Author: Joshua Craven

The University of Michigan Law School is a top-ranked law school. It has a very selective admissions process and is generally considered to be one of the best in the country. It offers an intellectual experience like no other and the students who come here aren’t just looking for good grades, they’re looking to make a difference. In 2022, UMich was ranked #10 in the country by US News. Accordingly, you can expect the admissions process to be highly competitive.

If you qualify for LSAC Fee Waiver, you can save a TON of money on the LSAT & law school application process. The Law School Admissions Council has rolled out a new & improved fee waiver program for the 2021-2022 application cycle. What fees are waived if I get an LSAC Fee Waiver? Credential Assembly Service Fees: $195Law School Reports: $45 eachLSAT Registration Fees: $200 eachLSAT Prep Plus: $99LSAT Score Preview: $45 Credential Assembly Service COST: $195 Everyone applying to law school will need to register for the Credential Assembly Service (CAS). Almost all law schools in the US require…

Many people giving prep advice, particularly people selling it, are a little over-concerned with making LSAT prep students feel good about what they are doing to prepare to take the test. We here at LSI are more concerned that you get the best score you can. This means doing what you should do, even if you might break down in tears and throw your LSAT prep books across the room a few times during your LSAT prep. We take our gloves off in this post and hit you with five harsh truths about what you are doing wrong to study for…

A “Cold” LSAT diagnostic exam is just a simulated LSAT test that you take to see where you are before starting your LSAT prep. To do this, you use a real, official LSAT test published by LSAC, the makers of the LSAT test. Check here for a list of every actual, official LSAT preptest. In this post, we explain everything you need to know about taking an LSAT diagnostic exam. Keep in mind that your LSAT diagnostic is not intended to gauge how high you can score on your real LSAT test day. People often come to me worried and demoralized…

So What is a Good GPA for Law School Admissions? Well, a good GPA for law school is, of course, the GPA that gets you into the school of your dreams! This article will take a general look at the GPA you need to get into each of the various tiers of law schools. We will discuss the GPA range that will likely get you into one of the top 100 law schools. We’ll also dig deeper into the GPA ranges at the well-known “top 14” law schools. But first, a little background on why your GPA is important and how…

The ever-influential US News and World Report’s ranking of top US law schools are out! Here is a full list of the 2021 rankings compared to the 2020 rankings: Law School 2021 +/- 2020 Yale University 1 – 1 Stanford Law 2 – 2 Harvard Law 3 – 3 UChicago Law School 4 – 4 Columbia Law School 4 -1 5 NYU School of Law 6 – 6 University of Pennsylvania 7 – 7 University of Virginia 8 – 8 Michigan Law 9 – 9 Northwestern Law 9 -1 10 Berkeley Law 9 -1 10 Duke Law 12 +2 10…

New LSAT and GPA medians are out for the Class of 2023! To help you pick reach, target, and safety schools, here are the most recent LSAT and GPA medians available, representing numbers for the law school class of 2023. Seeing the most recently admitted class numbers gives you the most accurate idea of where you’ll stand in the admissions game. Generally, if both your numbers are above the median, consider that school a safety. Both below makes it a reach. For comparison, I’ve provided the numbers for the previous few years so that you can see whether it’s gotten…

LSAC publishes score percentiles for each scaled score measured over a three year period (your scaled score is the one people mean when they say “my LSAT score is __.” It’s some number between 120-180, but hopefully, for you, it will be closer to 180). These percentile scores can help you assess your strength by showing you roughly how rare each score is. The percentile numbers in the chart below indicate the percentage of people that scored below that score in that three years measured. So for 165, for example, 89.8% of takers got below that score in the period…

What LSAT and GPA numbers do you need to get into Columbia Law School? Columbia Law School is generally considered to be one of the best law schools in the country. In 2022, Columbia was ranked #4 in the country by US News. Accordingly, you can expect the admissions process to be highly competitive.

While this question gets asked all the time, there is no objective answer. Yes, everyone wants to get a stellar score. A 99th percentile score on the LSAT is about a 172, meaning if you get a 172, then you did better than 99% of all test-takers. That’s clearly an excellent score. However, even though most people put in a decent effort to prep for the exam, only 1% of test-takers will hit that or above each year. The LSAT is a standardized test that law schools use to select candidates for admission. A good LSAT score for an individual…

Constitutional Law Examples and Explanations8th Editionby Christopher May, Allan Ides, and Simona Grossi View on AmazoneBook Edition Constitutional Law in a Nutshell10th Editionby Jerome Barron and C Thomas Dienes View on AmazoneBook Edition Gilbert Law Summaries on Constitutional Law31st Editionby Jesse Choper View on AmazoneBook Edition Glannon Guide to Constitutional Law3rd Editionby Brannon P. Denning View on AmazoneBook Edition Emanuel Law Outlines for Constitutional Law38th Editionby Steven L. Emanuel View on AmazoneBook Edition Questions and Answers: Constitutional Law3rd Editionby Paul E. McGreal, Linsa S. Eads, and Charles Rhodes View on AmazoneBook Edition Understanding Constitutional Law5th Editionby William D. Araiza View…

Property Examples and Explanations6th Editionby Barlow Burke and Joseph Snoe View on AmazoneBook Edition Aspen Treatise for Property Law5th Editionby Joseph William Singer View on AmazoneBook Edition The Law of Property Concepts and Insights2nd Editionby Christopher Serkin View on AmazoneBook Edition Real Property in a Nutshell7th Editionby Roger Bernhardt and Ann Burkhart View on AmazoneBook Edition Gilbert Law Summaries on Property18th Editionby James E. Krier View on AmazoneBook Edition Glannon Guide to Property4th Editionby James Charles Smith View on AmazoneBook Edition Emanuel Law Outlines for Property9th Editionby Steven L. Emanuel View on AmazoneBook Edition Questions and Answers: Property2nd Editionby John…

View our list of the Best Criminal Law Supplements for 1L year.

Chirelstein’s Concepts and Case Analysis in the Law of Contracts There is no disagreement among law students about this: the best contract law supplement is Chirelstein’s Concepts and Case Analysis in the Law of Contracts (more often referred to as just “Chirelstein” or, “the book with the sailboat”). Whereas in other subjects the examples and explanations series of supplements is often the only way to go, for contracts Chirelstein’s concise book is considered essential. Chirelstein can be read in one night and after you’ve finished, you will just “get” contracts law. It gives you a great overview of the full…

Glannon Guide to TortsLearning Torts Through Multiple-Choice Questions and Analysisby Richard L. Hasen The most commonly recommended supplement for 1L torts class is Glannon’s Guide to Torts. It’s best thought of as a concise version of the E&E and while it will be very useful for exam study, it’s also a great pre-class primer. Glannon is THE MAN when it comes to 1L exam prep, so he also wrote the E&E for torts. As such, getting both of these might be a little redundant. Also, let’s face it, the E&E is often too long to work through all the way…

Civil procedure is usually offered during your first semester of 1L year, so it’s where many students first get acquainted with legal reasoning. At my school, UChicago, where we were on the quarter system, Civ Pro 1 was one of only two exams we had our first quarter. As such, all of us over-studied horribly for it, because we didn’t yet know where to say enough is enough. Despite consulting a lot of resources, my study group agreed that only a couple of the supplements we checked were outstanding. Here are the best civ pro supplements: Civil Procedure: Examples and Explanations (Examples…

With each new law school admissions cycle, tens of thousands of law school applicants have the same question: “So, how hard is law school?” These curious souls, anxious with anticipation and perhaps consumed with some degree of dread, turn to me to get a better idea of how hard they should expect law school to be. Having recently graduated from the University of Chicago Law School myself, I’m here to tell you: on the whole, law school isn’t really all that bad, arduous though it may be. How Hard is Law School? No… Seriously, how hard is law school, really? Now,…

For the class graduating Yale Law School in 2023: The lowest LSAT score was: 155The 25th percentile LSAT score was: 170The median LSAT score was: 173The 75th percentile LSAT score was: 176The highest LSAT score was: 180 The lowest GPA was: 3.50The 25th percentile GPA was: 3.85The median GPA was: 3.94The 75th percentile GPA was: 3.99The highest GPA was: 4.33

It’s been about a year since the coronavirus began making headlines around the world. 2020… What a weird year, amirite? And 2021 is getting off to a wild start as well. Today, I’m rededicating myself to publishing articles more often, here on the blog at lawschooli.com, and I feel like it would be insincere if I didn’t first address how crazy things have been. I’ve written thousands of words in dozens of draft articles over the few months as I tried to find something meaningful to say, but each draft seemed contrived, my tone either too gloomy or too cheerful.…

Law School App Deadlines The Fall 2022 Law School Application cycle is in full swing! While you can use these deadlines to make sure your applications are timely, it is worth reminding everyone that earlier is generally better when it comes to law school admissions! Below, I’ve compiled a comprehensive list of all regular law school application deadlines for students who will be starting their 1L year in Fall 2022. Fall 2022 JD Regular Admissions Deadlines for Every ABA-Approved Law School The table below represents the application deadlines for regular JD admissions only. Rank School App Available App Deadline 1 Yale Law…