The holidays can be a mixed bag for law school applicants. Those who already have acceptances in their pockets are able to kick back and enjoy the seasonal respite. But if you have already submitted and are still waiting to hear back, you are probably sitting around dinner tables fending off questions from everyone and their brother about your law school results.

It's hard for people — even people one or two degrees removed from the admissions process — to accept that you may be in for a longer period of waiting. It's perfectly normal to be in admissions limbo this time of year (and you might be there for a while yet), and that doesn't mean there was anything wrong with your application, or that you're doing anything wrong now.

For that reason, too, resist the urge to drum up phony updates to send to schools. Presumably you submitted your best shot when you sent in your original applications not too long ago, and your world is not likely to change that much in a matter of months. The exception would be if a particular school or admissions officer has suggested to you (for example in an information session) that they prefer some kind of expression of continued interest sooner rather than later. That is not the norm though. Usually letters of continued interest don’t kick in until spring and summer.

Some updates are required, though, no matter when they happen in the timeline. If anything they asked about on their application changes, like a job change, then you have a duty to update them. The individual school should have guidelines about their preferred method for receiving updates. And if you’ll have new grades in January from the previous semester, you are required to submit updated transcripts to LSAC.

But many updates are discretionary, and as with any optional or non-required materials, use your judgment. Sometimes less is more and you don’t need to make a pest out of yourself.

For example, I've seen people give blow-by-blow accounts of every little thing they do all day long in their new role as Junior Intern to the Assistant Deputy Chief of Communications for Senator So-And-So, or as Underling Case Assistant at Fancypants Law Firm, P.C. In most cases, the blow-by-blow account is just not that interesting to the rest of the world and a brief description suffices. More importantly, if the application did not invite (or give you space for) that level of detail the first go-round, you shouldn't get much more granular in your update. Treat admissions officers' time as valuable.

I know there’s a lot going on for you all this time of year. Hang in there. The admissions process is a marathon and not a sprint for most people!

And if you are planning to apply this cycle but haven’t started on your applications yet, I say this with love: Get cracking.