Early Decision? At what percentage likelihood should you apply for ED?

Zlawyered

Hey there!
My question is in regards to early decision. After looking at the law school predictor, I was hoping to gain some insight into when it would be a good idea to apply for ED. Some of the schools in am interested in, based on my LSAT(163) and GPA (3.44), have me at a 85 percent chance of getting into the school. Is that too high of a percentage to apply for ED? I don't want to forgo any scholarship money by applying ED, but I also want to get into that particular school. Any thoughts or advice? Thanks!

cooljon525-1-1

If you have 85% chance of getting in without ED, then I wouldn't do ED. I think they would give less scholarship or none if you apply ED since they know that if they accept you, you're locked in. The point of giving a scholarship is to incentivize students to choose their school. You will have no other choices if they accept you.

lsatgodjk

To echo @cooljon525 's comment, I would not ED to a school that you have a 85% shot of acceptance.

Generally, you ED when you 1) Need a boost (I'd say anything under 60%), and/or 2) you're OK with paying sticker. Because often times you forfeit your ability to negotiate when you ED.

Zlawyered

Thank you all. Greatly appreciated!

EagerestBeaver

I have a similar question. At what point on the lower end of probability would be too low to try ED?

jkjohnson1991

Would like to know the answer to the question above me as well ….

Cant Get Right

Now that I’m done with admissions, I either have lost perspective or have gained objective hindsight. I say use ED for the purpose it’s there for. Schools don’t offer it as an opportunity for you to gamble. They offer it for people who know for sure they want to attend. If you really want to go to a particular law school, consider ED. Study the data on how much money they give out and on how they distribute it. Look at the impact on your odds of admission and chances at a scholarship with and without applying ED and compare the gains in admit odds to the losses on scholarship odds. That’s the calculus, and it’s unlikely to produce clear answers. You’re making this decision with incomplete data, so you have to be comfortable with retaining the possibility of a sizable likelihood that you could lose out on a better opportunity. If you decide not to go ED, it could turn out that you don’t get admitted to a school where the ED edge may have put you over the top. It could also turn out that you apply ED, get in with no money, and end up having to turn down a full ride at your second choice. That’s the deal. I think people are always looking for certainty in discussions on ED, but that’s just not the situation. So don’t try to make the right choice; try to make the better choice.