Apply after Jan. LSAT??

arbarcia97

Hey everyone,

So, I was ready to go for the Nov. LSAT and went the day of but ended up leaving after section 3 and cancelling my score. Up until then, I was planning on applying this cycle as soon as I got my score. However, now I'm facing a dilemma.

I'm planning on taking the Jan LSAT so that I dont lose any of my prep so far, but I'm unsure if it's wise to apply this cycle since it would be rather late. I didn't want to take another gap year, even though I'm sure I could extend my current internship or find something else to do during that time so that I don't have a gap in my resume, etc.

I have a strong GPA and I'm a URM - so my question is if you guys have any advice on applying late this cycle or just waiting for next cycle?

As an aside, I do already have me LORs submitted, so I was wondering if I would need new ones if I decide to apply next cycle instead of this one.

Any advice/ thoughts/ comments are welcome. Thanks in advance!!

Waffle23

You can submit your apps before your Jan score comes out. The adcom. will place it on-hold. Also, whether or not it's too late depends on the deadlines for the schools you plan to apply to. Some have deadlines in mid February or after March... so a Jan score would not be considered too late for admission. You should confirm directly with the schools you plan to apply to make sure they'll accept the Jan LSAT score (as far as I'm aware most schools will).
You can check the 7sage admissions predictor tool for an idea of your chances post-Jan: https://7sage.com/predictor/
I can't provide much insight into your potential scholarship outcomes though.
The general consensus seems to be that the later it gets, the more competitive it gets for the remaining seats/ scholarship awards.
I believe LSAC keeps your LORs on-file for a period of 5 years once uploaded. You can ask your recommenders to update the date for next year, if you end up postponing.

studyingandrestudying

It'll likely be OK as long as the score report isn't super-close to the application deadlines. Spivey Consulting has a blog post on this that you may find helpful. Its headline is winter LSATs or something like that and his main argument is it's generally fine to submit in winter time.

workin_it

I also had this question and asked around-- a ton of people I know who are in law school right now applied later in the cycle and still got in. If your score is in the range you want it to be, shoot your shot!

taschasp

Echoing the above. I would say go for it. Absolute worst case scenario you don't get into whichever schools you're looking at, and you have to apply again the following cycle... no harm in taking it in January and giving it a shot. Especially when you have everything ready. Good luck!