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Thinking about delaying... advice please!

Leah M BLeah M B Alum Member ⭐
in Law School Admissions 8392 karma

Hey folks... I keep thinking and re-thinking my decision here. My original goal was to take the December LSAT, get my apps in by mid-December so they could be reviewed ASAP in the new year. Well, life happened and here I am, January 11 and still working on finishing my PS.

I did better on the LSAT than I thought I would so that made me think I definitely should apply this year. But now that we're getting to be relatively late in the cycle, I'm thinking I'd be better positioned if I delay. I could of course still get apps out for this cycle and cross my fingers. I'm going to be very dependent on scholarship money though so I'm worried that it won't be enough to make this year work. The more I think about it, the more I'm leaning toward delaying, whether or not I apply this cycle. I ended up with a really good LSAT (168), but I think if I kept studying and took it again like in September, I could likely break 170. Is that worth pushing school back a year? Also I'm non-trad, 33 years old. So while I'm already wayyyy past the usual age of law school students, I'm hesitant to push it back another year. But I guess whether you're 37 or 38 at graduation is tomato-tomahto. Yeah?

Does anyone have experience in re-applying? Do many schools look down on applying twice in a row? If I turn down an acceptance for this year and re-apply, will I be any more likely to get dinged or WL'd?

Poll attached with the options I'm considering.

To apply or not to apply...
  1. Which cycle should I apply for?64 votes
    1. Apply for fall 2018, YOLO. Maybe some $$$ will come through?
      23.44%
    2. Apply now and next cycle if no fantastic offers this year.
      54.69%
    3. Delay. $$$ will be hard to come by this late.
      21.88%
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Comments

  • CantStopWontStopCantStopWontStop Alum Member
    1270 karma

    I’m actually in the same boat. But I’m 34 lol. If you apply before feb 1 your good. Maybe it affects a little but I don’t think enough not too apply. Worst case you apply again next year. I think you’ll probably regret not applying as well imo

  • LastLSATLastLSAT Alum Member
    1028 karma

    Congrats on the better than expected LSAT! I vote apply now and settle for nothing less than 50% scholarship to a t-14. If you don't get it, reapply next cycle. I say this only because of the very real possibility you could get 170+ on a June/September retake and be competitive for one of the ED scholarships (like the guaranteed 150k from NU or full-ride at WUSTL), since you are very debt averse. NU is also super friendly to non-trads, as I'm sure you know!

    I'm pretty much in the same position as you are (was planning on applying mid-December, now expecting to more realistically just get my apps in sometime before Feb.1 haha), so I may just be parroting my own take on this situation. However, most schools say that reapplying has no negative effect, and the retake+reapply success stories that abound on TLS seem to support this. If anything, reapplying seems to make for stronger applications not even taking any LSAT improvements into account, since you will have already been through the process before and have extra time to put together a flawless application by learning from the last cycle's mistakes.

    But (assuming you got fee waivers, which you should've with a 168) what do you have to lose except a little bit of extra time if things don't work out this cycle? It won't hurt to put your apps in this year and reapply only if you need to. For all you know, you've got an awesome scholarship coming your way for next fall and you would have no need to reapply!

  • 1000001910000019 Alum Member
    3279 karma

    No reason you shouldn't apply now. I'm assuming you got a handful of fee waivers to T14 schools on your LSAT score alone.

  • jack.igoejack.igoe Member
    544 karma

    Hey! Kind of echoing what others have said above. I'm in an analogous situation except that I'm on the other end of the spectrum when it comes to average age. I would send in all your apps over the next few weeks and just see what happens. From what I've read from Spivey and other consulting sources, re-applying the following cycle doesn't hurt your chances at all. So why not apply now & see what you get? There's a good chance that you'll get some good money from lower T-14 schools. Good luck & I'm here if you want a quick edit on anything!

  • tringo335tringo335 Alum Member ⭐
    3679 karma

    I vote now and then again next year if you don't get in :)

  • studyingandrestudyingstudyingandrestudying Core Member
    5254 karma

    I agree with @tringo335.

  • TabbyG123TabbyG123 Member
    711 karma

    If you want some eyes on your materials, I'd be happy to give feedback. :)

  • AlexAlex Alum Member ⭐
    23929 karma

    I say apply this cycle and be open to re-applying next cycle if you aren't happy with the results. A year won't make a difference...

  • westcoastbestcoastwestcoastbestcoast Alum Member
    3788 karma

    Apply now and if you feel you have another take in the tank, you should go for it and apply next year. Dont worry about age. It is just a number and you seem young enough.

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