Your application timeline.

• Spring 2026 — Start LSAT prep. Most people need 3–6 months of serious study. Start with a diagnostic under timed conditions so your study plan targets your actual weaknesses.
• Summer 2026 — First LSAT sitting. Aim to have a score you're happy with by early fall, which leaves room for one retake without blowing your deadlines. Remember LSAC's limits: up to five tests within the current reportable score period (since July 2021) and seven in a lifetime (LSAC). A cancelled score counts against these limits; an absence does not.
• Complete LSAT Argumentative Writing early. Your score won't be released to you — or to schools — until you have an approved writing sample on file (LSAC). Do it once, early, and don't think about it again.
• Register for CAS. The Credential Assembly Service ($215 subscription + $45 per school report for the 2026 cycle, per the ABA Journal) collects your transcripts, scores, and letters. Order your transcripts early — schools can't review your file until CAS has everything.

LSAC's 2026–2027 testing year is open now through June 2027. These are the remaining administrations, per LSAC's registration page (checked October 2026):

• September – October — Applications open. Most schools' applications go live in September. Because review is rolling, submitting in October/November is materially better than submitting in February — the class fills as the cycle goes on.
• Early Decision deadlines — November – December. Binding ED is a commitment: if admitted, you attend (and withdraw other applications). Verified Fall 2027-cycle ED deadlines include Duke (complete by November 6, 2026), Michigan (November 15, 2026), and UChicago (December 1, 2026). Only apply ED to a school you'd attend over every other option.
• Letters of recommendation. Ask professors by October at the latest — give them a month, plus your resume and a note on what to emphasize.
• Write your personal statement in the fall, not the summer. A fall draft benefits from the perspective your LSAT score gives you about where you're actually applying. Two pages, specific, in your voice — see what law schools look for.

• December – March — Decisions arrive. Most schools decide between December and April. Track everything in your profile: schools, deadlines, decisions, scholarship offers.
• Scholarship negotiation — February – April. Once you hold multiple offers, you can ask schools to reconsider aid — politely, with competing offers in hand. This is normal and expected.
• Seat deposits — mid-April through May 1. Admitted students pay a deposit (typically a few hundred dollars, often credited toward tuition) to hold their seat. In the 2025 cycle, first-deposit deadlines at major schools clustered April 15 through May 1 (Top Law School Consulting's 2025 deposit-deadlines roundup), with second deposits often due in June. Missing a deposit deadline can forfeit your seat — treat these as hard.
• The April 1 rule. LSAC's Statement of Good Admissions Practices says that after April 1st (except under binding early decision), every applicant should be free to accept a new offer from a law school even though a scholarship has been accepted, a deposit has been paid, or a commitment made to another school (quoted in TLS forums). In practice: you can change your mind into the spring, but you'll usually forfeit the first deposit.
• Waitlists — April through August. Waitlist movement happens all summer. If you're waitlisted at a top choice, a brief letter of continued interest is appropriate; meanwhile, deposit somewhere you'd genuinely be happy to attend.

• Second deposits (June). Many schools require a second, larger deposit in June to confirm your seat. Watch for the email — it arrives when you're least expecting it.
• Housing, financial aid, and orientation. Accept your financial aid package, sort housing, and attend admitted-student events. Ask current students the questions no brochure answers: how's the curve, how's the advising, how's the bar prep support?
• Skim before you swim — lightly. You don't need to pre-study 1L subjects, but getting comfortable with how to read a case and brief it pays off in the first weeks. Our For Students section is built for exactly this runway.

LSAT dates per LSAC (Oct 2026 check). ED deadlines per the schools' own admissions pages and ABA-509-derived deadline tables (verified 2026-10-02 in our admissions data). Seat-deposit window per the 2025-cycle roundup linked above — confirm each school's exact date on its admissions page, since dates shift year to year.