That, in a nutshell, is what Don Martin sees as his biggest obstacle to attracting more women to the M.B.A. program at the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business, where he is associate dean for enrollment management.

With women accounting for only a quarter of full-time enrollment, Chicago lags behind most major business schools. The trouble is, Mr. Martin says, some women feel insecure about their math skills at a school renowned for its quantitative approach and worry about crime in the school’s Hyde Park neighborhood. “We’re a full-menu school offering 13 concentrations including general management and entrepreneurship,” he says, “but people think only quant jocks come here.”

Chicago is just one of many business schools — including Harvard, Michigan and Columbia — scrambling to break the glass ceiling on female enrollment, which typically hovers around 30%. Certainly that percentage is a big jump from the mid-70s, when only 11% of full-time M.B.A. students at Harvard, for instance, were women. Still, the continued disparity between the genders has spurred schools to action.

Chicago now holds receptions for prospective women students in seven cities, and the school recently created the publication “Why Women Choose Chicago,” which profiles graduates in marketing and e-business — not just finance. The school also is taking the offensive in its application kit, citing police statistics that show Hyde Park is safer than many areas of the city. There’s a long way to go: This fall the percentage of full-time women M.B.A students there is expected to drop to 23% from 27% in 1990.

Meantime, the Goizueta Business School at Emory University made a point of featuring a woman prominently on the cover of both its full-time and executive M.B.A. catalogs — the men are blurry images in the background. And to send the message that it is female-friendly, the University of Notre Dame is mailing a letter to prospective women students not from the business school dean but rather from Muffet McGraw, coach of its No. 1-ranked women’s basketball team.

Snagging more women has been a maddening seesaw experience for many schools. While business schools at Harvard University, Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania expect more women in this fall’s class, Duke University and Dartmouth College are bracing for a decline. “We work on it all the time but just can’t get our arms around it,” says Marcia Armstrong, associate dean of masters programs at Southern Methodist University’s Cox School of Business. After having achieved a 36% share of full-time women last year, SMU’s incoming M.B.A. class is only 28% female. Similarly, Stanford University jumped to 41% last year from 29% in 1999 but expects to drop back to 38% this fall.

The reasons why are complex. For one thing, students typically are about 28 years old when they enroll for their M.B.A. degree, creating what one business-school official calls “a biological collision.” As they near 30, many women are focusing on marriage and children and are reluctant to begin a demanding M.B.A. program. Medical and law schools attract more women, in part because they tend to begin right after college, while most business schools seek applicants with at least four or five years of work experience.

“I knew I wanted to have a baby and wasn’t going to enroll in business school,” says Christine Pierroz, a 35-year-old student at York University’s Schulich School of Business in Toronto. “But after scoping out programs, I discovered York was surprisingly accommodating.” When Ms. Pierroz gave birth to her first child this summer, she took maternity leave from her job in pharmaceutical marketing — and from her M.B.A. program. Upon returning to York, she will be able to tailor her class schedule to suit her work and family needs. York credits such flexibility for its above-average 41% share of women M.B.A. students.

New policies at a few major schools may help resolve the timing problem. While they are not targeting only women, Harvard and Stanford recently began encouraging people to consider applying to business school soon after college. Harvard’s “early career” brochure declares “no minimum age or experience required” and features an eclectic list of young achievers such as Mozart, Bobby Fischer, Jane Austen and Steve Jobs.

“A side benefit of our early career initiative should be a good percentage of strong women in the pool of applicants,” says Eileen Chang, associate director of admissions at Harvard Business School.

Some schools are going beyond marketing and are creating courses with a female perspective. The University of Michigan offered an entrepreneurship course this year taught by a group of women business owners. At Harvard, more case studies include women protagonists, such as Jeanne Lewis of Staples Inc. and Donna Dubinsky of Handspring Inc.

The stepped-up campaign to woo women comes partly in response to a study last year by Catalyst Inc., a New York research group, and the University of Michigan. The survey of M.B.A. graduates was a wake-up call to some schools. It identified key reasons women avoid business school — the small number of female mentors and role models, concern about balancing work and home life in the corporate world, and little encouragement from employers to secure an M.B.A. “Women tend to go into fields where M.B.A.s aren’t so necessary to advance, like publishing, marketing and fashion,” says Ms. Chang of Harvard.

Because of the Catalyst/Michigan study, the Working Group on M.B.A. Women expects to form a nonprofit organization this year that will offer scholarships to women and promote business education in undergraduate colleges, high schools and possibly even to Girl Scout and Junior Achievement groups. Participating schools include Columbia University, Michigan, the University of Texas, the University of Pennsylvania and Dartmouth. The corporate members: Dell Computer Corp., Deloitte Consulting, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Procter & Gamble Co. and the Kraft Foods unit of Philip Morris Cos.

The goal is to reach people like Pamela Mayer, vice president of business development at Interactive Video Technologies Inc. in New York. When she decided to seek an advanced degree, she recalls, “Business school wasn’t even on my radar screen. I just was never exposed much to business because my father was a surgeon and my mother had her doctorate in education.” So she went to law school and finally decided to get an M.B.A. five years later.

The Catalyst/Michigan survey also found that among married respondents, women faced much more resistance than men when they asked spouses to relocate for business school. “Even in the year 2009, it’s hard for women to get their husbands to follow them to Bloomington, Ind.,” says Dan Smith, former head of Indiana University’s M.B.A. program, where only about 20% of full-time students are women.

One standout is Columbia Business School, which has gradually boosted its female M.B.A. enrollment to 37% from less than 30% in 1992. Columbia promotes the fact that about 40% of the school’s senior managers are now women, and women are president of many of its student clubs and editor of its Bottom Line newspaper. “This is something that doesn’t take care of itself,” says Meyer Feldberg, dean of Columbia Business School. “You have to be constantly vigilant.”

Admissions interviews are recommended but not required at Fuqua. But Rossmiller’s experience was so positive that she decided to focus on studying at the respected b-school. She’s now a second-year student and a student interviewer at Fuqua.

At many top business schools, admissions interviews are optional. But realistically, you’ll probably participate in an interview, either at your request or the school’s. B-schools take different approaches to interviewing. For instance, interviews can be held pre- or post-application at the student’s or school’s request and may be conducted by an alumnus, student or school professional. Here’s a sample of different policies:

• At Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management in Evanston, Ill., candidates are “required to request an interview.” They meet with an alumnus, admissions professional or student interviewer. All 617 students in Kellogg’s fall 2000 incoming class were interviewed.
• The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia doesn’t require candidates to interview. However, it recommends that applicants request and complete an interview prior to applying. Wharton received 7,382 applications for the 784 openings in its fall 2000 entering class. About 90% of the applicants were interviewed by an alumni graduate on site or in their home city in the U.S. or overseas.
• The Columbia Business School in New York offers “invitation-only” interviews after candidates have applied.
• At the John M. Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis, interviews aren’t required, but applicants can request them. The meetings are held with a member of the admissions staff. There were 1,400 applications for 150 openings at Olin for the fall 2000 class. Of these applicants, about 500 were interviewed.
• At McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas – Austin, interviews are called “admission visits” and are optional. Applicants who request them meet with alumni, students or admissions staff. There were 2,800 applications for McComb’s fall class of 400. Of these 400 students, 200 were interviewed.

Make the Process Work for You

Since competition for openings at top b-schools is tough, applicants should know how schools treat interviews so they can take advantage of the process.

In most cases, admissions interviews are designed to ensure that students will fit into the culture of a school. Applicants want to find out if they’ll be happy in a particular setting, while b-schools want to see whether candidates have the “right stuff.”

“We feel that the interview gives us an opportunity to evaluate their interpersonal skills, professional paths, reasons why they want an M.B.A. and their values,” says Rose Martinelli, Wharton’s director of admissions. “We want to know what brings them to this particular place in life. We believe that the interview is a complement to the overall application.”

Pete Sather, a first-year student at UCLA’s Anderson School, was so impressed with the school’s interviewing process that he decided to reapply after being rejected the year before. At other schools, the application process seemed like “just take a number,” he says, but at Anderson, “there was a genuineness and caring that was far superior.”

Sather had attended the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., and remained in active service. He lacked career focus when he first applied to Anderson. After being rejected by the school, he joined the Chesapeake Bay Organizational Development Network in Washington, D.C., to learn about organizational development. When Sather reapplied to Anderson and was reinterviewed, he felt more focused about his career goals.

“Other people going into the interviews know exactly what they want so you have to know, too, to be competitive,” he says.

An interview can help applicants decide against attending a school. Scott Bloomberg, a first-year student at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, investigated two other schools. At one, he interviewed with an alumnus who had graduated many years earlier. The alum was so uninformative that to Bloomberg, the meeting was a waste of time.

“I didn’t learn anything about the school,” says Bloomberg. “He was a high-level executive. It didn’t seem like he had much time or was listening. I tried asking him some questions about the program and he said, ‘I can’t answer that.’ ”

B-School Interviews vs. Job Interviews

Interviewing with b-school officials can be challenging after working professionally for a few years. Your last interview may have been for a job, and M.B.A. admissions interviews are distinctly different. In a job interview, you must stress the ‘”how” of what you’ve done. B-schools are looking at the “why” as well.

“An M.B.A. school [interview] is harder because you actually have to get across your ability,” says Rossmiller. “You have to articulate your motivations and goals.”

Just like you don’t want your first job interview to be with your first-choice employer, your first b-school interview shouldn’t be with your preferred program. “I wouldn’t recommend making your top choice your first interview,” says Bloomberg. “You need to get back into the swing of things.”

Camie Costa earned an M.B.A. in 2000 from Kellogg, where she was one of 25 student interviewers. She’s now a marketing manager at General Mills in Minneapolis. To succeed with interviewers, applicants should be able to avoid “why” pitfalls, Costa says.

“Some [interviewees] seem unprepared to answer basic questions such as: ‘Why am I a good fit at this school?’ ‘Why do I believe I’ll continue to succeed upon graduation?’ and ‘Why would the school want me to be an alumna?’ ” says Costa. “It goes back to, ‘What have you accomplished so far?’ ”

To be able to answer these questions, b-school candidates should ask themselves the following:

Have I completed my self-analysis? To interview competently, do some self-searching and know why you want to earn an M.B.A. “You aren’t going to get into a top M.B.A. school if you say: ‘I need that rubber stamp on my resume,’ ” says Rossmiller. “That’s not good enough.”

Jonathan Dabora, a first-year student at Anderson, advises candidates to examine their motivations and interests. They should be able to answer the question, “What am I passionate about?” he says.

Don’t expect interviewers to help you out. Rossmiller asked one candidate why he wanted to go to Fuqua. After a lackluster response, he then asked her, “So what should I have answered to that question?”

Have I done my homework? Research the school by attending forums and receptions it sponsors and talking with students and alumni, Martinelli recommends. If possible, visit the school. “The M.B.A. process is very collaborative. We’re looking for people who have something to add to the educational process,” says Martinelli.

Hillary Beard, a second-year student at Columbia, interviewed with officials and spent time visiting the campus to “see what the tone of the school was and understand its culture,” she says. She recommends talking to current students because they “have the best pulse of the school right now.”

Dabora has a Ph.D. in molecular biology, but he wanted a graduate business degree so he could become a venture capitalist or start a business. He, too, was rejected from Anderson because he didn’t demonstrate enough knowledge about his desired fields. Before reapplying, he cold-called venture capitalists and was able to interview about 10% of them. His efforts taught him about the field and allowed him to discuss his career goals more concretely.

Am I flexible? Be prepared to be interviewed by phone or in person. Regardless of how the meeting is held, your preparation should be thorough. Also be flexible when scheduling your interview. Most schools will adjust to your schedule. “We interview where they live and we’ll accommodate them. We may have to do a phone interview,” says Linda Meehan, Columbia’s director of admissions. “If they’re unable to satisfy this, it sends a message.”

Have I rehearsed? Practice answering typical b-school interview questions until you appear focused, yet relaxed. Try to rehearse with someone who’s been through the process, not just with friends and family. “Don’t underestimate the competitiveness of the situation. You need to communicate,” says Costa.

Have I prepared questions for the interviewer? After graduating from the U.S. Military Academy and spending five years on active duty, Jack Benecke applied to Olin. He had leadership experience but needed strong core business courses. He asked about this aspect of the program and how the school’s career center would help him prepare a resume and interview with employers as he neared graduation.

How am I presenting myself? Marketing yourself includes your attire, resume, follow-up tactics and attitude. You must be able to state what you stand for and your benefits to a potential employer, says Costa. Dabora says one Anderson official says the school seeks applicants who are “confident but not arrogant.”

Am I positive? Candidates can project negativity without realizing it. Subtle ways include commenting about other schools or appearing overly self-involved.

Be sure to ask the interviewer questions about him or herself, such as their educational background and connection to the school. If the interviewer is a current or former student, ask about any challenges he or she experienced in completing the program.

Showing ignorance about the process — for instance, taking it too seriously or not seriously enough — also may transmit poorly. “You have to know yourself well enough to relax,” says Martinelli. “You have to know why you’re at the table.”

Do I fit in? You and the school must answer this question together. The school seeks candidates who will add an extra dimension to the mix of students, contribute to the program and succeed following graduation.

Your answer may be more complex. By taking a break in your career, you’re making an investment of both money and time. Will you earn an adequate return on your investment? Are you ready to make needed sacrifices and can you handle the change in lifestyle?

Consider whether you’ll be happy in the location, be able to work on teams with classmates, be comfortable in the environment and if the students and faculty will enhance your learning and enjoyment.

Am I ready? Ask yourself if you’re psychologically, academically and emotionally ready for the rigors of an M.B.A. program. If so, the interview will likely be a smooth component of the process.

Most graduate programs–and many job opportunities–require letters of recommendation. Think it’s easy to get them? Don’t underestimate their importance. Even though your transcripts, test scores, and personal pleas are vital to getting into the top school or company, a glowing letter of recommendation can make up for years of below-par performance.

A recommendation provides information that isn’t found elsewhere on some gargantuan application. The best letters, written by a faculty member or one of your former superiors, attest to the personal qualities, accomplishments, and experiences that make you perfect for the program or job to which you’ve applied.

Who to Ask?

You may have to provide at least two letters of recommendation, but some places have been known to ask for three or more. Choosing your letter writers is often a difficult process. Consider faculty members, administrators, internship supervisors, and current and former employers. Those asked to write your letters should…

• Know you well enough to write with authority
• Know your work
• Describe your work positively
• Have a high opinion of you
• Know where you are applying
• Know your educational or career goals
• Be able to favorably compare you with your peers
• Be able to write a good letter

Of course, no one person is going to satisfy all of these criteria. Go for a set of letters that cover the wide range of your academic and scholastic skills, research abilities and experiences, and applied experiences (cooperative education, internships, and related work experiences).

Approaching Your Victim

When you approach people to write a letter of recommendation, ask them if they think they know you well enough to write something meaningful. Pay attention to their demeanor and body language. If you sense reluctance, don’t press the issue–ask someone else.

Provide Information

You can ensure your letters cover all bases by providing writers with all the necessary information. Don’t assume that they will remember every last thing about you. Make an appointment to speak with them and leave plenty of time to complete the assignment–three to four weeks at minimum. You might want to provide a file with your vital stats, including…

• Transcript or resume
• Admissions essays
• Coursework or classes you’ve taken with them
• Research experiences
• Internships and other applied experiences
• Honor societies to which you belong
• Awards you’ve won
• Work experience
• Professional goals
• Due date for the application
• Clean copies of the recommendation forms

And check back frequently with the people who are writing your letters of recommendation. Make sure that they will be done on time, but don’t nag them about it. If you learn one thing from this process, it’s to never burn your bridges!

Vocational technical training is specialized training that prepares a person for a career in a specialized field requiring knowledge of special equipment, tasks, and procedures. Normally requiring one to two full years of study, a person can earn certificates, diplomas, and Associates of Applied Technology degrees. Subjects most commonly associated with tech education include:

• Business: Office administration, office equipment operation, specific accounting and bookkeeping tasks, etc.
• Computers: Building, programming, repair, installation, and networking
  Planning a non-profit career path is like planning a career in the profit-earning sector.
  
• Health: Nursing, dental and surgical technicians, medical assistants, and health information coding specialists
• Industrial: Welding, electronics, electrical training, drafting, and HVAC
• Automotive: Auto repair, tractor trailer operation

These are just some of the areas that have been offered by technical schools for many years. With the surge in popularity of these programs, however, programs have become more well-rounded, offering the psychology, English, and math components more commonly associated with liberal arts colleges.

This kind of education helps people who, for lifestyle, financial, or other reasons, have felt locked out of the pursuit of an advanced degree. It’s an opportunity to develop skills that can be translated into demanding, rewarding, and often lucrative careers.

Success Stories
Patricia Davies’ dream was a career in medicine. However, raising two small children on her cashier’s salary made medical school unlikely. Then she enrolled in a technical college in her small California town, in the surgical technology program. They offered her tuition, transportation, and childcare assistance, and required her to attend some life skills workshops to help her plan a new future.

With a little rearranging of her work schedule, Patricia was able to complete the program in less than two years. She has now graduated from $6.85 per hour as a night cashier to $15.75 per hour as a professional surgical technician. And her dreams of medical school have not only stayed alive, but are now within her reach.

Salaries like the one Patricia commands now only scratch the surface of what people with technical training can earn. In today’s booming computer technology field, people who complete training programs as short as nine months long are earning salaries from the low 30′s to the high 70′s and beyond for building, programming, networking, and repairing the computers the world uses to travel the information highway.

Back to the Head of the Class
The same can be said for many of the majors offered at adult technical education schools. The opportunity to increase one’s salary and advance more rapidly is driving many people who already hold advanced degrees back to school for technical training. Many employees, who earned their degrees prior to intranets and the Internet, have found that they now need more training to be competitive in a field they have worked in for several years. Knowledge of bits and bytes has taken its place at the head of the class, where seniority was once all someone needed to be first in line.

This revelation, causing masses of employed people to return to school, sparked another phenomenon-the rise of the average incoming freshman’s age. Technical schools welcome the non-traditional student, where the average freshman is 26-45, and likely married with one to three kids.

Number Crunching
Technical schools are seeing a rise in the number of new applicants with each semester; naturally, the number of technical schools also continues to grow. According to the U.S. Office of Educational Research and Improvement, there are currently 11 million secondary and postsecondary technical education institutions in operation, most government-funded.

Programs like those offered at technical trade schools and colleges have carved a place for a new segment of the workforce, the technically-trained professionals. A person wishing to pursue a new career path, or advance in their own career, can do research by inquiring at any local technical college admissions office or website, or by visiting the Association for Career and Technical Education for more information. Taking on technical training should prove fruitful, as most technical colleges report an average of 90% of their graduating seniors gainfully employed in their field of study six months after graduation.

Not bad numbers, technically speaking.

There is a fog that generally hangs over many a recent grad, resulting from the need to take that first real step after 16+ years of preparative schooling. Some people may enter straight into the workforce, others enter directly into grad programs, and still others take some time off to decide which option is best for them. Here, some recent grads share their stories and reveal a variety of post-graduation experiences.

My roommate Nicole, for example, wishes that she’d taken a year off. A grad student in Spanish literature, she has been studying and preparing to teach for most of her life. But she wonders whether going straight to grad school was the best decision for her: “At the time, it just seemed easier to get grad school over with.”

She stresses that she’s enjoyed the experience – she’s met people with common interests who are just as dedicated in their studies as she has been.

At the same time, she can’t overstate how exhausted she feels: “Now that I’m almost done, I’m glad that I did it. If I had taken the year off, though, I might have regained energy to go through to a doctorate. Maybe it would’ve been more exciting to get into studying again after taking a break. Right now, I just want to be done.”

Furthermore, Nicole has become uncertain of whether she really wants to teach high school, as was her plan upon entering grad school. She’s put her goal of getting a doctorate in Spanish literature on hold for the moment. “It’s time to see what’s out there. Maybe I’ll hate it, maybe I won’t. But I don’t want to be 30, having done nothing but go to school.”

Will I Lose Momentum?

Jason, now a first year grad student at Arizona State University in astronomy and physics, took a year off after graduation and worked as a research assistant for a former professor. He says, “It was worth having the year off. I think if I came here right after college I’d have gone totally nuts by now.”

The fear of losing momentum is always a concern, but chances are, you’ll readjust fairly quickly – after all, you’ve been studying for 16 years. While Jason admits that it was tough to get back into the grind after getting used to more spare time, he quickly adapted to the academic environment. Plus, he learned programming skills on the job that have helped him in class. While he’s enjoying the academic setting, he still maintains that a break is helpful.

He says, “I think going straight through from undergrad to grad might lead to burn out, unless you are really mentally strong.”

Do I Have a Choice?

Of course, the decision to take time off will vary depending on the type of program you’re looking at. Knowing they probably won’t finish school until the age of 30, many aspiring doctors jump straight into medical school so as not to waste even more of their precious youth. You may not have a choice if you’re looking at business school – most top schools require you to spend at least two years in the workforce before applying because real-world experience is highly valued in the classroom.

In some cases, taking a year off can save you from a costly mistake. I can’t tell you the number of lawyers I know who went straight to law school, thinking that a JD would look good on their resume or come in handy down the road. Three years later, $100,000 in debt, they had little choice but to accept grueling 100-hour-a-week (albeit high-paying) positions as first-year associates. Some love it, others are miserable. Might be worth considering an internship at a law firm before applying, just to make sure it’s really for you.

Jen, a class of 2000 grad now studying cosmology on fellowship at UT Austin, does have one universal piece of advice on how to pick the right grad school: “Pick your school carefully, talk to the people you’re going to work with and make sure you’re doing something that sounds interesting.”

Grad school can reinforce your belief that you’ve found the right career, or it can do the opposite, perhaps suggesting another path. In the end, only you can decide what’s right for you.

• Can you afford the price tag without going into too much debt?
• If finances dictate prolonged part-time or night-class enrollment, have you the patience and stamina to follow through?
• Will the possible increase in future salary garnered through an advanced degree offset the costs incurred?
• Does any of the above matter given your passion to return to school?

Where to Begin?

College career centers are valuable resources at this stage of your search. For example, they compile fact sheets that can help you assess the school’s success at preparing students for the job market, how many students found employment after graduation, and what they earn. U.S. News & World Report also provides a comprehensive review of Grad Schools with ratings. Visit usnews.com for more information.

Now, or Later?

Many people with undergraduate degrees are entering the job market and putting off the question of graduate school. This sort of delay can work in your favor since many graduate programs value a prospective student with valid work experience. However, sustaining momentum is a critical issue.

Money and How to Get It

Your chances of increased financial aid are greater if you wait to secure all possible offers. A school may be encouraged to raise the ante if they know another has promised a larger package.

How to Apply

You can download applications from most college Web sites, or call the admissions office and request one. Gradschools.com is a site that, among other things, allows you to query several graduate schools and apply online. However, the entire process is likely to be a lengthy one involving research, campus visits and admissions policy restrictions, so plan plenty of wiggle room.

The Dreaded Test

Most programs require them. The good news is that many sources are available to help you prepare, and take the jitters out of the experience. A number of test-prep sites offer assistance for the GRE General Test, the GRE Writing Assessment and the GRE subject tests, which measure achievement in 14 different fields. Barron’s publishes an excellent and thorough guide for navigating your way through these tests, and Kaplan and GRE Powerprep both offer software that provides actual computer diagnostic tests.

Perks

Apart from the value of nuts-and-bolts academic achievement and the promise of a better job, the graduate school experience can clarify and broaden understanding of your deepest priorities, often those yet to be recognized.

Do Your Research

The best way to begin the process is to contact your college’s prelaw advisor. These gurus have the inside scoop on what schools are looking for in a candidate — and the information you need to increase your chances of getting in. They can help you assess your candidacy with a critical eye, provide you with the resources you need, and assist you in making an educated decision about where to apply.

While it may be tempting to select schools by throwing darts at a rankings list, we suggest you take a more calculated approach and consider several factors before making your choice:

Selectivity. Check out the schools’ Web sites, and compare your GPA and LSAT scores to those of students enrolled at the schools you are thinking about. James Bowers, a former admissions officer at Duke University School of Law, encourages students to apply to a range of schools: “schools you’re pretty darn certain you’ll get into, schools where your scores are at the median, and of course the reaches.”

Find out what individual programs are looking for in a candidate and identify ways not only to meet those standards but also to differentiate yourself from your peers. Some schools are seeing applications numbers go up as much as 15 to 30 percent from last year. Bill Hoye, dean of admissions at the University of Southern California Law School, says that with the school’s pool of applicants up 18 percent this year, the admissions process has become that much more difficult because of the equally substantial increase in competitive candidates with excellent credentials. “We found ourselves denying applicants this year that in previous years may have been more competitive,” he says. With application rates soaring, it’s critical that you stand out from the pack.

Geography. “Students do their best work where they are happiest,” says Hoye. Whether you yearn to take a bite out of the Big Apple or to spend your study breaks in Malibu, there is a law school out there for you. While you don’t have to attend school in the area where you intend to practice, admissions officers do encourage students to take full advantage of the opportunity to network locally. Many regional law firms don’t go too far to recruit-they get all the associates they need at local schools, so you may be at a disadvantage if you’re too far away.

For example, if-like George Mason’s assistant dean and director of admissions (and alumna) Anne Richard-you’re thinking about a few years of practice at a prestigious Virginia law firm, a subsequent appointment to the Department of Justice, and then a coveted admissions position with a top law school, you may want to consider one of Virginia or DC’s institutions.

Areas of concentration. What type of law would you like to specialize in? Many schools have distinct strengths in certain curriculum areas. Find out who does what best. Check out our sidebar, Law School Specialties, to find out which law schools are renowned in each of eight major practice areas. (Not sure which practice areas interest you? See our practice area guides.) We also recommend cruising through schools’ Web sites to see what they emphasize about their curricula, cultures, and student demographics.

Tip: Even if you’re several years out of college, you can still use your alma mater’s advising and career services offices (though some may charge a fee).

Assemble Your Application

Now that you know where you are applying, it’s time for the tough part. While the opinions of admissions officers are usually as numerous as the applications they review, they all agree on one thing: Apply early! There are countless others vying for a spot in next year’s 1L class, so you want yours to be the ninth personal statement they read on the virtues of a semester abroad in Oaxaca, not the 900th. Admissions are rolling, but the latest date to get your materials in is usually around mid-March.

Virtually all law schools’ applications have four parts: Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) scores, undergraduate and any graduate transcripts, three letters of recommendation, and a personal statement or writing sample. Most American Bar Association-accredited law schools require applicants to subscribe to the Law School Data Assembly Service (LSDAS), administered by the Law School Admission Council (LSAC). The service prepares and provides schools with a report that includes all of your application materials and a summary of your undergraduate academic record. You can register online at www.lsac.org. The cost is $95 for 12 months and one report, plus $9 to $11 for each additional report.

If you are applying exclusively to law schools in Canada, you are not required to subscribe to the LSDAS. Some foreign-educated applicants may not be eligible for the LSDAS; check its Web site for details.

Tip: While you may feel that what you express on paper is but a glimpse of the depth of your character, don’t wait for an interview to wow the admissions committee. Unlike other graduate programs, law schools rarely conduct interviews-so your application is your one chance to prove you belong there.

Score on the LSAT

While opinions differ on the LSAT’s accuracy in predicting how well a student will perform in law school, the test still carries a lot of weight. Law schools may accept a range of scores, but to remain competitive, your score should probably be at or above the median at your chosen school. Many students choose to take prep courses that offer helpful tips and sample tests. If you don’t score as well as you wanted to on the LSAT, take it again only if you feel you can substantially improve your score. According to one Brooklyn law grad, with all the preparation the LSAT requires, “the stress just isn’t worth it!” Law schools will generally consider the average of your scores, not just the higher one.

Make Your Transcript Shine

Generally speaking, all law schools require an undergraduate degree for admission. Asked what advice she would give undergrads considering law school, Richard doesn’t hesitate. “Excel in academics,” she exhorts. “Although it is important to become involved in activities and be well-rounded, college students should keep in mind that their schoolwork must come first. Use good judgment-don’t take on too many activities at the expense of your studies.”

Your undergraduate record is a reliable indicator of your ability to excel in a law program, and it can affect not only your chances of admission but also your financial aid package. Schools nationwide are reporting more and more merit-based scholarship dollars. Translation: The higher your grades, the better your chances of getting the money you may need to finance your education.

Law schools are looking for students with a capacity to think critically and to analyze and synthesize a great deal of information. Traditionally, social science graduates-especially political science, history, and philosophy majors-populated law school halls. Today, any rigorous academic preparation that includes logical reasoning, effective communication, and analysis can get you there.

“You’re not going to learn to be a lawyer in undergrad, so do things you enjoy. [Even] biology is a great preparation for law school. It’s rigorous and analytical. Just be sure to complement your studies with solid writing and liberal arts courses,” says Craig Berry, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

With the advent of new technology and cyberlaw programs, law schools are finding more science and engineering students in their applicant pools. Challenge yourself and work hard to keep your GPA competitive.

Tip: If you already have your undergrad sheepskin in hand but your transcript reflects more partying than intellectual pursuit, all is not lost. Do your best to ace the LSAT. These scores are even more important without a strong GPA to fall back on.

Solicit Meaningful Recommendations

Your three letters of recommendation are integral parts of your application, so find people who know you and your work style well. Most schools prefer that you use the LSDAS recommendation form, and at least one of the three must come from a professor, preferably from a rigorous upper-level course.

Give them ample time to complete the recommendations, and ask to review them before they are sealed and submitted. A professor may think she is predicting a bright future by expounding on your great unrealized potential but to an admissions officer, that comes across as laziness. Your recommendations shouldn’t make generic comments that don’t speak to your academic strengths or to the particular qualities a school may be looking for (your research on schools should give you some clues as to what’s important).

Provide your recommenders with your personal statement, to ensure a unifying thread throughout your application. For instance, if your writing sample speaks to your lifelong goal of becoming a freedom fighter and your belief in the human family, the last thing you want your professor to do is write about the way you overcame your initial inability to work in a group.

Don’t hesitate to remind them of the brilliant work you did while in their classes. Even if you’re applying to law school several years after college, you still have to contact at least one professor. Just e-mail your request, along with your resume and any recent writing you’ve done. If you have papers you wrote for that professor, even better!

Tip: Most schools have a credentials service that will keep recommendations on file for students indefinitely after graduation. Take advantage of it.

Personalize Your Personal Statement

There is no formula for crafting the perfect personal statement. Hoye calls the essay a “test of the applicant’s advocacy skills, the ability to articulate his or her ideas in a compelling way.” But whatever you do, don’t follow a preprogrammed approach outlined in a book or on a Web site. “It’s not hard to pick out personal statements written by formula. Formulaic approaches fall flat and don’t ring true. Find your own voice,” he advises.

Bowers cautions students to steer clear of software or Internet services that generate essay ideas or boilerplate paragraphs. At worst, they can result in plagiarism, and at best, they’re just plain unoriginal. He does, however, encourage all applicants to turn in an error-free writing sample. Whatever you do, he says, “have several people proofread your essay.” Be careful not to submit a piece with spelling or grammatical mistakes; after all, you’re considering a career where details and technicalities can make or break a case.

Make sure your writing is clear and concise and is a strong statement of your ability to communicate your unique perspective. This is your opportunity to set yourself apart from the masses as an applicant, so make it count.

Tip: Check closely for silly goofs: The last thing you want to do is send the brilliant essay on why you’re perfect for George Mason’s new cyberlaw program to the University of Florida by mistake.

Be Selective

After you’ve assembled and submitted your killer apps, there’s nothing to do but sit back and wait for the results. If you’re wait-listed, the best thing to do is just that: wait. Calling the school or attempting to submit other materials won’t usually help unless it is solicited. Once you have your acceptance letters in hand, however, you have some work to do: It’s time to decide which school to attend.

Experts agree that visiting a law school is the best way to size it up and determine whether you would thrive there. “Get a sense of the mood among the student population,” says Richard. “It may help you overcome rankings pressure.” While you may be tempted to blindly attend the highest ranking school, being on campus will help you make the right decision.

Hoye offers similar advice. “Contact the faculty and meet with current law students. The way a law school treats you as an applicant suggests the way you will be treated as a student.” If you feel welcomed and comfortable, chances are that three years in the company of these people wouldn’t be half bad.

And while he lauds the efforts of law schools to improve their marketing efforts, Hoye concedes that it’s “hard to convey the personality of a school through the brochure.” So, go to a class, hang out at a social event, check out the school’s resources, and most of all, talk to people. After the visit, you’ll know where you’ll be spending the next three years.

Test Day Tips

• Leave early, leaving yourself plenty of time. Read something to warm up your brain; you don’t want the test to be the first written material your brain tries to assimilate that day.
• Wear whatever you feel most comfortable studying or testing in. (i.e. maximize the testing environment.) Layers are a good idea–you never know how hot or cold the room might be.
• In traveling to the test center, leave yourself enough time for traffic or mass transit delays.
• Be ready for a long day. Total testing time, remember, is three and a half hours. When you add the administrative paperwork, the research section, a possible experimental section, and the 10-minute break, you’re looking at an experience of up to 4 1/2 hours.
• It’s also best to practice using a timing routine that you’ll follow during the real test, so that keeping track of time of Test Day is second nature.
• Don’t get bogged down in the middle of any section. You may find questions that appear later to be more to your liking. So don’t freak. Eliminate answer choices, guess, and go on.
• Confidence is key. Accentuate the positives, and don’t dwell on the negatives! Your attitude and outlook are crucial to your performance on test day.