There are 3 parts to this document:
- Instructions for using the LSAC’s Online Applications
- Letters of Recommendation and the Credential Assembly Service (CAS)
- Transcripts and Applying to Law School
First, note that before you can actually submit material or apply to any law school you must register and pay for the Credential Assembly Service—the law schools require it—no exceptions. This fee is IN ADDITION to the fee for the LSAT, and once paid the registration is good for five years. However, you can do quite a bit to organize and set up your CAS file before you pay this fee. We suggest you create afree accountnow and get started. To do so, visit this webpage: Then try out some of the procedures below on your computer.
To pay the fee when the time comes, click the tab at the bottom left of your free account’s “home page” (i.e., after you register for or create the free account) entitled “Learn about Credential Service”. Then see the tab on the next page, also at the bottom left, entitled “Pay for CAS.”
- Instructions for using the LSAC’s Online Applications
Introduction:
The Credential Assembly Service drastically changed its online procedures in August of 2011. At the time of this writing, their system is brand new and largely untested. While these instructions are as accurate as they can be at this point, unexpected problems and “bugs” will likely emerge. Please let HPPLC know of any issues that come up. If we don’t have a solution already, we would like very much to know where the problems are. Just email a brief explanation to . Thanks.
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Note: about 18% of schools ask for a “Dean’s Certification” form. If your major is in the College of Arts and Sciences, take a hard copy of this form to the Academic Assistant Deans’ Office in Kirkwood Hall 012; telephone (812) 855-8245; Fax: (812) 855-2060. All others should take it to the Office of Student Ethics, 705 E. 7th Street, phone # 812-855-5419. Both will send it to the law school for you.
FIRST STEP in setting up your free CAS account: Be sure your popup blocker is turned off for this site! For Internet Explorer, click the “Tools” folder. For Firefox, click “Tools,” then choose “Options,” then go to the “Content” tab, and uncheck the first box (entitled “Block pop-up windows”).
To apply to a specific school, you must first formally create a list of the schools to which you will likely be applying. You can add to this list at anytime, and you do not have to actually submit applications to the schools you have chosen. It’s tentative until you do submit the application, which you will do on a school-by-school basis much later in the process.
- Log into your account as a “future JD Student” with username and password.
- If you have NOT yet selected any schools to which you will apply, go to the section entitled “My Law Schools/Applications, and click the “School Search” tab (If you already have a list, skip to #5 below).
- Select your schools by clicking on the appropriate tab. If you know the schools you want already, click “Add Member Schools” to choose from an alphabetical list of every ABA-approved US law school.
- After you “check” your schools, click “Save Selections to School List.” Your list will appear.
- If you already HAVE selected your schools, click “View School List.” Your list will appear.
Once you have a list, you can start to fill out the individual application for any particular school. Simply click on the name of the school: three short columns under the school’s name will appear. Under the middle section entitled “Apply/My Applications”, click the dark blue box called “Start/Continue Application.”
It’s pretty self-explanatory from there. First, you will check the semester for which you intend to begin your studies—usually the fall of the following year. Then “Select one method to apply.” most law schools prefer that you “Apply and Submit Online.” That is also the default selection. If this is your intended method (it is for 95+% applicants),click “Apply”.
A very large “drop down” menu will appear under the name of the school with the following three numbers under the “Applications” column:
1. “Step One Complete application forms.” Click the “Application” tab. You will see a rather long list of application subject items, such as “Instuctions” “Biographical,” “Demographics,” “Employment,” etc. First, be sure to read the instructions COMPLETELY, CAREFULLY, AND BEFORE YOU PROCEED!)! You will be asked to check a box at the bottom of the page stating “I have read and agree to the application instructions,” or some similar statement. Once you have done that, fill out each individual application section.
NOTE: when you later fill out the application for your NEXT school, information that you have provided on this first application will magically appear in the proper place in the second and all subsequent applications. Thus you will have increasingly less information to fill out as you complete more and more applications. Just make sure that all questions have appropriate responses. As stated, this system is new this year and there are certain to be imperfections and surprises!
At the bottom of the list of application items will be links to click in order to upload required and optional attachments, such as the personal statement, resume, diversity essay, etc. Note that the system can only upload Word documents, not PDF’s.
When you click on each item, you will have the option of including either: 1). an existing document that you have previously uploaded for a different school [click “choose an existing file”], or 2). a new document [click “upload a new file”].
You will then “describe the file” [e.g., “resume” “personal statement”, etc.].
Next, you will be asked if you would like to make this particular document part of your list of common files for potential use in subsequent applications. If so, check the box labeled “add this file to My Common Files List.”
Finally, you will “Attach (the) file” by clicking the tab labeled “Attach.”
NOTE: Many schools will also have a category for “Supplemental Material” or some similar catch-all category through which you can uploadmiscellaneous documents such as letters of addendum (e.g., history of outperforming standardized tests, serious illness in a given semester that distorted your cumulative GPA, personal issues, etc.). However, many do not have such a category. If you have supplementary material to submit to these schools, you must call their individual admissions offices and ask for instructions.
2. “Step Two Preview application”. Be sure to take a look. Make sure EVERY question has a response. Proof your material carefully. Assume that some admission officials will not tolerate even a single error.
3. “Step Three Pay fees and submit”. You will be able to click “Continue” to initiate this step only when the application itself is complete. It begins a series of final steps by which you pay the CAS Report fee ($16 per school), the individual school’s application fee, and sign the application, for example. If you have a fee waiver, there will usually be a space for you to write the fee waiver code you have been given.
A few schools ask for a “signature page” or “certification page,” which you are to print out as a hard copy, sign, and mail under separate cover to the law school (sometimes, but not always, with a check for the application fee). This page will usually appear only AFTER you submit the application itself (it contains the date and time you applied—and it can’t know that until after you have actually submitted the application). Thus you will not be able to find it before you click the “submit” button. Then it will appear on its ownimmediately afterwards.
That’s it! Congratulations!
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- Letters of Recommendation and the Credential Assembly Service (CAS)
Introduction: Each letter of recommendation (LOR) in your CAS account must be accompanied by its own CAS LOR form with the author’s name on it when it is sent to the LSAC. In other words, you will need to print out a separate LOR form created specifically for each of your writers. If you have 3 LOR, you will need 3 forms—one for each letter. Below are the instructions on how to obtain them. [Note that currently there may be problems printing out these forms on a MAC computer].
Preface:
- [IF you have a LOR file with the Health Professions and Prelaw Center (HPPLC) office, you must bring (or fax: 812.856.2770) these CAS forms to the HPPLC receptionist in Maxwell Hall 010 and s/he will put them in your HPPLC LOR file. With a HPPLC file, you do NOT give these forms to your writers. When you later forward your letters from HPPLC to the Credential Assembly Service, the secretary will make sure that the proper CAS form accompanies each letter. (Note: you will still have to give each writer the HPPLC “waiver” form that they will return to HPPLC with their letter.) And note as well that HPPLC will not automatically send out your LOR. You will need to complete and sign the short “Request For Recommendations To Be Sent” form—available at You can do this in person or by fax.]
- [IF you do NOT have a LOR file with HPPLC, then you must give this CAS LOR form to your individual LOR-writers before they write the letter. They in turn MUST mail their form together with their letter in the same envelope to the Credential Assembly Service. The address is on the top of the form. We suggest that you provide a pre-addressed, stamped envelope for each writer. (Note: if you do NOT have a HPPLC file, you would NOT give your writers the HPPLC “waiver” form referred to in the previous paragraph.)]
Instructions: You will build your own individual “master list” of potential letter-writers on your LSAC LOR account. This list can be as long or as short as you like. Note that just listing a person does not mean that you are committed to even asking this person for a letter, let alone sending it to any particular law school. These names will be only your potential sources for future letters. Only you will see this list.
Later in the process, you will also assemble a list of law schools to which you will potentially be applying. For each individual school you will have to designate specific letters it will receive from your “master list” of all letters that you have accumulated. Thus you will decide later which letters will go to which schools. Again, the list of letter-writers that you will be building is only for potential future use. As you enter the LSAC site and attempt to follow the instructions below on your computer, these procedures should become more clear and make more sense. It is complicated, but hang in there!
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First, log onto your LSAC account with your username and password:
Be sure your popup blocker is turned off for this site! For Internet Explorer, click the “Tools” folder. For Firefox, click “Tools,” then choose “Options,” then go to the “Content” tab, and uncheck the first box (entitled “Block pop-up windows”).
On the next page, see the section entitled “Credential Assembly Service.” Click the second link under this section, called “Letters of Recommendation.”
You will be taken to your own personal “Letters of Recommendation” page.
Click on the first blue box on the left side of the page, called “Add/Edit My Recommenders/Evaluators.” (found under the link for “My Report Status).
Click on the tab marked “Add NEW Recommender/Evaluator”
Choose whether your writer is a “Recommender” (meaning that they will be supplying a traditional hard copy of a LOR); or “Evaluator” (meaning that the writer will fill out an evaluation webform online and will not submit an actual letter); or “Both”. As of this writing, only Detroit Mercy School of Law requires an actual “Evaluation.” For all other schools, it is probably easiest if you simply use the traditional LOR for each writer. Thus, check the tab for “Recommender.”
IF you choose “Evaluator” or “Both,” the writer will automatically receive an email instructing them to go online, create an LSAC account for themselves, and then fill out and submit a lengthy electronic form. Many law schools will not even accept these forms, let alone prefer them.
Fill out the form that appears next—it mostly consists of contact information for the writer (NOT YOU!).
- IF you have a LOR file with HPPLC, you may use HPPLC’s address, telephone, and email address in this section (it simply tells the LSAC who to contact if there is a problem with the letter). Use the writer’s own name, of course.
- IF you do NOT have a file with HPPLC, use the writer’s work address, not home address.
“Number of letters from this recommender” refers to the number of versions of a LOR that this writer will supply. Most writers (97%) provide a single LOR that will be used for all law schools. For them, check “1.” For those writers who will supply one letter written with a particular law school in mind (usually written only if the writer him/herself graduated from a school to which you will be applying), and another generic letter to be used for every other school, check “2.” [if you check “2”, two descriptions will immediately appear—see next step below—and you will need to provide unique terms for each—you will later have to print out one form for each different letter provided by this writer].
They also ask for your own “Description” of the letter—note that this will be seen by the law schools!Do NOT change this description after you have given the form to the writer—the CAS may be confused if the description on the form they receive does not match with what is written by you on your online account. You only have 30 characters available for this description. If you have a letter that is designed only for one particular school, the description might read: “For DePaul Law School.” However, you can use any description that might be useful to you, for example: “Professor Simon;” “Internship;” “Middle Way House”, etc. As mentioned above, a single writer can (although this is rare) submit more than one letter—one to be used for all law schools, and another targeted for one specific school. Again, each letter must be accompanied by a unique CAS LOR form. Note that by far most writers will submit only one letter, which will be sent to all of your law schools after it arrives and is processed by the Credential Assembly Service.
When you have completed this form, click the “Submit” button.
You will then arrive back at your “Letters of Recommendation” page---but the “Recommender Name” column should now contain the name of the writer for whom you just filled out the webform. The “Letter ID/Description” column should also now contain your description of the letter. There will be a tab on the far right column that says “Reprint LOR Form”. Click on this link, and the LSAC’s LOR form should finally appear! You can now print a copy of this form.
If you are using the HPPLC LOR service, bring this form to our office and give it to the receptionist.
If you are NOT using the HPPLC service, give the letter to your writer, who MUST send it together with the letter (in the same envelope!) to the CAS.
Eventually (this can be done much later)---you’ll select a tentative list of law schools to which you’ll possibly be applying, and this list of schools will also appear on your “Letters of Recommendation” page, underneath your list of LOR writers.
To begin the process of assigning specific letters to be delivered to individual law schools, you’ll first have to click on the “Add Term” button for each individual school on the list and then select the “term” or semester that you’ll be applying for admission (the term you want to actually begin your studies at the law school—usually the fall).
After you “submit” this information, you’ll be able to designate which of the letters listed on your LOR page (your so-called “master-list”) will go to which law schools. You do this individually for each law school by clicking on each school’s “Assign” tab (this tab will suddenly appear only after you click the “Add Term” button, above). When you do that there will be a short explanation of that school’s LOR requirements and policies (for example, the number of letters that they want you to select). Then just click on the letters from the drop-down menu on the next page, click submit, and the “Letter ID” on your “Letters of Recommendation” page will now indicate your LOR assignments for that school.