When to apply?

Snoopy123

Does applying early hurt your chances if you don’t have the exact requirements they’re asking for?

My dream school is Duke law and its a challenging school to get into. I have the borderline GPA and I’m hoping that when I take my LSAT in September, I will get a high enough score to get into. Would applying early to duke get me a better chance of getting in, or would somewhere in the middle (thanksgiving , early December) time be better?

eRetaker

Completely dependent on what your LSAT score is come September. All else
being equal, applying earlier is better but an additional LSAT point gained is worth much more. Check out the powerscore analysis below:
https://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/does-submitting-an-early-law-school-application-improve-your-chances/

David Busis

@eRetaker is right—applying early helps, but your LSAT is more important. It so happens that we did our own analysis of the data and put our conclusions here: https://7sage.com/admissions/lesson/affects-chances-getting-law-school/

By the way, PowerScore’s article is based on an analysis by Daniel Plainview, which has some methodological problems. As we explain in our own analysis, the dataset they’re using is not large enough to support conclusions on a per school basis. The conclusion that, for example, applying one month earlier to Georgetown increases your chances by 21% while increasing your LSAT score by one point increases your chances by 83% should be taken with a couple heaping tablespoons of salt. If a single person in their data set had a different result, those percentages would be significantly different.

Selene Steelman

Applying around Thanksgiving or early December is a fine time to submit an application. Different schools have different reading and admitting schedules. Some will start sending out decisions in December, others may start earlier or later. Generally speaking, this would be considered the end of the early part of the admissions cycle and entering the middle of the cycle. If you are splitter (strong LSAT/lower GPA or average LSAT/strong GPA), you may benefit from applying earlier when the admissions committee has an empty 1L class they have to fill. That said, you should wait to submit the strongest possible application which will include your best LSAT score. Good luck!