Applying to law school, unlike applying to college, is a long process with many steps and hidden costs. This article will break down the process into manageable parts with the hope that the reader will not be taken by surprise or overwhelmed when the application deadlines come up.

What you will need to do:

• An account with LSAC (Law School Admissions Council)
• Take the LSAT
• Get letters of recommendation from professors/employers
• Write a personal statement
• Put together a resume
• Fill out applications for each law school online
• Request your undergraduate transcript be sent to LSAC
• Purchase LSDAS reports for each application you submit

Timeline:

In your junior year: Register for the LSAT and pay for an LSAC account (approx. $250)

June before your senior year of college (14 months before you plan on starting law school): Take the LSAT

Summer before your senior year: Start drafting your personal statement and resume, bearing in mind that you will be revising later

Fall of your senior year: Track down the professors who knew you the best and who you feel would write glowing letters of recommendation for you. If you've been out of school for a while, you can have employers write letters for you. You will print off LOR forms for each professor/employer from LSAC.

You will also re-take the LSAT in late September/early October if you feel you can raise your score.

Have peers/professors with excellent editing skills go over your personal statement for you. This is always nerve-racking, but it's better to get constructive criticism from them before you submit your application than to have the admissions officers think your writing sucks or that your content is trite.

If you are applying early decision, be sure to get all of this done before November. Also, have any university you have attended sent official transcripts to LSAC (you will print forms from the LSAC site for this too) and fill out the applications online through LSAC. Early admissions applications are usually due by November 15, but be sure to check the univeristy's timeline.

December of your senior year (December before you plan on starting law school): Finish your personal statement(s) (be sure to write a personal statement that fits the requirements of each law school you are applying to - they do not all have the same prompt). Upload your personal statement(s) and resume to each application you fill out on LSAC. Finish filling out the applications and review all information before you submit your applications. After you submit your application, you will not be able to change any of the information through LSAC - you will have to contact the law schools directly to correct any mistakes (which doesn't make you look like you've got it all together).

After the semester is over and grades have posted, have your university send an official transcript to LSAC. You will have to get transcripts from every university you have attended. There is a form on LSAC that your university will need to send along with your transcript to make processing go faster. It can take up to two weeks for your transcripts to be received and processed, so be sure you time this against the application deadlines. You may not have the luxury of waiting for your fall semester grades to post.

There is a December LSAT if you still need to re-take it. Remember that some schools average your score and some schools take the highest score. Check your law school's admissions procedures before you decide to re-take the LSAT.

Winter break (8-9 months before you expect to start law school): Make sure LSAC has received all of your letters of recommendation, all of your transcripts, and your LSAT scores. Since you've already filled out your applications and done your personal statement(s) and resume, you're ready to start submitting applications. Here's where things get expensive. You should apply to about 5 schools (two reach schools, two for which you are a reasonable match, and one safety). Each application will cost anywhere between $30-95, although some schools may waive your fee based on your UGPA and LSAT scores. Along with each application fee, you will need to pay about $12 per application for an LSDAS report (the summary report LSAC puts together that has your test scores, letters of recommendation, and transcript summary report). So, assuming the applications average $70 each and you apply to five schools, you're looking at around $410. This is on top of what you've already spent on taking the LSAT and registering for the LSAC account. (You've probably spent $100+ on study materials for the LSAT). This is another reason why it's wise to space out the steps as much as possible.

February of your senior year: Here is one last chance to take the LSAT. You've probably already sent out your applications at this point, but you there is an opportunity for you to tell them you're still planning on taking the LSAT one more time on your applications (this CANNOT be your first time taking the LSAT), and you can inform them of your score when you get it by calling the admissions office.

Spring of your senior year: All you can do is wait, take it easy, finish school and graduate. By April you should have a pretty clear idea of where you're going and start looking at finance options and scholarship opportunities. Congratulations! You've earned a few months to take it easy and enjoy life before starting the epic task of earning a law degree.