Just took the LSAT - Should I apply for this cycle?

OneFortyDotSix

I'm wrestling with the idea of applying to Yale by Feb 28. I just took the LSAT 2 days ago. I think I did okay (my gut says it was between 13-15 misses or a 167, best case scenario maybe a 172). I had only recently committed myself to wanting to go to law school, which is why I missed the December LSAT and a number of the application cycles for schools that express concerns against testing in February. Fortunately Yale is not one of those schools; they accept Feb test scores without a stated penalty to the applicant's admission chances. Yale is the only top 5 law school to which this applies, and I also have legacy at Yale which I think may help my chances.

I'm 28 now, waiting a year and applying next winter would mean I start Law School when I'm 30. I also don't know what I would do with the extra year besides work and save. I'm currently in a career field somewhat unrelated to law (corporate finance), so I don't think an extra year of work experience would particularly bolster my application (I've already worked for 6 years since graduating college). So applying this year and starting in the fall (if I get in) makes a lot of sense...though there are some things I'm unsure of:

1) The deadline to apply for financial aid in March 15, though I imagine many students have already applied. does applying for aid this late reduce chances of receiving grants/scholarships?

2) Does an LSAT score of 170 realistically even qualify me for any aid at a school like Yale? Is the criteria for aid need based or merit based? Socioeconomically my family is UMC and I personally have non-liquid assets (homeowner's equity)

3) As mentioned Yale doesn't actually communicate a "penalty" for Feb LSAT test takers, does anyone have information to suggest this may not truly be the case?

4) Question about re-application...I obviously don't know my LSAT score yet, so in that sense I'm sort of applying "blind". It's entirely possible I screwed up more than I thought and my score is more like a 160, which would obviously seriously hurt my chances. Does re-applying to the same law school a year later put you at a disadvantage against students who are applying for the first time?

Any thoughts/insights are appreciated. If it makes sense to wait or if I should just go for it.

Thanks!
Hari

Leah M B

Hi there! Normally I would say not to rush this, but if you are only considering applying for Yale right now, then it might be worth sending them an app this year.

Yale only gives financial aid based on need and does not award any merit aid. That is one of the bigger down sides of applying later in the cycle, schools typically have already allocated a lot of their scholarship money and don't give out as much. But Yale exclusively gives money based on need, so that's a different scenario. Here is info on how they calculate it: https://law.yale.edu/admissions/cost-financial-aid/how-need-based-aid-works

Yale admissions is also sort of all over the place. Yes, a higher LSAT score (175+) gives you a much higher chance. But every year they accept students down into the 160s as well. So, you never know.

I don't have specific information, but I doubt that Yale "penalizes" anyone for the February LSAT. Again, since financial aid is need-based only, that remains constant the entire year. The only issue would be if they just admit fewer students later in the cycle, which is very possible. But it wouldn't so much be a dock because of the February LSAT, but because of a late application.

The only other thing to consider is, if you read that financial aid page, if you are 29 or over as of December 31 of the school year (so I believe that would be December 31 of 2018) then they don't require parents' financial information. If you are 28, they will take your parents' finances into account but will reduce it by 50%. So, that could be relevant since you are right around the cut off.

I think it wouldn't hurt to send Yale an application, but with the knowledge that your chances would be higher next cycle after you had more of a chance to study for the LSAT and know what your score is, and apply earlier in the cycle.

Hope that helps.

westcoastbestcoast

Do you have your personal statement,LORs and all other app materials ready? If not, i would apply next cycle. You will have more time to polish your app, and gain additional points on a retake if need be

OneFortyDotSix

@"Leah M B" said:
Hi there! Normally I would say not to rush this, but if you are only considering applying for Yale right now, then it might be worth sending them an app this year.

Yale only gives financial aid based on need and does not award any merit aid. That is one of the bigger down sides of applying later in the cycle, schools typically have already allocated a lot of their scholarship money and don't give out as much. But Yale exclusively gives money based on need, so that's a different scenario. Here is info on how they calculate it: https://law.yale.edu/admissions/cost-financial-aid/how-need-based-aid-works

Yale admissions is also sort of all over the place. Yes, a higher LSAT score (175+) gives you a much higher chance. But every year they accept students down into the 160s as well. So, you never know.

I don't have specific information, but I doubt that Yale "penalizes" anyone for the February LSAT. Again, since financial aid is need-based only, that remains constant the entire year. The only issue would be if they just admit fewer students later in the cycle, which is very possible. But it wouldn't so much be a dock because of the February LSAT, but because of a late application.

The only other thing to consider is, if you read that financial aid page, if you are 29 or over as of December 31 of the school year (so I believe that would be December 31 of 2018) then they don't require parents' financial information. If you are 28, they will take your parents' finances into account but will reduce it by 50%. So, that could be relevant since you are right around the cut off.

I think it wouldn't hurt to send Yale an application, but with the knowledge that your chances would be higher next cycle after you had more of a chance to study for the LSAT and know what your score is, and apply earlier in the cycle.

Hope that helps.

Thank you so much for the detailed response! Based on this I'm thinking I'll go ahead and apply, I guess it can't hurt. Hopefully if I do have to re-apply next year I won't be seriously disadvantaged by having already applied once and being rejected.

I have 1 LOR on file from a professor. I'll have to ask my boss for another one but fortunately we've already had the conversation about Law School.

Thanks again!

Leah M B

@hiyer1 Oh I forgot the part about re-applying. From what I've seen, re-applying doesn't necessarily hurt you in the following cycle. You can re-use LORs but you will probably want to write new essays.

I will mention 1 thing specific to Yale though, they are different from the majority of law schools in that they average your LSAT scores instead of only looking at your highest score. So if you have your sights set there and you re-apply next year, keep that in mind.

On another note, you can see a lot of data on Yale acceptances at lawschoolnumbers, if you haven't checked that out yet: http://yale.lawschoolnumbers.com/applicants

OneFortyDotSix

@"Leah M B" thank you that's super helpful! wow...a lot of high 170's, more than a few 180's ...can't say that's surprising though O_O

I think the fact that they average instead of taking the highest makes a stronger case for applying this year, as it reduces the effective benefit of a higher score on a retest

Thank you again. Out of curiosity where did you find out that Yale averages scores?

JerryClarke242

@goingfor99th