Yale c/o 2016 Applicants (2012-2013 cycle) Forum

[vman21]

So mid-late Jan submits are extremely unlikely to get in if they don't hear back in the next few days? Is that the consensus?

One more question: did those who got acceptances receive phone call + snail mail only, or did they also get an acceptance email?

I don't expect an acceptance by any means, but since I am international and unreachable by phone the question occurred to me. Thanks for your help, and good luck to everyone.

[Jaqen]

yale really wants to boost their yield #s emailing me again today to remind me to apply by march 1

They only email auto-admits... do it!!

I got that email. Your argument is invalid.

[KLewi3790]

LSAT: 167
GPA: 3.65

Hispanic, LGBTQ

Got an email and a package from Yale in January and another a few days ago asking me to apply. Is this their way of boosting their app numbers or should I actually consider a last minute application?

I got accepted to UMich yesterday w/ $$ so I'm feeling like I could throw in another application to a reach school and still be happy either way... just don't want to totally waste the app fee if there's no chance.

Thoughts?

[Yukos]

LSAT: 167
GPA: 3.65

Hispanic, LGBTQ

Got an email and a package from Yale in January and another a few days ago asking me to apply. Is this their way of boosting their app numbers or should I actually consider a last minute application?

I got accepted to UMich yesterday w/ $$ so I'm feeling like I could throw in another application to a reach school and still be happy either way... just don't want to totally waste the app fee if there's no chance.

Thoughts?

They're encouraging apps to keep their selectivity high but URM cycles are unpredictable so it's probably worth it for you to apply.

[jselson]

LSAT: 167
GPA: 3.65

Hispanic, LGBTQ

Got an email and a package from Yale in January and another a few days ago asking me to apply. Is this their way of boosting their app numbers or should I actually consider a last minute application?

I got accepted to UMich yesterday w/ $$ so I'm feeling like I could throw in another application to a reach school and still be happy either way... just don't want to totally waste the app fee if there's no chance.

Thoughts?

Congrats on Michigan! As for your question, mylsn says it isn't likely, and someone on here showed that Yale has one of the smallest URM boosts. Harvard has one of the best boosts, but you're just outside the lsat/gpa combo. But S and CCN are very doable, tho I imagine you applied to those schools.

[o0o0o0o]

.

[bbsg]

Went to submit today and lsac.org was down..? Boo!

[mark34]

One more question: did those who got acceptances receive phone call + snail mail only, or did they also get an acceptance email?

I don't expect an acceptance by any means, but since I am international and unreachable by phone the question occurred to me. Thanks for your help, and good luck to everyone.

I seem to remember reading on the Yale website that admits are notified via phone, email, and postal mail--so I'm thinking you'll be fine either way (note use of Oxford comma :p).

[Bill]

It's worth the app fee.

LSAT: 167
GPA: 3.65

Hispanic, LGBTQ

Got an email and a package from Yale in January and another a few days ago asking me to apply. Is this their way of boosting their app numbers or should I actually consider a last minute application?

I got accepted to UMich yesterday w/ $$ so I'm feeling like I could throw in another application to a reach school and still be happy either way... just don't want to totally waste the app fee if there's no chance.

Thoughts?

[vman21]

Thanks for your help re: how they notify.

I scoured LSN and looked for patterns in decision dates as far back as the data goes, and although there is certainly a wave of admits in late February, there just aren't enough data points to conclude much of anything re: Jan submits.

From the way the FB group has been growing (+3-4 every few days, with some gaps of little to no activity), it would seem that admit decisions are coming out in a slow, idiosyncratic trickle thus far. Maybe there will be a flurry of activity soon, but assuming that the FB group is closely tracking the actual # of admits, there are still 162 spots available - or about 65%.

If we are more conservative and assume that 30 people have been accepted but have not joined the FB group, which seems like it would be on the high end, that still leaves 52% of spots. I am certain that at this point it is a mix between faculty review admits and auto-admits, but my suspicion is that it is weighted toward the latter.

Perhaps we will start seeing some heavier movement over the next few weeks as faculty review starts coming in. Of course...this is all mindless conjecture.

[LSATSCORES2012]

Thanks for your help re: how they notify.

I scoured LSN and looked for patterns in decision dates as far back as the data goes, and although there is certainly a wave of admits in late February, there just aren't enough data points to conclude much of anything re: Jan submits.

From the way the FB group has been growing (+3-4 every few days, with some gaps of little to no activity), it would seem that admit decisions are coming out in a slow, idiosyncratic trickle thus far. Maybe there will be a flurry of activity soon, but assuming that the FB group is closely tracking the actual # of admits, there are still 162 spots available - or about 65%.

If we are more conservative and assume that 30 people have been accepted but have not joined the FB group, which seems like it would be on the high end, that still leaves 52% of spots. I am certain that at this point it is a mix between faculty review admits and auto-admits, but my suspicion is that it is weighted toward the latter.

Perhaps we will start seeing some heavier movement over the next few weeks as faculty review starts coming in. Of course...this is all mindless conjecture.

Well your post history gave me a good laugh

Check this out: --LinkRemoved--

Looks like for the past two cycles Jan submits (with a very small sample size) have heard back by late Feb., then before that by late March.

[vman21]

Well your post history gave me a good laugh

Check this out: --LinkRemoved--

Looks like for the past two cycles Jan submits (with a very small sample size) have heard back by late Feb., then before that by late March.

haha, yeah -- I had a paranoia attack and had to make sure that none of my fictional enemies were copying and pasting my post history in order to blackmail me in the future. So I kirbied it.

As to the link you posted, yeah -- I see the pattern. But you hit the nail on the head when you also mentioned sample size -- look at 2009 cycle: --LinkRemoved--

Pretty much all the data for jan submits show that those who were admitted got resultsl first week of march...and same for the 2008 cycle: --LinkRemoved--

And in other cycles there is no real data at all for jan submits...so I suppose it is all rather inconclusive speculation, at least in the sense of figuring out what % of jan submits hear back late feb, etc. Still, it would be unsurprising if people hear back in good #'s over the next 2 weeks given past data.

[hopeful16]

One more question: did those who got acceptances receive phone call + snail mail only, or did they also get an acceptance email?

I don't expect an acceptance by any means, but since I am international and unreachable by phone the question occurred to me. Thanks for your help, and good luck to everyone.

I seem to remember reading on the Yale website that admits are notified via phone, email, and postal mail--so I'm thinking you'll be fine either way (note use of Oxford comma :p).

Yes this is correct. Phone call, then email later that day, and then mail in a few days.

[Justicia1776]

I'm wondering if all of you submitted your LSAC evaluations to Yale, along with the letters of recommendation.

The YLS viewbook says:

"Yale Law School requires at least two letters of recommendation from professors. We prefer to receive these letters through the LSAC recommendation service. In addition, while we do not require use of the LSAC evaluation service, we will accept any evaluations which an applicant chooses to forward. If you have been out of school for some time you may submit letters from employers or associates. We will not begin review of your application until we have received two letters"

Do you think it would be better to just submit the 3 recommendations without the evaluations, or is there no harm in sending along three evaluations from the same people?

Thanks so much!

[vman21]

Do you think it would be better to just submit the 3 recommendations without the evaluations, or is there no harm in sending along three evaluations from the same people?

From my understanding, evaluations are not expected by the admissions committee, and are not considered particularly helpful. I don't think they will hurt you (as long as you receive the highest possible marks in all categories), but they are unlikely to help you. This is because they rarely provide useful information that is not more aptly expressed through a recommendation letter.

In my understanding most people completely omit them, as I did.

[je12345]

I'm wondering if all of you submitted your LSAC evaluations to Yale, along with the letters of recommendation.

The YLS viewbook says:

"Yale Law School requires at least two letters of recommendation from professors. We prefer to receive these letters through the LSAC recommendation service. In addition, while we do not require use of the LSAC evaluation service, we will accept any evaluations which an applicant chooses to forward. If you have been out of school for some time you may submit letters from employers or associates. We will not begin review of your application until we have received two letters"

Do you think it would be better to just submit the 3 recommendations without the evaluations, or is there no harm in sending along three evaluations from the same people?

Thanks so much!

Put yourself in the shoes of a YLS professor who is reading your application. Most of the information should be covered in your letters as is, so ask yourself what added benefit submitting an evaluation would be. You can see the evaluation questions here (access through LSAC website). If your recommender wouldn't rate you as "Truly Exceptional" in all or nearly all of those questions, it's not worth it--it's just highlighting your weaknesses at that point. And frankly, those questions are questions that your recommender should be answering already. (I'm assuming that when you requested letters of recommendation, you gave details as to what exactly you wanted each professor to include in those letters.)

Honestly, I avoided the evaluations, simply because they're redundant and a waste of my professor's time. And frankly, I think that a YLS professor reading through them would not find it particularly helpful, either. Think about it this way. Rather than controlling what the YLS professor reads through a free-form letter of recommendation (your recommender and you are on the same side--both ignoring your weaknesses and highlighting your strengths), you let LSAC dictate the pieces of information that the YLS professors read. So regardless of how strong you are as a candidate, you've (in my mind) invited potential weakness into your application.

[nanochick]

Out of curiosity, why the Yale love when the job prospects frankly don't stack up well with the rest of the T-14? I mean, if you want to go into academia, I get it. Otherwise, not so much.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/ ... ospects-2/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenha ... ting-rich/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsm ... he-most/2/

[az21833]

Jan submits who don't hear this week should prolly move on

[ManOfTheMinute]

Nano - Troll?
YLS students who want jobs, get jobs. YLS students who want money, get money.

AZ - don't agree. Asha hasn't made calls since 2/7. Also, mylsn doesn't seem to agree. But in general, all submits should move on.

[TripTrip]

Out of curiosity, why the Yale love when the job prospects frankly don't stack up well with the rest of the T-14? I mean, if you want to go into academia, I get it. Otherwise, not so much.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/ ... ospects-2/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenha ... ting-rich/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsm ... he-most/2/

Man, you're right. Everyone else should just withdraw their app now.

[Kionaltski]

AZ - don't agree. Asha hasn't made calls since 2/7. Also, mylsn doesn't seem to agree.

Maybe its just me being optimistic, but LSN only shows 9 people being accepted so far this cycle, whereas 36 were accepted in total last cycle, and at least 15 by this date. I think there are slower this time around

But in general, all submits should move on.

Agreed

[hopeful16]

I'm wondering if all of you submitted your LSAC evaluations to Yale, along with the letters of recommendation.

The YLS viewbook says:

"Yale Law School requires at least two letters of recommendation from professors. We prefer to receive these letters through the LSAC recommendation service. In addition, while we do not require use of the LSAC evaluation service, we will accept any evaluations which an applicant chooses to forward. If you have been out of school for some time you may submit letters from employers or associates. We will not begin review of your application until we have received two letters"

Do you think it would be better to just submit the 3 recommendations without the evaluations, or is there no harm in sending along three evaluations from the same people?

Thanks so much!

I would go without the evaluations. When Asha visited my undergrad I asked her about evals and she strongly recommended not submitting them because she finds them redundant.

[az21833]

AZ - don't agree. Asha hasn't made calls since 2/7. Also, mylsn doesn't seem to agree.

Maybe its just me being optimistic, but LSN only shows 9 people being accepted so far this cycle, whereas 36 were accepted in total last cycle, and at least 15 by this date. I think there are slower this time around

But in general, all submits should move on.

Agreed

i think its bc there is big wave coming weds/thurs/fri this wk

[vman21]

i think its bc there is big wave coming weds/thurs/fri this wk

On what basis? The last 2 yrs of mylsn is not a great indicator given sample size, as has been mentioned.

[ManOfTheMinute]

i think its bc there is big wave coming weds/thurs/fri this wk

On what basis? The last 2 yrs of mylsn is not a great indicator given sample size, as has been mentioned.

On the basis of suck a D