Application Components
Application Overview
Transcript
Many schools do not do interviews. So most of your admissions decisions will be based off the strength of your application. Careful thought should be put into assembling an application that showcases your many strengths and shows your readiness for law school. Make sure to read the directions carefully and provide all information requested by the law school on their application. When considering your uploaded documents, résumé, personal statements, and any optional or required addenda or statements, try your best to ensure that each document adds additional information to ensure that the people reviewing your application get as full a picture of who you are and why you belong in law school. When you are ready to submit your application, you will do so through your LSAC account. Start by searching for the applications for the schools to which you want to apply, and add them to your list. You can then fill out the applications, attach your written documents, and request the required Credential Assembly Service, or CAS, component. When you apply to law school, there will be some parts of your application within your control, and others that need to be submitted on your behalf. Each component will be evaluated by law schools when they receive your application. When you think about the parts of the application that you will complete yourself, these include the application itself, your résumé, your personal statement, other optional or required application essays where you can share more about who you are and why you are interested in a particular school, and any optional or required addenda. You will access the applications for the law schools to which you want to apply through your LSAC account and then upload your documents. You will use the Credential Assembly Service, or CAS, to submit the pieces of your application that someone else has in their possession. These components include your LSAT score or scores, your LSAT writing sample, your letters of recommendation, and your transcripts. Through your CAS account, you will indicate who will be writing your letters of recommendation and then assign the letters as they come in to the schools to which you apply. You will also provide information about all the schools you have attended, including undergraduate schools, graduate, professional, and law schools, and request that these transcripts be sent to LSAC. LSAC will then authenticate and summarize all transcripts, including the calculation of an LSAC undergraduate cumulative GPA, which will be on a 4.0 scale and will include every letter grade you received in the process of earning your first undergraduate degree. This information will be sent to every school to which you apply on your CAS report.
Your Application and CAS Report
When you apply to law school, you will complete some parts of your application directly with the law schools to which you’re applying and others will be assembled into a report through the Credential Assembly Service (CAS) (opens in new browser window). Each component will be evaluated by law schools when they receive your completed application.
Here's the breakdown:
You’ll complete directly | Included in your CAS Report |
|---|---|
The application Résumé Personal statement Optional statements Optional or required addenda | LSAT score(s) LSAT writing Letters of recommendation Transcripts |
Through CAS, you’ll indicate who will write your letters of recommendation and then assign each letter to any school to which you apply.
You’ll also provide information about all post-secondary schools you have attended. That includes every two- or four-year undergraduate school and any graduate, professional, or law school you attended for any credits, regardless of whether a degree was conferred. You will request these schools send transcripts directly to LSAC.
Once received, LSAC will authenticate and summarize all transcripts and calculate your LSAC cumulative GPA, which will be on a 4.0 scale, and include every grade you received prior to earning your first undergraduate degree. The transcript summary will also include every letter grade you received in the process of earning that undergraduate degree. This academic summary, along with LSAT information, will be included in your CAS Report, which every school to which you apply receives directly from LSAC.