Pursuing a waitlist: just how honest to be Forum

[WLstruggs]

Hi all,

Not sure if this is in the right forum, but I would appreciate any advice. This is a very long post, so I am including the central question up here and more background info below.

*Basically, should I inform a law school that if I do not get admitted off the waitlist I will reapply another cycle? I do not have a deposit down anywhere and I am also wondering if/ to what degree that is problematic.*

Background:

I am on the waitlist at my first choice law school, which also happens to be the law school at my undergraduate university (would rather not say the exact school in this post, though if it would be useful I would be willing to PM it). Though I did apply to a few schools ranked slightly higher, it has been my first choice all along and I would love to attend. My GPA is right at or slightly above median (keeping in mind, this is from a top university with little if any grade inflation) and my LSAT is 2 points below the 25th percentile for last year’s entering class. Upon being waitlisted in late April, I sent an LOCI, and have also sent 2 statements of continued interest since. I also visited the law school and one of my professors, who is also a professor at the law school, sent a note to the admissions committee.

Now, my lack of a deposit anywhere is not at all a reflection of any assumption that I will get off this waitlist. I just decided that an LSAT retake would be preferable to attending any of the law schools at which I had been admitted. My LSAT is about 8 points below what I had been PTing and I know well below my potential, so I know the best advice would probably be to retake and apply another cycle, and this is most likely what I will do. However, my job search is going less than swimmingly and I really would be extremely happy attending this law school if admitted off the waitlist, so I have not stopped pursuing it.

When I visited back in May, I told the admissions committee member who was interviewing me where I had deposited. I did a first deposit but chose not to do the second deposit, which was due on June 1st. So, I am under the impression that the law school can now see that I am not deposited anywhere. One, I don’t know if my lack of a deposit anywhere is something I need to address with the law school. Would this be seen as a good or bad thing in choosing who to take off a waitlist? Two (and my biggest question) is should I inform the law school of my current situation, which is basically that if I do not get admitted off the waitlist I will reapply another cycle? On one hand, I see how this shows a high level of interest, which is good. But, I also see how this might not be a good thing to tell them.

I plan on sending another statement of my continued interest soon and do intend to, at the minimum, state that I will attend if admitted off the waitlist. I had previously been concerned about saying I would definitely attend if admitted due to financial concerns (I need SOME money) but have heard of other cases where this did not stop waitlist admits who stated they would definitely attend from getting $$. I have an expected contribution of $0 and this law school tends to be a little more need-conscious when giving money than others, so it would not be totally unrealistic to hope that I would get some money if admitted off the waitlist.

Again, sorry for the length and I would appreciate any advice on how to approach this.

[Ded Precedent]

I personally wouldn't tell them. They know you're very interested in attending because you haven't withdrawn from the waitlist and you've sent two LOCIs. Some school are still trying to hit their targets days before school starts so you still have plenty of time to make an impression on them. If this is absolutely the school you want to attend and you have good reasons then just retake and reapply if you don't get in this year.