Temple's alternative for those with low LSAT scores

For students who performed poorly on the LSAT, Temple University's Beasley School of Law in Philadelphia offers an alternative "discretionary admissions process which avoids over-reliance on the LSAT or any other arbitrary and abstract measuring factor in the admissions process" called "Sp.A.C.E." I'm not entirely sure what Sp.A.C.E. stands for, but essentially it provides a refreshing alternative for academically strong students who simply could not master the LSAT by making the admissions committee aware, up front, that you believe your full application, not including your LSAT score, should make you worthy of admission. As we all know, many schools look at LSAT score first, followed by GPA, and that they may not even examine your personal statement or work history before making an admission decision. Temple, however, offers this alternative, which expressly requests that the full application be reviewed, and students who aren't pleased with their LSAT score would be wise to strongly consider applying to Temple - an excellent law school with a very strong reputation - through this option.

Not anyone can apply through the Sp.A.C.E. program, however. A description of the program on the Temple Law School admissions page's "Application Procedure" section reads:

"The faculty has identified the following characteristics as priorities in determining whether or not a particular applicant should be admitted under this discretionary admissions process: applicants who have overcome serious long-standing economic deprivation, or who come from working class families historically foreclosed from higher education; applicants who come from racial or ethnic minority groups; applicants whose families are recent immigrants to the United States; applicants who have demonstrated exceptional leadership ability in college, community or career activities, or who have evidenced a commitment to service through Peace Corps, VISTA, military or other service work; applicants with academic honors, graduate or undergraduate degrees of unusual merit, or undergraduate grade point averages of 3.8 or higher and standardized test scores that do not reflect this academic strength; applicants who worked during college to finance their education or support their families;applicants who identify as gay, lesbian or transgendered; applicants with significant or unusual career achievement since graduation from college; applicants with serious physical disabilities; and applicants with other unique strengths and achievements."

So while Sp.A.C.E. is definitely worth considering if you don't think you could be admitted with your current LSAT score, you should carefully consider the criteria before wasting your time. Nevertheless, the fact that Temple Law School provides this option is encouraging in the midst of a cutthroat law school admissions environment, and should lead students to consider applying there who otherwise may not have thought about it.

An important consideration when applying to law school: bar-exam pass rate

Law school applicants usually pick their schools based on admission statistics, reputation, and location, but a recent New York Post article reminds us that we ought to consider other factors - namely, how well our legal education will prepare us for an eventual legal career. This consideration can be most easily seen in bar-exam pass rates, which the Post article discusses with respect to the City University of New York (CUNY)'s law school. Apparently, CUNY's pass rate has dropped from 83% (a respectable percentage, but nowhere near the near-100% rates of more well-renowned institutions) in 2008 to 67% this year. Such a low ranking is not only indicative of lackluster preparation by the school, but it places CUNY in jeopardy of losing its accreditation by the American Bar Association. Furthermore, CUNY's pass rate is now only 9 percentage points higher than the second-lowest scorer in the nation: Pace University.

If nothing else, this article and the statistics it discusses reminds us of one more factor to consider when evaluating potential law schools (as if we needed any more). Yes, you want to apply to and eventually attend an institution that you actually want to go to (based on programs, location, etc.) but what good is the education you are receiving if that school can't prepare you to pass the bar exam? This consideration may seem like a no-brainer, but as someone who is applying to law schools right now, I hadn't seriously considered this factor until now.

"ABA-LSAC Official Guide to ABA-Approved Law Schools"

The American Bar Association (ABA) and the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) publish a report each year called the ABA-LSAC Official Guide to ABA-Approved Law Schools. This document is exceptionally useful for both undergraduates contemplating applying to law school and law students preparing to take the bar exam. It provides detailed information about the law school application process, what to look for in certain law schools, and valuable application and admission statistics. The report also discusses when to start thinking about and how to approach each aspect of the application process (personal statement, LSAT, etc.) from an authoritative standpoint (this is the ABA providing this advice, not a random website), which can be especially helpful for those of us in the middle (or just thinking about) our applications.

Take a look at the 2012 report:  http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publications/misc/legal_education/2012_official_guide_for_web.authcheckdam.pdf

Helpful site for writing your Personal Statement

Top-Law-Schools.com has some great resources for those applying to law school, but their Personal Statement page (http://www.top-law-schools.com/statement.html) is especially useful. It identifies some ideas to think about before you begin, suggests some ways to do your revisions, and - perhaps most helpful of all - it provides some examples of successful and unsuccessful statements. Not only does it provide the examples, but it offers critiques and praise of the elements that worked and didn't work with each. This is a great place to start for anyone who who is even thinking about writing Personal Statements - for any application, not just law school. For law school, in particular, the Personal Statement is one of the most important aspects of the application, because it is the only place where you get to demonstrate your voice, how you think, and what you have done/want to do. It's worth spending a long time writing, revising, and re-writing (sometimes from scratch), and resources like this sight are especially helpful.