Admissions advice

cryall

My question is in reference to rolling admissions for law schools. Which do you believe is better? Applying with a 162 on the September test (so sending in applications mid-October) or a 166 on the December test and applying very early January? Most schools I am applying to have a March 31st deadline. Will financial aid be completely gone by January?

Jonathan Wang

166 in December, not even remotely close. That's like an 8-10 percentile jump in score from 162. 166 gives you a reasonable shot at the bottom half of the top 14; good luck even getting a sniff there with a 162.

LeoFiro8

I'm in a very similar situation and from the research that i've done, even tho the deadlines aren't until late-March, students should have their application submitted with the scores, transcript, LORs, payment et al before thanksgiving. Most schools/ if not all fill up quick and once they've found their class and have built up their wait-list your chance of getting in gets narrower and narrower. It's not as if they wait for EVERYBODY to post their things and then sit down and decide,no. But Since your score also matters a lot between all the other parts of the application it's important to make sure you're getting the score that matches your GPA and the school you want to go to. Again If I were me haha I would study as hard as I can for the September and Just apply as soon as possible. ( you will get alot of comments saying that if a month and half will get you a higher score just wait and go on the wait list and then interview and all that) I'd rather just study my butt off and be on time.

CFC152436

It's certainly true that early admission (in before Thanksgiving) is a good idea; that withstanding, your LSAT score is the single most important part of your application. Take the test when you are ready, and no sooner. Law school isn't going anywhere (i.e. there's no shame in delaying the test, scoring super well, and applying next year. Delaying a year may sound terrible, but it's a whole lot better than under-preforming on the LSAT and going to a school you don't want to attend).

DByrne07

I would apply to schools with the 162 median (or within a point differential), but also keep the Dec. test in the back of your mind.

mes08

What I'm doing is taking the LSAT now in September and if I don't get the score I want, I will retake it in December and send in my hopefully higher Dec score. In the meantime, I'm going to continue with the remainder of the application process in October. I don't think taking it twice is as bad as people say. As far as I know, it's a fairly common occurrence and if you get a higher score the second round, you should be fine. I have a friend who did terribly in Sept, retook it in Dec and got into Stanford. Same with someone I know going to Harvard and another at Indiana.

Nilesh S

Jon is right... I had a 163 but was wait-listed at the lower T14... I did not get into any of them.. a 166 in December is a MUCH better bet!!!

godawgs24

Like people said, a 166 in December is much much better. I applied last cycle in January (I took the Oct test, didn't like my score, then retook in Dec) and I got the same amount of scholarship money, if not more, from the same schools that my friends who had a few points less than me applied to in October.