Tips & Advice for the Application Process from a 1L

Applying to Loyola
Please note that our application for Fall 2017 is available onlineThere is no application fee. We are accepting applications for Fall 2017 through April 1. Loyola has a non-binding “Early Notification” admission deadline of January 15. Submitting your application by early January will not only ensure a decision from our committee earlier but will allow us to work with you earlier regarding your financial aid package, especially our special scholarships, which have a deadline of March 1.

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Tips for applying from Catie:

  1. Complete applications early: The earlier you apply, the earlier you will know whether you were accepted into law schools. This will help start planning for your upcoming start in law school.  I would suggest having most items complete, such as requesting letters of recommendation and writing your personal statement before the test scores are released. The people writing your letters of recommendation will appreciate having a large amount of time to submit their letter. Remember they are doing you a favor. This way all you have to do is fill in your personal information for each application and then submit. Once you have the applications completed, you can enjoy your senior year or your last few months at a job.
  2. Stay organized: I recommend creating an excel spreadsheet that lists each school, each part of the application, the school’s deadline and other requirements. I would check off certain aspects of the application once I completed them. This helped me organize what I still needed to complete by what time. It also helped because a lot of the applications have different requirements to be considered complete. For example, one school may only want a 1 page personal statement, while another wants an extra 500 word statement on why you chose to apply. Having a visual list reminded me of everything that I needed to do. I also had a spreadsheet of each school’s estimated cost of attendance, whether I was accepted, the scholarships I was offered for each school, and then the amount loans I would need to take out based on the cost of attendance for all three years. This helped me evaluate the costs of each school and helped me in making my final decision.
  3. Choose Schools that YOU want to apply to: Taking advice from people in the field and your parents is great and you should listen to them but you must apply to schools that interest you. I researched schools in the cities around the country where I would like to live. I also applied to schools where I would receive an in-state tuition rate. I applied to nine schools, which gave me plenty of options for location and cost. If there is a school that is your dream school but may be a reach to get into, I suggest applying. There is always a chance that you may get in and you do not want to have any regrets later. Just remember the application costs add up so be prepared to spend a significant amount of money if you are applying to several schools.
  4. Have Fun: Enjoy the process because you are applying to professional school, and not everyone has that opportunity. Take pride in showing off your accomplishments to schools. It is very rewarding for schools to notice all of your hard work and grant you acceptance and scholarships. There are a lot of great law schools and a right one for you. Plus, this process prepares you for the stress that is your 1L year 🙂

Catie Eubanks is a 1L at Loyola University Chicago School of Law.  She is blogging about the journey of her first year of law school. To search all posts written by her search the Catie E. category on the right hand side. Questions for Catie? Email law-admissions@luc.edu with the subject “Ask Catie” and she will make sure to answer them.

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