Taking the December LSAT and admission

BreeBree

I have one quick question, Is taking the December LSAT too late for admissions? any experiences? I plan to have all my work paper work submitted as I prepare, and have everything turned in before DEC 31. Since this would be my first time taking the test, I won't have a score to report, would that hurt my admission chances?

Alex

@BreeBree said:
I have one quick question, Is taking the December LSAT too late for admissions? any experiences? I plan to have all my work paper work submitted as I prepare and finalize everything before DEC 31, but this would be my first time taking the test so I won't have a score to report.

Nope not too late at all!

I asked this same question to Dean Meeker of Spivey Consulting and this was his response to me:

"Work on getting your applications completed before the test. I'd still submit the applications by Thanksgiving if you can (or at the latest just after the LSAT in those first few weeks of December). I know that it means you'd be submitting applications without knowing your score, but it at that point you're feeling more confident about your score, better to get the apps in before January. The schools will begin processing your application when they receive it, and it will remain incomplete until they receive your score. But at least once they receive the score your application is ready to be forwarded to committee for review. If you wait until January to apply, you're delaying the processing of the application by at least a few weeks. Plus it is right after the holiday break - many admissions offices are closed for the week from Christmas to New Year's - so there is always a deluge of applications and mail when they return, so the processing time is even longer than it is in the fall"

The Aviator

Thank you Alex! @"Alex Divine"

Alex

@"The Aviator" said:
Thank you Alex!

Happy to help!

BreeBree

Thanks a lot @"Alex Divine" !!!

pauline.syrnik

Hi, so I've heard advice to the contrary. You should not be submitting your scores blind, because many schools (unless they are lower ranked) will not process your application without the score. A lot of times schools want you to do this, because they can increase their yield this way. It will not expedite the process, but it may hurt you if your score is low! You should apply RIGHT away once you get your score. It's not an ideal time to apply, but if you do it right away you should be fine.

Sprinkles

@pauline.syrnik said:
You should not be submitting your scores blind, because many schools (unless they are lower ranked) will not process your application without the score.

But people who've taken the LSAT twice (3 is usually the max law schools will not care about until they've seen you've taken it 4 times) and are confident in their performance should definitely consider this option. I agree it can be a risk otherwise.

@pauline.syrnik said:
A lot of times schools want you to do this, because they can increase their yield this way.

Well if the school never got an LSAT score from the applicant, they can't even count that application as an application because it's incomplete so there's really no benefit in the school doing this.

@pauline.syrnik said:
It will not expedite the process

It will, and that's the whole point of submitting your app before your score is released. So instead of the school waiting for another week or two while your app is being processed, it would have already gone through that and once the score is sent (which is automatic) the application will be put for review pronto.