What Do Law Schools Look for in Applicants

As an undergraduate student who will likely apply for law school, I have often wondered what exactly law schools look at when they look at applications of undergraduate students applying to their school. The question is very common among my peers who are also applying to law school. I decided to ask my friend who had just been accepted into the University of North Carolina law school, one of the top law schools in the country the breakdown of an undergraduate's application. He had actually been interviewed by the admissions people at UNC law who told him the actual breakdown and formula that they look at when deciding whether or not to accept a student.

The breakdown was as follows:

1/3 LSAT score

1/3 GPA

1/3 everything else

I found this breakdown intriguing because for a good portion of my college career I had often been told that my extracurricular activities like my jobs and student group work didn't mean very much. Now the breakdown I have just provided can be looked at in three ways. Either you view the 1/3 percent of the breakdown for "everything else" as too little, too much or a fair justification. I personally think that it is a fair justification.

Let's take a careful look at each part of the breakdown and dissect each part.

1/3 LSAT score: The Law School Admissions Test is a very important exam and I believe that it is given a fair percentile of your overall body of work. The law school test is as important as the SAT score that students need to get into a good college. Why should a graduate school be any different? The Law School Admissions Test is very difficult and challenging and students should spend months studying for this exam. Most students usually take the Kaplan or Princeton Review course or hire a private tutor to help tem study for the big exam.