Hey Wangeci,
I thought I'd jump in with a little more information about the number of schools students typically apply to. Dave is absolutely right--most candidates end up applying to 7-12 schools, although you shouldn't hold yourself to that if you want to apply to fewer or more schools. The number of schools you apply to depends on a number of things: your georgraphic preferences, your LSAT and GPA, financial considerations (scholarship offers, final cost of attendance, etc), and likelihood of acceptance. The final list typically looks something like this:
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A few “definite” schools — These are the schools where you are almost sure to get in, based on numbers, credentials, and selectivity. These are the schools where your numbers are so exceptional that it would be very unlikely that you would be rejected.
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A number of “likely” schools — These are the schools where your numbers fall within the 50th to 75th percentiles (or above) for the numerical indicators, and where you feel pretty confident in their ability to gain acceptance. The bulk of your final school list should consist of “likely” schools.
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One or two “maybe” schools — These are the opposite of the “definite” schools. Here, your numerical credentials are much closer to the 25th percentile (or slightly below), and you don't feel confident about your admissions chances at all. These form part of the final application list in order to avoid missing out on a potential opportunity. Every year, unlikely candidates are offered admission to schools where their credentials did not give them a chance of admittance—why miss out on the possibility by not applying?
To see how your LSAT and GPA compare to what schools are looking for, you can use LSAC's Official Guide to ABA-Approved Law Schools:
http://officialguide.lsac.org. It has a break-down of LSAT and GPA percentiles schools typically accept, and even has a LSAC/GPA calculator that can give you a general idea of your chances.
Hope that helped! Let me know if you have any further questions!
