What is the LSAC?

As almost every pre-law student knows (or will know soon), the LSAC is the company that administers the LSAT. What many students don’t know until they actually apply to law school is that the LSAC does so much more than just administer the LSAT and provide some test prep. But what exactly do they do??

First things first, LSAC is the Law School Admissions Council. It is pretty easy to assume that the LSAC deals with all things related to law school admissions (and they do). But what does that entail?

LSAC provides a step-by-step guide on applying to law school. It also will be how you apply to 99.9% of law schools. It operates the Credential Assembly Service (CAS), to which you will upload all transcripts, letter of recommendations, and documents. This saves so much time because you will upload each document once, rather than for each law school you apply to. The downfall to this system is that most law school requires you to use CAS, which costs $185 plus $30 for each school you apply to. Despite the cost, CAS is an extremely useful system that makes applying to law school much easier. It also saves your answers to common application questions (for example, your name, birthday, parents’ names, undergrad institution, GPA, etc.). Again, this is another way LSAC/CAS saves you time when applying to law school.

LSAC also provides information on all ABA-Approved Law Schools. You can find information about the law school, the program it offers, its student life, as well as the applicant profile.  It also allows you to compare your LSAT and GPA to their applicants and admitted students. You can also add schools to your school list, which keeps track of the schools you are interested in applying to.

Another feature of LSAC is that it can give your information to law schools that may be interested in recruiting you. You choose to opt in or opt out of this service, but it can be very helpful for students who have no idea where they want to apply to.

LSAC also provides lots of resources about financing law school. Included are an overview of Financial Aid information, how to apply for financial aid, as well as tips for living on a budget while in law school.

LSAC also hosts forums, which is where representatives from many law schools come together at a central place and talk with potential students. I did not attend one of the LSAC forums, but I attended a law school fair, which was very helpful in determining where I wanted to apply to.

One of the most interesting tools of the LSAC website its school search option that allows you to enter your GPA and LSAT score and gives you the likelihood that you will be accepted to a specific school. This can be a helpful tool, but don’t rely on it. Law schools look at your application as a whole, not just your LSAT and GPA, so the likelihood of your acceptance does not ride on these two factors alone.

LSAC also provides information for students who are considering law school. This is a good place to start if you are interested in law school, but have not decided if it is for you.

Overall, LSAC provides many resources that will help you decide if you want to go to law school and apply to law school. Applying to law school is not as daunting as it used to be, partially because LSAC streamlines all of this information into one service. During the process of applying, you will become very familiar with the LSAC and all it has to offer! Trust me, during application cycles, the LSAC will be your best friend.