Application Fee Waivers

LSATShinobi

Hi Everyone hope all is well. So I have a quick question. How does application fee waivers work? I took the recent Feb LSAT and I received no fee waivers however when I saw some forums with people who had comparable scores to mine, they spoke about being able to apply to a bunch of reach schools because of fee waivers. Could it be due to the timing that I took the LSAT seeing as how I took it in February? I plan on applying for Fall 2018 by the way. Any insight would be great. Thank you!

JustDoIt

Hi!

I think it is because you took the test in February. Fee waivers usually start to come in around July. Where you will have already taken the test, you will be in a better position to receive them than someone taking the test in September or December. But where you are already ahead of most in the upcoming cycle, you should expect receive some in the early fall.

The February test is way too late in the 2017 cycle and too early in 2018 cycle to start receiving them. Law schools are still trying to assemble this year's incoming class, not working on next years, so that could be why.

Hope this helps!

Achen165

Hey!

Application fee waivers for schools can be received if you qualify, apply for, and receive an official Fee Waiver from LSAC (for the test/CAS), then you will get them automatically applied to your account for some schools and others will send you a code via e-mail. I took the February test as well, and received fee waivers from schools some after getting my score, and some before, once I was registered for the exam. I also have my information set on LSAC to be released to schools, and have a high GPA (that was noted in some e-mails granting waivers). I got fee waivers for this upcoming academic year, though like you, I will be applying for the 2018 cycle (hopefully I get fee waivers again). It's not completely arbitrary and there isn't any concrete information as to how they are granted but I think LSAC fee waiver recipients are prioritized, and then others are based on academic merit + scores + demographics.

Best of luck!

Mellow_Z

You can get merit based fee waivers by contacting the schools' admissions office directly. If you have a high percentile LSAT score and/or GPA, some schools will grant you a waiver for application.

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=140332&p=3702486&hilit=request+fee+waiver#p3702486

See that post for an example

LSATShinobi

Thanks for the feedback @JustDoIt @achen013 @Mellow_Z . It was pretty helpful. However, I just realized that my dumba** had not checked the box where my scores would be released to schools facepalm. I guess my follow up question would be, although I plan on NOT attending this year but in the fall of 2018, Are fee waivers still offered to someone in my situation who took the exam a year and a half prior to when they plan on attending law school?(I took the exam in February 2017).

PS. After checking the box that I spoke about earlier, I have gotten a few emails from the small programs that have year round admissions.

Mellow_Z

@LSATShinobi I think they start sending waivers based on the application cycle. You likely won't see any start to come in for the next cycle (fall 2018) until closer to when apps open (september 2017)

Seeking Perfection

@LSATShinobi

I received the below text in an email from U of M about a week ago, but it probably also applies to other schools. I took the February test too, but am retaking in September. In light of it, I would recommend re-registering with the LSAC Candidate Referral Service.

It also might make sense to email individual school's admissions offices asking for fee waivers. Best case you get the fee waiver. Worst case, they say no, and you have expressed interest early in the cycle and let them know that you are financially sensitive and might be swayed by a scholarship.

We understand from LSAC’s Candidate Referral Service that you have taken the February 2017 LSAT. We also know certain very basic, database-friendly criteria about you, all of which indicate that you are an exceptionally well-qualified law school candidate. It may well be that you’ve already applied and been admitted to law school for Fall 2017, in which case—please accept our best wishes and ignore this email!
 
But if you are planning to apply to law schools in the 2017-2018 admissions season, we very much hope you will consider the University of Michigan Law School, one of the nation’s truly preeminent law schools. We would love to waive your application fee to encourage you to apply; in order for that to happen, though, you will need to be sure to re-register with LSAC’s Candidate Referral Service later in the summer so that you will appear in our list of potential candidates for the fall. We will then send you a letter in early September, along with the most recent information publications about our program.
 
I’m a ’92 graduate of Michigan Law School, and think it is an extraordinary institution. I hope this is the beginning of an ongoing communication between us! If you have any questions, you are welcome to contact my office either by phone (734.764.0537) or by email (law.jd.admissions@umich.edu); we’d love to help.