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���� Elizabeth Bodamer 

In the legal education community, we often talk anecdotally about who people turn to for advice on the journey to law school. But in reality, who they turn to isn’t as simple as “their prelaw advisors” or “their parents.” It depends.

Specifically, it depends on where people are on the journey. Are they at the beginning, scoping the process and taking the LSAT? Are they actively involved in the process, hitting “Submit” and applying to law school? Or are they sitting at the kitchen table with rejection and acceptance letters, trying to figure out where to enroll?

Overall, test takers, applicants, and first-year law students turn to family, friends, and attorneys for advice. However, across �������ý’s Applied Research reports, a story emerges as people go from test takers, to applicants, to law students — and as future possibilities become reality.

For example, 32% of test taker respondents reported they turned to family for advice or information about the application process. That number grows to 48% of applicant respondents who reported they turned to family for advice or information about where to apply, and 49% of first-year law student respondents who said they turned to family for advice or information about where to enroll. In other words, as the idea of law school forms and becomes a tangible reality, the ultimate decision of where to enroll weighs heavily as it directly affects students’ family lives. �į 

Further, while people do turn to prelaw advisors, pathway programs, and college advisors along the journey, applicants and first-year law students both reveal that the legal community — specifically, current law students and alumni of schools they’re interested in — becomes a valuable source of advice and information about applying to and enrolling in law school. For example, 28% of applicant respondents and 28% of first-year law student respondents reported they turned to current law students for advice and information to decide where to apply and where to enroll, respectively. And alumni of schools people were interested in also played a role in their network. Specifically, 24% of applicant respondents and 18% of first-year law student respondents reported they turned to law schools’ alumni for advice and information to decide where to apply and where to enroll, respectively.

In the context of the lived journey, this makes sense: As the journey progresses, people turn to new sources, especially in the law school space, as they decide what to do next — while keeping themselves anchored in their personal networks, including their family and friends. 

To learn more about the snapshot moments along the journey from prelaw to law school, check out any of �������ý’s Applied Research reports. �į