Law School Fee Waiver Emails? Are law schools seriously interested??

karko2525

Hi guys, I just have a question for those applying this cycle. Have you guys received emails from certain law schools encouraging you to apply and granting you fee waivers as incentive?? I received a couple, but I don't know if I should take them seriously. Some are pretty dope schools and I just don't think I am even in their range sometimes so I don't know if I should take this as legit interest or if they're just fishing for candidates..... I just don't want to get in over my head and think that they actually want me in their student body lmao Regardless, I will be applying to some of them and the fee waiver is definitely nice considering how much LSAC takes from us already lol I know I saw a discussion about this a couple weeks ago, but can't find it so I am making my own. Any opinions and answers would be appreciated! Thank you

garbage.flood

I think they're just fishing for candidates, but who cares! Why couldn't that candidate be you? I've gotten a few myself. Whatever they're playing at, it's a free opportunity to apply... I say go for it!

karko2525

@"garbage.flood" very true! I'm definitely going to take advantage of the fee waivers lolol I just wasn't sure since it's only been a select few, but I'm thinking most people get them. I was just getting hyped when I saw a dream school of mine waive the fee hahaha T.T

nanabillan

Don't we still need to pay for the CAS processing fee for each application regardless of a potential fee waiver? I think its $45 per school?

TimeIsMoney

I have heard that this can be both a good or bad thing. Good because maybe a school has seen you and has real interest in something you bring to the table. Bad because law schools will fish for students and encourage applications just to deny them so they can get their acceptance rates more competitive. If it's a school you have a decent chance with, I think the $45 is worth the shot!!

karko2525

@nanabillan oh yeah, definitely, but still a slight discount I guess :'( I'm only utilizing the freebies if the school is on my list. So far it's only one school on my list that emailed me about the fee waiver. Other schools already waived it on the app itself for everyone to make use of

karko2525

@TimeIsMoney ah shoot. Those are two very different reasons LOL but realistically, yeah, I can see them fishing for students. Only one of the schools has caught my attention since it's a school that has been on my mind, but I'm low-key outside their range so I'm not sure if it's realistic for me to apply. I am re-taking the LSAT but it'll probably still be a reach seeing that their median is 170 😂😭 but I figured I'll apply to mostly safe schools and one or two reach schools 🤷🏻‍♀️

VerdantZephyr

If they gave you a fee waiver go for it. Nothing to lose but the CAS fee. If they are higher ranked and you get in, even if you decide you would rather have more scholarship support at a lower school it could help you negotiate as well.

karko2525

@VerdantZephyr agreed!! It helps with the fees a bit since some other schools I'm thinking about cost $80 for the app fee 💀I think I'll just shoot my shot and stay very cautiously optimistic about it/ not expect much. I'm seeing more schools waive their app fees so this could be a way for some schools to advertise their apps. No clue, but it's a nice perk 🤷🏻‍♀️

LivinLaVidaLSAT

@nanabillan said:
Don't we still need to pay for the CAS processing fee for each application regardless of a potential fee waiver? I think its $45 per school?

You sure do! Applying to law school adds up quickly.🥴 Another barrier for those with limited funds.

nanabillan

@LivinLaVidaLSAT @karko2525
Agreed. Super expensive. I did not end up applying for a fee waiver because I heard that if you have *some savings you automatically get denied even though I do think I should be eligible for financial reasons. There was a reddit post about a guy that had $2000 in his bank account and got rejected even though it was for his next months rent.

In any case, I asked all of my schools for a fee waiver and they sent me a code. To my surprise, the majority of them already have a free app fee due to Covid aside from my reach schools which only give a fee waiver if you have one directly from LSAC. Def worth reaching out to your schools to get the app fee waived from them directly.

XO

karko2525

@nanabillan Wow, I did not know that. That's crazy But yes, I've noticed a lot of schools waived their app fees on the LSAC application itself already. Other schools just emailed me and said they waived it for me on my account so I don't know, but I would assume that more schools will offer fee waivers due to the pandemic. Great that the schools you're applying to sent you a code!! There are a couple that I want to ask, but they're both UC's so I'm not sure if they'll waive it lol

nanabillan

It is worth the try! The worst thing that can happen is they say 'no'. I hope you get yours waived! @karko2525

sarakimmel

@nanabillan Yes, that is true, if you have savings they will deny. I am unemployed and have been since March due to COVID but have a little savings and was denied... very frustrating :-/