get the PowerScore on-demand course for free if you are retaking the LSAT
  4. They have a whole suite of free products that you can see and download, and they don’t even ask for your contact information. 
  5. Scribd
  6. Scribd is not free, but they do have a 30 day free trial
  7. At last checked you can find and download over 40 prior LSAT tests 
  8. While you are on the free trial you can also get access to quite a few LSAT test books for free
  9. Khan Academy
  10. Khan Academy has partnered with the LSAC to offer a free LSAT Prep program. 
  11. You get access to a great interface for hundreds practice questions and about 13 full practice tests
  12. You can make your own schedule and Khan will help you keep to it
  13. The Official LSAT Prep, LawHub
  14. Similar to Khan Academy, LawHub offers access to two free practice tests. 
  15. LSAC Fee Waiver
  16. You can get the Official LSAT Prep Plus for free if you have received an LSAC fee waiver. 
  17. Most people will buy the LSAT Prep Plus at some point because it is required for every (good) LSAT Prep course and is the easiest way to get access to over 60 practice tests.

Taking the LSAT

  1. LSAC Fee Waiver
  2. Not everyone will get approved, but it is worth checking out the LSAC site to see if you might qualify. Keep in mind that you can always appeal if you get denied. You can also check out LSD’s guide to the fee waiver.

Putting together your application:

  1. Take advantage of a free consultation from an admissions consultant
  2.  There are many consultants out there, and some offer free initial consultations. One example is PowerScore, and you can sign up for the free consultation here.
  3. The negative: you will have to put up with the consultant trying to get you to buy something, BUT
  4. Admissions consultants cost about $200/hour or up to over $5000 for full application support, and you can get an hour for free
  5. Dear Future Colleague
  6. Dear Future Colleague provides mentorship, guidance, and recruitment opportunities for underrepresented graduate school and competitive scholarship applicants — including people of color, individuals from a lower socioeconomic status, first-generation individuals, and other demographics who have been systematically excluded from higher education.

Applying to Law School

  1. LSAC Fee Waiver
  2. The fee waiver covers LSATs, CAS, and Score Reports. You can apply for it at any point in the process (it doesn’t matter if you already paid for something), but you won’t be reimbursed for past purchases. 
  3. Application Fees
  4. Turn on Candidate Referral Service
  5. Some schools don’t have application fees but most do. Many schools will waive their application fee under certain circumstances. Most will automatically waive their fee if you have an LSAC fee waiver, many will waive them if you explain that applying will have a financial impact on you, and some will waive them if you just ask. 

Preparing for Law School

  1. Scholarships
  2. There are a lot of law school specific scholarships out there
  3. One place to start is Admission Dean which has a living list of about 100 scholarships for law school students. The largest scholarship is worth $10,000/year. The website isn’t amazing, but the list is best list of law school specific scholarships we have found. 
  4. Books
  5. You can find a lot in libraries for free. One book found on many pre-law reading lists is 1L of a Ride by Andrew J. McClurg
  6. If you don’t want to go to a library, then you can sign up for a two-day free trial of West Academic study aid collection to access the e-book for free.
  7. If you didn’t use a Scribd free trial for LSAT prep, you can also use it to access eBooks for pre-law school classics like:
  8. 1L of a Ride by Andrew J. McClurg
  9. One L by Scott Turow
  10. PreLaw Course
  11. These are courses designed to help you prepare for law school the summer before you start law school.  
  12. By far the most popular/famous pre-law course is Law Preview by BarBri. The course definitely isn’t free, but they coordinate with law firms to give out a lot of scholarships every year. You can apply to the scholarship once you have been accepted to a law school by clicking here. These ‘diversity’ scholarships are open to URM applicants, Women, and anyone in the LBGTQ+ community. Law Preview focuses on two primary goals, 1) to introduce you to the core 1L classes: contracts, property, torts, criminal law, civil procedure, and constitutional law; 2) to teach you about law school and introduce good study habits that will put you in a good position to get good 1L grades. You can see the course overview here.   
  13. Your university might offer what is called a 0L course. These lessons are put out by a few law schools for their incoming students to introduce them to 0L courses and the structure of courses/exams at your specific law school. 

Related Articles:

  1. LSAT & Application Timeline as an Undergrad
  2. Understanding your LSAT Score - For Applicants
  3. What is a good LSAT Score
  4. Gap Year Before Law School
Windsor MIT '22, Harvard College Advisor

I am the half of LSD that didn't take the LSAT, or go to law school (Sorry about that). But I did go to MIT business school while surrounded by law students and lawyers, so I am somewhat qualified to talk about the intricacies of law school apps and finances.

Windsor (the dog) didn't write this but he WAS a Resident Tutor and career advisor at Harvard College with me, so deserves some credit.

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Help us make LSD better!
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HimmyNeutron
19:49
I didn't even say anything but I hope that makes u feel better lmfao
HimmyNeutron
19:50
plz keep listening to spivey 17lo
AmbivalentPotato
19:50
Im not gonna lie. A lot of people criticize himmy and potato for speaking the truth. There is always someone out there that can replace you
AmbivalentPotato
19:50
Whether you can accept reality or continue to live in la la land is up to you
HimmyNeutron
19:51
is boar advertising tutoring with a 172 lol
you’d think for all that bragging about your work ethic you’d have something better to do with your time than attacking people’s lsat scores @potato lol
tbh that is pretty good advice, you never know who else is out there in the applicant pool
HimmyNeutron
19:51
that should be a ban lmfao
Nah potato has an alt, bro spoke in the third person, so pathetic lmaoo.
19:52
@onetimesignin it really doesnt matter, people score 170s off the rip with no studying. They are just built different, you gotta accept that there's level to this. Thats why I'm not applying anywhere near the T8 i know not cut out for that. With a 154 UT is gonna shred you.
HimmyNeutron
19:55
I don't like that mentality. u can always do better but yeah with a 154 and no proven academic merit he will have a tough time
AmbivalentPotato
19:56
Thank you wavy. Maybe he will listen from someone else. But yeah totally agree w your point
AmbivalentPotato
19:56
Or he can learn the hard way in a few weeks
[] WhisperingWillingBoar
19:57
Himmy didn't you say applying after October 20th makes no sense and those people should sit out the cycle like yesterday?
19:58
Himmy I'm not saying you cant out work someone smarter than you but theres only so much you can do
HimmyNeutron
19:59
@WhisperingWillingBoar: no
i mean you can always retake for a higher score then apply the following cycle
i dont trying for a higher score automatically means that it being late after oct 20th is contradictory
Hey Potato I figured you knew this (since you have 180/4.0) but when you refer to yourself you can use the words “I” or “me”, unless you meant to send that other message from your alt
AmbivalentPotato
20:01
Potato thinks youre dumb
Potato has an alt and he's using it to hype himself up LITERALLY SO EMBARESSING
CleverSilkyGibbon
20:02
dawg im just tryna fill some info in and this potato guy has me dying laughing
lil bro is red in the face right now stammering at the keyboard in tears
HimmyNeutron
20:02
u guys are so stupid
20:06
do they think I'm potato?
20:38
@onetimesignin: wait this is so funny
20:38
potato i sincerely hope you find a life someday and get off this website
i cannot get in the mind of people who decide to troll a random law school data aggregator chat room
but im sure its a turbulent place
or actually maybe its totally becalmed lol
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