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&lt;p&gt;Applying to law schools can be a long, daunting process. That&#39;s why  the prudent know to start on their application packages early. In fact,  now&#39;s a good time. Deadlines for early decision aren&#39;t that far away, and  time always does that thing where it goes faster than we realize, and we  just end up shaking our fist at the heavens for having procrastinated.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;So please avoid that tragic scenario and get cracking now. &lt;em&gt;Law School Podcaster&lt;/em&gt; spoke to three deans of admissions and one admissions consultant about common  application pitfalls. Here are a handful of tips from that podcast,  which you can listen to here.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Having scaled Mt. Everest or cured cancer, while exceptional, isn&#39;t  something most people can put on their resume. So don&#39;t feel like you  have to be extraordinary above and beyond the reality of your  situation, according to Sarah Zearfoss, Assistant Dean of Admissions at  University of Michigan Law School.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Don&#39;t try to read the admissions officer&#39;s mind. That will lead to  catering, to putting what you think should be in an application. Linda  Abraham of Accepted.com: &quot;When applicants are sincere, when they are  personally revealing, then they are much more likely to provide insight  into who they are and that&amp;rsquo;s what the admissions committee wants to  learn.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;For recommendations, choose people who know you over  prestigious-sounding people. &quot;Let&amp;rsquo;s say we get an average of three  letters of recommendation per applicant with 8,600 applications. That&amp;rsquo;s  over 25,000 letters of recommendation,&amp;rdquo; said University of Virginia&#39;s  Dean Jason Wu Trujillo.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;On personal statements, Accepted&#39;s Abraham prefers openings to be  journalistic: anecdotes, scenes or leads that are engaging, and not ones  that are clich&amp;eacute;, which Abraham says, &quot;are so common and they&amp;rsquo;re so  sleep-inducing that I think the applicant, who uses those very, very  common openings, is putting himself in a disadvantage right away.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Tell a story with your application. Make it engaging and coherent  without reducing yourself to a flattened version of yourself. &quot;It&amp;rsquo;s sort  of a rhetorical undertaking. And it is what we do as lawyers,&quot;  Michigan&#39;s Zearfoss said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;All very sound advice that too many applicants forget to or choose  not to heed. What other commonly made mistakes that need constant  reminding can you think of?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

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