Applying for Law School - Students with Disabilities

Applying for Law School (and Choosing the Right School):
A Guide for Students with Disabilities

Dria Fearn

Applying to law school for students with disabilities is much more involved than simply filling out the application and taking a standardized test. As a senior at UCLA, I had no idea what I was doing in terms of applying to law school, let alone how to successfully navigate the accommodations process the first time around. I hope to demystify the process by explaining everything I wish I had known when applying to law school (and much of it isn’t disability-related).

Tackling the LSAT

· Make sure your disability documentation is current. LSAC is notorious for regularly denying people with disabilities accommodations. (Rumor has it that they deny more than 50% of the applications.) It’s arguably more difficult (although it is never easy) to obtain accommodations if you have a “non-traditional” disability (i.e. learning disability, psych disorder, hidden physical disability), so if this applies to you, you must be on the ball.

o If you have a learning disability or a psych disorder, it’s likely that you will have to be reevaluated, as documentation is only current for 3 years if you’re under 21, and 5 years thereafter. Be aware that LSAC releases its accommodations materials only a month or two before the June LSAT registration deadline, and they have the ability to change the psycho-educational tests required, so find an evaluator early on and schedule your appointments within a short period of time following the release of those forms (be sure to allow enough time for your evaluator to administer the tests, write the report and fill out the LSAT accommodations forms; confirm that your evaluator understands the timeline and agrees to provide the written evaluation with time to spare).

o Forms are available online. All accommodations forms are available on the LSAC website (www.lsac.org).

· Know the deadline for the receipt of your accommodation materials. The deadline to submit materials may be different from the deadline for those not requesting accommodations. While LSAC requires the application for standard administration to be submitted by a postmark deadline, they require the accommodations materials (which are submitted in the same packet) to be received by that date. This makes it possible to have your LSAT test form to be received on time (i.e., your application was postmarked according to instructions), but to have your accommodation forms be in “late registration”. If that happens, you will be denied accommodations outright. (It happened to me when I applied for the June test, and I had to take the test at a later date, which threw a serious wrench into my application plans.)

· Inquire into getting an LSAT Fee Waiver. Any ABA-approved law school’s admissions office can approve a fee waiver, and you are much more likely to get the fee waiver approved by the law school than by LSAC. This is especially true if you have mitigating circumstances that aren’t reflected in your parents’ (or your) tax returns (e.g. disability-related expenses or recent unemployment).

o Fee waiver bonus: Many law schools accept the LSAT waiver in lieu of their application fee waiver, so you can save big bucks on applying to schools. This is especially helpful if you have money on paper, but are actually strapped for cash.

· Picking a Test Center – They are not all created equal. Here’s where you talk to your friends. Even if you don’t know anyone who has taken the LSAT with accommodations, ask around and find out which test centers in your area are the best for the standard administration (have personnel who are competent at administering the exam, have good seating arrangements, etc.). While you will have a separate testing area if you are receiving accommodations, it is hard to imagine that there isn’t some correlation between those test centers that have good people working the standard administration and those that administer the accommodated tests.

o Report problems during test taking if they occur. Even the best test centers mess up – we’re all human. If you have a problem call Accommodated Testing at (215) 968-1329. While it is unclear whether a formal complaints process exists, making a phone call may very well help your cause. And it is your decision whether or not you want to cancel your score.

Ins and outs of Prep Courses

· Picking a Prep Course - Know what you want to get out of it. If smaller class size is integral to your learning style (or you don’t have a four hour attention span), TestMasters probably isn’t for you. Get to know your learning style, and pick the course based on what you need, not by what everyone else is doing.

· Don’t be afraid to ask for accommodated testing. The prep company should be willing to work with you to accommodate your practice exams to simulate the accommodations you’ll be receiving on the exam itself. This is something you should consider when deciding on which course to take. In Los Angeles (when I was at UCLA), I chose Kaplan, and I was able to set up separate times to come in to their center and take the test – they were very cooperative.

The Application Process

· Personal Statement – To disclose or not to disclose? Depending on your disability you may be more or less eager to discuss it in your personal statement. I have no idea if it matters, but I did disclose, and I got into law school, so disclosing a hidden disability is not a death sentence. How much it helps in admissions remains to be seen.

· Rolling Admissions = Turn your Applications in EARLY. Assuming you don’t have a problem getting accommodations and are able to take the LSAT during the month of your choice (June or October), get your materials in to your schools early, because the longer you wait, the fewer seats will be left in the first year class.

Picking the Right School

· Make sure you will be granted accommodations. Check accommodations documentation requirements posted on the Disability Services Office website in advance (if available), and visit the Disability Services Office to make sure that you will receive accommodations. If you are told you are not eligible, even if you have the necessary documentation, you should reconsider whether this school is a good fit for you. You may not think that the accommodations are that big of a deal now, because perhaps, like me, you didn’t really need all of the extended time on your undergraduate exams. Simply put, law school is a completely different ballgame, and receiving the accommodations to which you are entitled may mean the difference between success and failure.

o Ask to be referred to a current student who receives services (preferably one with your same disability). This will help you figure out how they actually accommodate students versus the “party line.” While a school cannot disclose a student’s information without consent, some schools have current students who are willing to be contacted by prospective students. If not, ask that they pass along your contact information (email and phone number).

· Consider academic support programs available. Many schools provide support after you’ve been put on academic probation, but few provide support to help you succeed from the onset. University of California, Hastings College of the Law has a spectacular program called the Legal Education Opportunity Program (LEOP), which provides additional support to underrepresented and disadvantaged students during the first year. This support includes discussion groups for all 1L courses taught by upper division LEOP students who did well in the course (usually with the same professor), academic support, and a study aids library. Like any program, it is beneficial only if you participate (and some people, to their detriment, don’t): if such assistance is available to you, accept it!

· Environmental Needs. If you need an extensive public transportation system because of your disability (or maybe because you don’t have a car), going to Podunk U. probably isn’t the best option. Consider the environment you want to live in before you commit to a law school, because you will be spending three intensive years there.

· Consider your Values. If you consider the questioning of the current Administration’s wiretapping policies post-9/11 to be unpatriotic, liberal rhetoric, and you are unable to discuss this issue in a legal context, you may not want to choose to go to school in a place where there is a liberal bias. Don’t expect everyone to be on the same end of the ideological spectrum (we do have some conservatives in San Francisco), but understand that having an intellectual dialogue about current legal issues is part of what law school is all about and that the discussion will be lively as well as academically stimulating.

· Talk to people you know, including your undergrad advisors, professors, and parents. Ask for input from everyone you know to expand your perspective and allow you to consider all alternatives. Even though the final decision is yours, it doesn’t hurt to have the people you trust provide you with their insights, and may prove to be invaluable.

About the Author

Dria Fearn is a second year student at University of California, Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. She is a member of the Hastings Law Journal, President of the Hastings Chapter of the Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity, and an extern in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office. She credits the LEOP Program with contributing to her academic success, and last semester started to give back by teaching Torts.