{"id":606,"date":"2016-05-05T21:32:00","date_gmt":"2016-05-06T04:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/lsat\/?p=606"},"modified":"2019-04-19T07:19:53","modified_gmt":"2019-04-19T14:19:53","slug":"how-many-law-schools-should-you-apply-to","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/lsat\/how-many-law-schools-should-you-apply-to\/","title":{"rendered":"How Many Law Schools Should You Apply to?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Applying to law school can be both an expensive and time-consuming process<\/a> \u2013 each application comes with its own fee, and individual schools might have custom requirements (like tailored personal statements or mandatory essay supplements). Putting too many schools down on your list could cause a lot of unnecessary stress. On the other hand, you don\u2019t want to limit your options in such a way that you don\u2019t give yourself any. All that said, how many law schools should you apply to?
\n 
\nAs a general catch-all recommendation, you should choose at least one safety school, a few target schools, and at least one reach schools<\/strong>. A lot of people follow the “2-3-2” rule<\/strong>, which is just a specific variation of the above recommendations. Your \u201csafety\u201d options should be schools at which your LSAT falls at or above their 75th percentile. \u201cTarget\u201d options should be schools at which your score falls within their middle 50th percentiles, and \u201creach\u201d schools are those at which your score is at or below their 25th percentile. Given how important the LSAT is<\/a> in law school admissions, we\u2019re basing our classifications off of only your LSAT score.<\/p>\n

 
\nHowever, the number of law schools that\u2019s right for you depends on your individual circumstances. If you want to maximize your chances of getting into the best school possible<\/strong>, and there are no other factors that you need to consider in your law school decision, cast your net as wide as you can<\/strong>. Add more reach schools to your list. You shouldn\u2019t reject yourself before you even give schools the chance to evaluate your file. If you never apply, the answer will always be no\u2026 but after you apply, the answer might very well be \u201cyes.\u201d You might be surprised by some of the success stories that we\u2019ve heard.
\n 
\nIf you have an idea of where you want to attend law school, or where you want to practice law post-graduation<\/strong>, it can be a smart move to apply to all of the schools that are in that market<\/strong>. Yes, that\u2019s right, all of them. Geographic restrictions narrow down the pool of schools we\u2019re talking about, so it won\u2019t be too stressful to get applications in order for all of them, and it will give you some peace of mind to know that you have a lot of potential options in the market you\u2019re aiming for.
\n 
\nStill other students might already have a clear vision for the type of law they want to specialize in<\/strong>. If you fall into this category, we recommend that you apply to a mix of safety\/target\/reach schools + schools that are highly ranked in the programs you\u2019re interested in<\/strong>. Oftentimes, schools that are known for specialty programs don\u2019t necessarily place at the top of national rankings lists. Take New Hampshire Law School<\/a>, for example \u2013 it ranks #5 in intellectual property law, but #82 in the U.S. News national rankings. It\u2019d be a good idea to apply to at least 2 safety schools, 2 target schools, and 2 reach schools, following the guidelines above, but you can also add a few schools that are strong in your intended specialty area.
\n 
\nLastly, you might be a \u201csplitter\u201d student<\/strong> \u2013 you could have a high LSAT\/low GPA, or a low LSAT\/high GPA. As a splitter student, you\u2019ll need to be mindful that admissions decisions won\u2019t always make sense… and they\u2019re definitely not something you can accurately predict. With that frame of reference, you should increase the number of target schools on your list<\/strong>. Remember, we set the parameters of the safety\/target\/reach classifications based on LSAT scores, so if you have a high LSAT but low GPA, you will likely need to identify targets that are a rank or two below where your LSAT might suggest. Alternatively, look for schools like NYU<\/a> and Berkeley<\/a>, which are known for putting more emphasis on the whole applicant, rather than just test scores and GPA. Regardless, always err on the side of caution when you\u2019re a splitter student to ensure that you\u2019ll have options in the fall!
\n 
\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Applying to law school can be both an expensive and time-consuming process \u2013 each application comes with its own fee, and individual schools might have custom requirements (like tailored personal statements or mandatory essay supplements). Putting too many schools down on your list could cause a lot of unnecessary stress. On the other hand, you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":135,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[3851],"class_list":["post-606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-law-school-admissions"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow Many Law Schools Should You Apply to? - Magoosh LSAT Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Many Law Schools Should You Apply to?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Applying to law school can be both an expensive and time-consuming process \u2013 each application comes with its own fee, and individual schools might have\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/lsat\/how-many-law-schools-should-you-apply-to\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Magoosh LSAT Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-05-06T04:32:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-04-19T14:19:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Catherine\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Catherine\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/lsat\/how-many-law-schools-should-you-apply-to\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/lsat\/how-many-law-schools-should-you-apply-to\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Catherine\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/lsat\/#\/schema\/person\/17d1fc9fa9abb3902fa3ed40c79b064d\"},\"headline\":\"How Many Law Schools Should You Apply to?\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-05-06T04:32:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/lsat\/how-many-law-schools-should-you-apply-to\/\"},\"wordCount\":708,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/lsat\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Law School Admissions\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/lsat\/how-many-law-schools-should-you-apply-to\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/lsat\/how-many-law-schools-should-you-apply-to\/\",\"name\":\"How Many Law Schools Should You Apply to? 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