Splitter ED strategy

LuanDedgjonlulaj

This forum has been very helpful in my prep. I am going into the next cycle as a splitter. My GPA is 3.15 and my LSAT score is a 177. I would like to go to school in Chicago. I am having trouble figuring out what to do with my ED. Is there a point to apply ED to Northwestern since it seems that the whole point of it on their end is to poach people above both their medians? Would EDing UChicago be a waste considering my GPA? I wouldn’t mind being admitted to either school, I just want to maximize my chances.

_oshun1_

from my understanding you could get into any school you want with that LSAT score and i'm just gonna say congrats in advance for killin it at life. you'd be doing yourself a disservice by EDing.

LuanDedgjonlulaj

@"surfy surf" said:
from my understanding you could get into any school you want with that LSAT score and i'm just gonna say congrats in advance for killin it at life. you'd be doing yourself a disservice by EDing.

I am concerned that my GPA will hold me back. Should I just RD everything then?

_oshun1_

Anyone who gets accepted ED would have been accepted RD. Your LSAT is above the 75th percentile for freakin’ Harvard. If you RD, you should have options at T12s and will be able to bargain for higher scholarship $. Whenever I’ve looked into ED, most people say dont do it. Just apply really early in the cycle if you want to max your potential.

Habeas Porpoise

Congrats on an amazing LSAT score!
Echoing others here, I would just apply RD early in the cycle. While you are a splitter, LSAT seems to be weighed more heavily versus GPA. If you craft a strong application overall, I think you have a great chance of getting into the schools you're interested in.

LuanDedgjonlulaj

@"Habeas Porpoise" said:
Congrats on an amazing LSAT score!
Echoing others here, I would just apply RD early in the cycle. While you are a splitter, LSAT seems to be weighed more heavily versus GPA. If you craft a strong application overall, I think you have a great chance of getting into the schools you're interested in.

I was thinking of applying ED to Northwestern because of the potential scholarship. Do you think its worth doing it for that reason? That’s the main issue I am having. I am torn between using ED to raise my chances at UChicago or using it to try to get the ED scholarship at Northwestern.

Habeas Porpoise

@LuanDedgjonlulaj said:
I was thinking of applying ED to Northwestern because of the potential scholarship. Do you think its worth doing it for that reason? That’s the main issue I am having. I am torn between using ED to raise my chances at UChicago or using it to try to get the ED scholarship at Northwestern.

Oh, that's tough. I'm not as familiar with the scholarship aspect of admissions.
From what I've heard, applying RD gives you more bargaining power, but I don't know how that works out for Northwestern in particular.
Have you by chance taken a look at lawschoolnumbers? You can see results from applicants with similar GPAs/LSATs as you. If you click on their usernames, you can see if they received any scholarship and additional info.
Northwestern: http://northwestern.lawschoolnumbers.com/stats/1718
UChicago: http://chicago.lawschoolnumbers.com/stats/1718

Seeking Perfection

I think EDing Northwestern would be about as good as you can do with ED. Do you have work experience? Northwestern is more likely to actually bite if you do.

That said if you want to be in Chicago, University of Chicago is best followed by Northwestern followed by a huge yawning chasm. I consider Northwestern for $150000 off a better deal than UChicago at sticker. So I would apply ED to Northwestern. I also don't think ED at UChicago would raise your chances there much.

You could also go somewhere else and hope to get back to Chicago.

This could involve going up the rankings (hoping to get into a place like Columbia, NYU, or Harvard) or down the ranks to a place like Washington University in St Louis where your LSAT score ought to give you a really good chance at their automatic full tuition scholarsip if you applied early decision and you could expect a scholarship of some sort even with regular decision.

LuanDedgjonlulaj

Thank you guys for the advice. I have looked at LSN and there isn’t much info on my numbers. I don’t mind going to another city for school, these two were just ones I’d probably attend if accepted. I am only thinking of EDing Northwestern because of the scholarship.