What to Do if You Don’t Get Into Law School
If you have followed the recommendations throughout this site, it is unlikely that you will not be admitted to one of the law schools you identified. But, if you do come up short, it isn’t the end of the world. In this situation, you are going to have to do some soul searching and reconfirm your commitment to becoming a lawyer. Next up, you’ll want to consider the process of developing your plan for being a stronger applicant so that you can get into law school in the next application cycle.
Identifying and Correcting Weaknesses in Your Application
The first task to conduct when you have been rejected by all of the law schools is to figure out what made you a weak applicant. The weakness may jump right off the page. In fact, the largest single weakness of rejected applicants is the LSAT. But your problem may lie in a low GPA, messy applications, applying late in the process, a bland personal statement, or even inadequate letters of recommendation. If possible, make an appointment with your university’s pre-law advisor. Bring copies of everything. Find your weakness(es) and correct them so that you will improve your chances in future applications.
You should also contact the admissions office to inquire about the reason for your rejection. Often you will only hear that there were not enough seats for all of the applicants—this means that your application wasn’t strong enough. On rare occasions you will be rejected because of an incomplete file. If requested information wasn’t received—through no fault of your own—you might request reconsideration after personally delivering the missing information. If you applied late in the process ask the admissions officer if you will fare better by applying earlier next year.