How to Apply to Law School for Free

If you're beginning your Law School application season, you probably are already aware of how expensive law school applications are. Each school can run from $50-$70, in addition to the $12 LSDAS score report fee. These fees really start to add up when you want to apply to 5+ schools-before you know it, you've spent $1,000 on applications alone!

Fortunately for us, law schools do offer fee waivers based on both merit and financial need. If your numbers are at the top of their admission profile for the past year, you may get an application fee waiver sent to you in the mail or by email without even requesting it. If you do get a fee waiver in the mail, remember that you still have to pay the $12 LSDAS fee.

Some schools will address fee waiver requests on their website or even on the "instructions" tab on their application on lsac.org. These waivers are based usually on financial hardship-not merit. I suggest following their particular instructions when requesting fee waivers. If law school applications do not present a real financial hardship on you, you should not bother completing these forms because the bar can be rather high. If schools do not address fee waiver requests, you can go ahead and request them personally.

For those schools that you find your numbers consistent with the admission profile, you may want to try your luck requesting a merit-based fee waiver of your own. Don't bother requesting a fee waiver from schools in the top 10, unless you have a 3.9 GPA and a 170+ on your LSAT. To do this, find an email on the website in the Admissions Office- either a director or a lower officer. You can use the template below to assist you in writing the fee request.

Dear Admissions Officer (insert name here, if possible):

I am interested in applying to _______ School of Law, however it is difficult for me to afford the application fee. I am very interested in _______ school because of its unique _______ program.

I scored a ___ on the LSAT and my cumulative undergraduate GPA is ___.

Please consider waiving my application fee to _______. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Your Name

LSAC ID Number

Many schools will waive your application fee right off the bat, especially if they are private universities and your scores are appealing to them. Other schools will send you an application fee waiver request forms (hardship forms) that you will need to complete and return. These forms will request information such as your current income, current expenses, money in savings, etc. You may be required to submit a paystub. Be sure to be honest when completing the forms-you do not want to begin a law career with dishonesty. Do not be weary of completing these forms- they often are approved simply because you have taken the time to complete them.

Be sure to follow up if you do not receive a response in a week. You may even want to select a different email address to send the request to if you do not receive a response after two weeks.

When you do get a response-whether good or bad-make sure to cordially respond thanking the officer for his or her time. You always want to treat admissions officers with respect because you never know who will be reviewing your file.