Hello Ladies and Gents,

First of all, I'd like to thank you for taking your time to click on this thread and answer my question. I really appreciate it.

I'm a University of Florida graduate (Dec 2011) who is currently enrolled in an LSAT course / studying for the LSAT. Aside from studying, I'm working (and have been working for the past 6 years) and looking to also take up an internship / clerk position at a Law Office in town.

With that in mind, I know it's way past the date to apply for the Fall 2012 class (I didn't know I could apply before I had my undergraduate degree in hand...silly I know). I plan on applying for the Fall 2013 class, but I'm at a fork in the road and I'm not sure which path to take. UF Levin Law school admissions started this year on September 1st, 2011. If this date is the same for the class of 2013, I'm not sure which course of action is best. My LSAT instructor recommends applying the day admissions opens, but it might be a deterrent for me. I can do 1 of two things:

a) Take the june LSAT, hope for a good enough score on 1st attempt to apply on September 1st.
Upsides: I apply as early as possible, still have room to retake LSAT in october
Downsides: I get a few months less to study for that first attempt. I also work full time, etc. as I mentioned earlier so I can't dedicate all day, every day to studying. I'll be busy in June with work, moving to a new house, etc. but I could probably manage.


b) Wait until the October LSAT and apply the day my score arrives in November. This would also be my "1st" attempt at the LSAT.
Upsides: I get a few more months to practice like a wild beast and try and get the highest score possible on my 1st attempt. 2nd upside is if I do well on this 1st attempt, there's no "2nd" score to look down upon from an admission's perspective.
Downsides: I can only apply once the scores arrive in November, meaning I'd be about 2 months past the 1st date possible to apply to UF Levin. If I do poorly, I'm pretty much screwing myself over till past 2013 to retake the LSAT.


If you were in my shoes, what would you do? I meet all other requirements for admissions by a large margin (GPA, personal statement, Brazilian immigrant background for a personal statement, english is my 3rd language, etc.). My only concern is that I will greatly hinder my chances by waiting 2 months past September 1st to apply.

Thank you again for your time and advice.

silvab

Applying to only one school is never a good idea. Apply to FSU, Miami and OOS peers at least. You can use those schollys to negotiate $$ with UF.

Take the LSAT when you are most prepared. October is still considered "on time", but just be sure to have the rest of your app put together.

Thank you. I will most likely take your advice on applying to multiple schools, but I will only go to law school if I'm admitted into UF. There are several reasons behind this, both financial and personal! I see what you mean, however, about using admissions to other schools as leverage.

Do you believe there is no significant advantage to applying "as early as possible" (September 1st) vs "on time"?

You should apply to higher ranked schools, then. It might involve moving out of state, but the jobs prospects from UF really aren't great. Hiring from law school heavily depends on the prestige of the law school. You would have much better career prospects from a school like Duke or UVA.

It seems clear you won't be adequately prepared for the June test, so wait until October. The LSAT takes a lot of study, and even 1 or 2 points extra would make the wait worthwhile. Applying on September 1 would be great, but applying November 1 with a higher LSAT score would be much better - even if it's only 1 or 2 points higher.

And if you absolutely won't consider any schools other than UF, you should still work for a high LSAT score for scholarship money.

ETA: and apply to other schools for scholarship money, as mentioned above.

Thank you for the advice. I plan on staying in Florida for a few reasons. My family's business is in Miami, my significant other has her businesses in this state. The financial incentive for in-state UF tuition is significant (essentially free vs $160,000+ debt to a school like Duke or UVA). I'm not desperate for a job once I get out of Law school, so I have a lot more flexibility than a lot of other students who must work ASAP once graduating. Although a degree from a more prestigious school is preferred, a UF law degree is still viewed very favorably by Florida law firms due to the high number of alumni, etc..

Your advice is very clear and concise. Thank you again

Anecdotally, I apply "Late" (December LSAT + didnt have my shit together, applied at the end Jan) and it didnt seem to hurt my cycle much. I got into my reach school with $$.

AntipodeanPhil is spot on. Wait till you know you can murder the LSAT so you can get $$ from Florida. The fact you are a resident of FL and an alum of UF are great softs. IMO, An extra point or 2 is more importaint than applying early.

Hopefully others can shed more light on this.

Have you had your GPA calculated by LSAC yet? What is it?

ETA: Have you been to LSN yet? Lawschoolnumbers.com allows you to see several applicants to UF,their GPA/LSAT, when they applied, whether they were admitted, and how much $$ they got. I would suggest crunching those numbers.

You're amazing for answering my questions twice! You're like a superman for panicking prospective law students!

I'm not sure of my calculated LSAC gpa, but I graduated with a 3.8 GPA across the board. I'm not sure how it's weighed, so I don't want to assume that's my calculated LSAC gpa.

You have both stressed that: 1 or 2 points > applying the earliest date possible.

Congratulations on getting into your reach school!

EDIT: I hadn't heard of LSN yet! I will be checking this out tonight. Once again thank you

^^^^ That just made my day and gave me a huge smile (quite rare)!

I greatly appreciate your appreciativeness.

I'm sure TLS will be continue to be an awesome resource for you in the future.