Things You Wish You Knew About Application Timelines?

dhill2020

Hi everyone, I'm new to law school applications (still in the process of studying for the LSAT) but can anyone give me some tips & pointers about stuff they wish they knew about law school application timelines before they started applying? Thank you & good luck!

Hopeful9812

I'm still in the process of studying as well but the one thing that I would say is anticipate there being a delay with getting recommendation letters and transcripts. Even if there is no delay, assume that there will be so start the process for getting letters and transcripts early just so that you will get everything in time!

miriaml7

I'm currently in the same boat as you. However, I did want to share some resources that I have been using to help guide me through this process. First, is a post by one of 7Sage's admissions consultants, and in the post you will find a helpful checklist of items that you will need for your application. There are even links to videos that give you an overview about the specific item that's mentioned in the checklist.

https://7sage.com/discussion/#/discussion/19974

I also recently started reading the book, " Law School Confidential" by Robert H. Miller. The book covers everything from studying for the LSAT to post law school life. It includes interviews with admissions officers and candid narratives from students who have gone through the whole law school journey. I haven't finished the novel yet, but it's definitely provided me with a lot of great information so far.

https://www.amazon.com/Law-School-Confidential-Complete-Experience/dp/B07HFFYM4C/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=law+school+confidential&qid=1585322104&sr=8-2

Finally, there's a really cool website that helps you compare law schools in terms of job stats, admissions, and costs.

https://www.lstreports.com/compare/

Maybe you're already familiar with these resources. If so, hopefully someone else will find it helpful. Best of luck to you!!!

studyingandrestudying

That it's going to take a long time, maybe months, to get through the forms and essays so give yourself a big time window, especially if you have other commitments.

Quick Silver

Treat financial aid apps like rolling admissions as well. The earlier the better at some schools ie Berkeley.

studyingandrestudying

One more thing: Don't stay up late working on it--get rest and then work on it.

Not that JY

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but is there any difference in applying as soon as an app opens and applying like a month or two later when it comes to your chances of being admitted? (at rolling-basis schools ofc)

JDream2025

@capybara said:
Sorry if this is a dumb question, but is there any difference in applying as soon as an app opens and applying like a month or two later when it comes to your chances of being admitted? (at rolling-basis schools ofc)

From what I gathered, I believe you have better chances of getting more scholarship offers than if you were to apply later. It’s like money runs out or the pot decreases. I think each year schools have a certain amount allotted towards scholarships and stuff.

EagerestBeaver

I can help answer this one. I finished my LSAT experience in July 19'. I was fried, didn't want to try again, so I took my score from that and went straight to my essays and applications. I had no job at the time, so I was able to finish my entire application (personal statement, individual essays, resume, etc.) in about 40 days. I have been told by friends that was maybe a little fast, but I had ample free time. I submitted my applications as soon schools were allowing it in August/September. I may have been the first applicant at some of these schools, I was beyond hyped to be submitting and finishing this entire ordeal.

Here are a few things I learned from this:

I learned from a T-35 school that they do not start opening apps until Thanksgiving. It makes absolutely no difference applying September 15th from November 15th. Other schools don't start looking at Thanksgiving, but they do review in order of submission, so for other schools, submission order maybe matters but you need to ask. One T-25 school told me they do not begin looking at apps until January. I applied there in September and got a waitlist message from them last week.

What is more important than timing is where you fall between their medians. At some of the schools I applied to super early, I was above both GPA and LSAT medians. I was accepted to those schools in their first batch of acceptances. For some schools that is a big advantage. At a California school I was accepted to, I got my scholarship offer in November/December (@Quick Silver noted above that some schools have rolling financial aid). At a northeastern law school, they accepted me well before Christmas but said they would not consider financial aid for several months. I just got their offer about ten days ago.

I also spent some time working with 7sage consultants, who are amazing, and they gave me these two pieces of advice. If you can improve your LSAT score, do it. The benefit of "being done early" is way smaller than actually having a better score. That being said, if you are ready to apply, being earlier is generally better up until a point. Like, there is hardly any difference between applying in September and October, but there is a difference between applying in October and applying in January. Once acceptances/scholarships start going out (as @JDream2020 notes above) you are competing for less space and less money.

Based on that, here are my answers to your questions.
1. Scoring as high as possible on the LSAT is the most important thing
2. Being done earlier is better if you can, the advantage of being done early fades around Mid-November when the first acceptances start going out.
3. Ask each individual school how they review applications.
4. Being done quickly is not as important as being done correctly. If you need more time to get your apps correct, take it.
5. Start reaching out to people writing your recommendations ASAP. They don't need to finish ASAP, but you need to know who will write them for you.

Hope this was not overkill.