Advantage of a mid December application vs. earlier Forum

[ams212]

This is hypothetical, but I am curious as to what TLS wisdom has to offer on this:

If I could reasonably raise my LSAC GPA with my fall semester scores (ie. a 3.77 to a 3.79 or 3.8 [stupid fucking smiley face got inserted, my apologies]), would it be prudent to wait until recieving the grades and updated transcript before sending it all into LSAC if all other portions of the application are complete? Or is it better to apply with the lower GPA and have the application completed sooner? This may be a stupid question, but thanks for any input.

[shifty_eyed]

This is hypothetical, but I am curious as to what TLS wisdom has to offer on this:

If I could reasonably raise my LSAC GPA with my fall semester scores (ie. a 3.77 to a 3.79 or 3.8 [stupid fucking smiley face got inserted, my apologies]), would it be prudent to wait until recieving the grades and updated transcript before sending it all into LSAC if all other portions of the application are complete? Or is it better to apply with the lower GPA and have the application completed sooner? This may be a stupid question, but thanks for any input.

Hmm... I could be wrong here, but I would hold off on applying only to the schools where the GPA bump would put you above their median. If you are already above, or if you will still be below the GPA median, then applying earlier is better.

[bp shinners]

This is hypothetical, but I am curious as to what TLS wisdom has to offer on this:

If I could reasonably raise my LSAC GPA with my fall semester scores (ie. a 3.77 to a 3.79 or 3.8 [stupid fucking smiley face got inserted, my apologies]), would it be prudent to wait until recieving the grades and updated transcript before sending it all into LSAC if all other portions of the application are complete? Or is it better to apply with the lower GPA and have the application completed sooner? This may be a stupid question, but thanks for any input.

.02 won't make much of a difference unless it puts you above a quartile that you wouldn't otherwise break. Otherwise, apply early. You can always update with a fresh transcript later.

[kingjones59]

Depends on the school. Will that .02 put you above the median for a school as opposed to below it? Then it might be worthwile to wait. Otherwise, I can't see it being beneficial especially since it is not guaranteed you will raise it that much. People are already starting to get accepted to schools (granted, it is very early), but your talking another three months of acceptances before applying...I wouldnt reccomend it.