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Posted Jan. 6, 2025

How many law schools should you apply to?

How many law schools should you apply to?Law school students appear to be applying to study at more law schools these days, in the hope of securing a place on the perfect LLM degree or postgraduate law program.

By applying to a wide range of law schools for a Master of Laws degree, postgraduate law students can maximise their options. While this scattergun approach can be a huge benefit, it’s important not to apply to too many places as this could weaken your individual applications and count against you. But how many law schools is too many?

What factors should you consider when applying to a law school?

When you’re looking at what law schools to apply to, it’s important to choose a range of schools according to your academic achievements and your budget. If you’re applying for a law school in the UK, you will probably want to look at law school rankings, areas of faculty specialisation and tuition fee costs. In the US, other aspects to consider could include your LSAT score and GPA.

What is the right number of law schools?

Once you have considered all the above factors, you need to create a shortlist of law schools – and this should comprise of between five and ten institutions. These should be law schools that both really appeal to you and that you also have a realistic chance of getting in to. It’s good to be aspirational when selecting your law school options – so definitely include a few of the more prestigious law schools that are in high demand. Obviously, these institutions will have a lower acceptance rate, so it is also worth including a couple of safe options, especially if these are law schools that are in desirable locations to you.

Location, location, location

Of course, whether you’re applying in the UK, the US or anywhere else, the actual location of the law school is also an important factor. Location is important for a few reasons including:

  • Whether you prefer to live and study in a big city or a more remote campus location.
  • Do you want to stay close to home, family and friends?
  • Do you want the ability to network and internship with specific nearby law firms?

Consider distance learning

If you need to study your LLM degree in a specific city, there will only be so many law schools that you will be able to apply to. In this instance, you may want to consider online study too, as this will broaden the number of law schools that you can apply to.

My specialist topic is…

Another factor that could affect how many law schools you apply to is what subject you want to specialise in. For example, if you are want to go to law school in the UK and are planning to study an LLM in Business Law you can choose from almost 100 courses. However if you’d rather specialise in Sports Law, there are currently only four UK institutions offering this specialism. Although it is good to apply to a selection of law schools, there is no point in applying to study a Master of Laws program that you are not interested in.

Does it cost money to apply to law schools?

Another consideration is the fact that some law schools charge an application fee, so the more law schools you apply to, the more costly the process is going to be. For example, King’s College London, a prestigious institution offering a General LLM as well as nine different pathway LLMs – charges a non-refundable application fee of £130. While the University of Cambridge charges £50 for applications to its Master of Laws degree. Check whether the universities and law schools that you are applying to require an application fee, as this could reduce the number of law schools you apply to.

What is the right number of law schools to apply to?

In summary, there is no perfect number of law schools to apply to for Master of Laws study. It’s probably a good idea to apply to four or five – some of these should be aspirational (reach) institutions and the others could be safer more achievable (safe) options. But always bear in mind, that there is no point apply to a study an LLM degree that you don’t want to study or to a law school that you don’t want to attend.

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