Is it too late to get a full tuition scholarship?

RazorSharpBanana

The school I'm applying to gave a lot of full tuition offers last year– about 20% of matriculants got full tuition or more. I'm above the 75th lsat and above median gpa (but below 75th), but it's January, so idk if I'd be able to get one. Since it's January, is it too late?

hopefulling

Depends on the school.

Some of the "lower ranked" schools discussed this in webinars and at the Forums - that January is NOT too late (mostly for applications, but also for some merit considerations). One of the schools I'm looking into has their ED extending into February, with their main application period ending in April (I think - I'm not paying attention to that deadline, so I don't know it).

Now, the other problem with rolling admissions is that there have been more applicants this year. So, even though the schools have prepared / set aside funds for later applicants, if they've seen an influx of highly qualified applicants, they might have already given away their merit awards. ??

Plus, you never know. If you expect to be a merit scholarship contender and are rejected because of applying too late, you could always delay until next Fall and then be one of the first through the door when applications open next Fall.

RazorSharpBanana

@hopefulling thanks for the input!

I forgot to look at LSData before posting this, lol. People with slightly lower numbers than mine applied as late as January/February and got close to full-tuition scholarships! idk if the higher applicant volume is going to change things, but I'm more hopeful now.

FindingSage

Without knowing about the specific school you are applying for I would say it is highly unlikely that it is too late. When you have a few minutes listen to the Powerscore podcast number #73. You don’t need to listen to the entire thing but after they do their intros listen for a bit I truly think you will feel much much better! I am taking the January test and really hesitated signing up for it because I thought it was too late but on the flip side I am 1-4 points away from the median for most of the schools I want to apply to and it didn’t make any sense to me to just apply and sit on waitlists or if I were to get in know that I would be doing so without any aid.

Anyway the stats shared on that podcast are going to shock you. Applying now you are in a good position.

BogoSeven

No, it's not. I've looked at the data from past years and more or the same amount of big (maybe not full) scholarships are given out in January and February than before those dates (T-25). Then you also have the opportunity to take the Feb LSAT to get a higher score and swoop some of the opened up money that comes from people withdrawing their applications.

LOWERCASE EVERYTHING

i'm not sure if it's "too late" to get a full-tuition offer after january, but i'd bet that many schools would still be willing to give these offers to their exceptional applicants.
though, i think it's fair to say that one's chance of admissions and getting scholarships do tend to diminish as time goes for the schools that practice rolling admissions.
how much and the rate of the decrease would differ from school to school depending on various factors, and i think it just becomes a matter of degree.

VerdantZephyr

I will echo what was said. Some schools avoid tapping into their scholarship funds too heavily before they know what kind of applicant pool they will have in a given year in the first place, which doesn't usually take shape until the winter months. Plus, those students who blew schools away and got big scholarships are the same students that are likely to have lots of competing offers and will start withdrawing. It isn't over yet, so don't give up. I am scholarship or bust myself, and it is stressful, but hopefully we will have offers soon.