Harvard, C/O 2017, Applicants Thread (2013-2014) Forum

[midwest17]

Is LSAC not doing makeups for the weather-canceled people this time? Otherwise, it does seem like an excuse.

[drawstring]

argh. now to begin the wait...again.

How did it go?

I think I answered the questions well - I just always feel so uncomfortable looking at the computer camera instead of at the screen. I wish it were possible for them to do the interview IRL :/

Thanks for asking!!

x2

[lawschool22]

Is LSAC not doing makeups for the weather-canceled people this time? Otherwise, it does seem like an excuse.

According to a thread in the LSAT board the makeup test is 12/14. So I would assume they would still be fine for getting apps in by the original Feb 1 deadline, let alone have to take it in February.

[cway]

Is LSAC not doing makeups for the weather-canceled people this time? Otherwise, it does seem like an excuse.

According to a thread in the LSAT board the makeup test is 12/14. So I would assume they would still be fine for getting apps in by the original Feb 1 deadline, let alone have to take it in February.

FWIW, I know a few people whose test centers in the South/Midwest were closed because of the ice storm, which theoretically hasn't happened in over 20 years. Still maybe an excuse based on the quality of applicants, but it does have some basis...

[midwest17]

Is LSAC not doing makeups for the weather-canceled people this time? Otherwise, it does seem like an excuse.

According to a thread in the LSAT board the makeup test is 12/14. So I would assume they would still be fine for getting apps in by the original Feb 1 deadline, let alone have to take it in February.

FWIW, I know a few people whose test centers in the South/Midwest were closed because of the ice storm, which theoretically hasn't happened in over 20 years. Still maybe an excuse based on the quality of applicants, but it does have some basis...

But I assume there are test centers closed for weather every December. The fact that they were closed in a region where they aren't normally closed doesn't seem to explain much.

[cway]

FWIW, I know a few people whose test centers in the South/Midwest were closed because of the ice storm, which theoretically hasn't happened in over 20 years. Still maybe an excuse based on the quality of applicants, but it does have some basis...

But I assume there are test centers closed for weather every December. The fact that they were closed in a region where they aren't normally closed doesn't seem to explain much.

That's true too! Can only be good news for us...

[luckystar84]

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[mellow]

re: makeup 12/14--this may be so, but they could still allow Feb for 2 reasons. 1 is that LSAC might offer you the choice between the Dec makeup and Feb. it would still be unfair of them to say "yea we know you planned to take this test on Dec 7 and then spend vacation with your fam on Dec 14, but sorry about your plans." I've seen past threads where remedies are refund or Feb for free.

didn't consider this. fair enough.

but if the deadline was never a hard deadline in the first place, why would hls have sent out an email to every single applicant to let them know about this "extension"?

[luckystar84]

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[ShrimpToastMasters]

re: makeup 12/14--this may be so, but they could still allow Feb for 2 reasons. 1 is that LSAC might offer you the choice between the Dec makeup and Feb. it would still be unfair of them to say "yea we know you planned to take this test on Dec 7 and then spend vacation with your fam on Dec 14, but sorry about your plans." I've seen past threads where remedies are refund or Feb for free.

didn't consider this. fair enough.

but if the deadline was never a hard deadline in the first place, why would hls have sent out an email to every single applicant to let them know about this "extension"?

I actually never received this e-mail...it worries me.

[t-14orbust]

re: makeup 12/14--this may be so, but they could still allow Feb for 2 reasons. 1 is that LSAC might offer you the choice between the Dec makeup and Feb. it would still be unfair of them to say "yea we know you planned to take this test on Dec 7 and then spend vacation with your fam on Dec 14, but sorry about your plans." I've seen past threads where remedies are refund or Feb for free.

didn't consider this. fair enough.

but if the deadline was never a hard deadline in the first place, why would hls have sent out an email to every single applicant to let them know about this "extension"?

I actually never received this e-mail...it worries me.

it's for those that haven't applied and were set to take the LSAT in december

[jdapplicant]

Checking in

[lawschool22]

re: makeup 12/14--this may be so, but they could still allow Feb for 2 reasons. 1 is that LSAC might offer you the choice between the Dec makeup and Feb. it would still be unfair of them to say "yea we know you planned to take this test on Dec 7 and then spend vacation with your fam on Dec 14, but sorry about your plans." I've seen past threads where remedies are refund or Feb for free.

didn't consider this. fair enough.

but if the deadline was never a hard deadline in the first place, why would hls have sent out an email to every single applicant to let them know about this "extension"?

well I'm just saying it's not a hard deadline. in practice people think deadlines are deadlines. but if you read schools' instructions (it might also be on their FAQ), they say that they will consider "late" apps on a space-available basis and cannot guarantee the same full consideration they do to timely apps

The deadline for submitting applications is February 1. We can guarantee full consideration for all applications received by that date. We will permit applications to be filed after the deadline until we can no longer provide full consideration.

http://www.law.harvard.edu/prospective/ ... jdfaq.html

Oh lucky I think we're just going to have to agree to disagree

[midwest17]

re: the weather thing.

sometimes it's a matter of fairness. if you planned to take the test in Dec but now can't, and the remedy LSAC offers is to take it for free in Feb, that would be useless and frustrating to you unless hls allows Feb scores to be used.

the parsing of "retake" in the 3rd item coudl just mean people who planned to take in Dec but are now taking in Feb.

re: makeup 12/14--this may be so, but they could still allow Feb for 2 reasons. 1 is that LSAC might offer you the choice between the Dec makeup and Feb. it would still be unfair of them to say "yea we know you planned to take this test on Dec 7 and then spend vacation with your fam on Dec 14, but sorry about your plans." I've seen past threads where remedies are refund or Feb for free. 2 is that, since Dec 14 is close to the winter break, scores might not be out until midJan. again, some people wait for their score before deciding where to apply, and giving them 6 weeks to perfect their app is a lot better than the 2 they'd have without the extension.

once they allow Feb scores to be used, they have to extend the deadline to March 1 because many applicants use how well they think they did on the lsat to decide whether applications are still worth it. If they kept the deadline at Feb 1, then Feb takers wouldn't be making an informed decision.

It's only out of self-interest that people would think that hls would need to search for an "excuse" to mask the weakness of the applicant pool, as if they would have given out signals of the applicant pool during any other year. the type of applicants they want (3.8 173 etc) wouldn't be the type of person who wouldn't have otherwise applied without the deadline extension. this is another reason to doubt that they're extending the deadline to draw in more applicants.

Also, the deadline has never been a hard deadline. it's more that "if you submit after this deadline, we cannot guarantee full consideration, and can only review your app on a space available basis."

1. Is it true that free Feb take is LSAC's remedy for this, typically? All I know is that October tests that were canceled due to weather got a makeup a week or two later.

2. Were a significantly larger number of test centers canceled this year than in previous years? The main problem with your analysis is that it doesn't account for the fact that this is a *new* move by Harvard that they haven't taken in the past. Your explanation doesn't seem to point to anything that's changed this year relative to other years.

[stephenholder]

Is there a way to find out who is running my JS1 before someone pops up on the screen?

[The-Specs]

Is there a way to find out who is running my JS1 before someone pops up on the screen?

Unfortunately not.

[stephenholder]

Is there a way to find out who is running my JS1 before someone pops up on the screen?

Unfortunately not.

OK, thanks!

[barrelofmonkeys]

Is there a way to find out who is running my JS1 before someone pops up on the screen?

Unfortunately not.

OK, thanks!

180 handle, bro

[lawschool22]

re: the weather thing.

sometimes it's a matter of fairness. if you planned to take the test in Dec but now can't, and the remedy LSAC offers is to take it for free in Feb, that would be useless and frustrating to you unless hls allows Feb scores to be used.

the parsing of "retake" in the 3rd item coudl just mean people who planned to take in Dec but are now taking in Feb.

re: makeup 12/14--this may be so, but they could still allow Feb for 2 reasons. 1 is that LSAC might offer you the choice between the Dec makeup and Feb. it would still be unfair of them to say "yea we know you planned to take this test on Dec 7 and then spend vacation with your fam on Dec 14, but sorry about your plans." I've seen past threads where remedies are refund or Feb for free. 2 is that, since Dec 14 is close to the winter break, scores might not be out until midJan. again, some people wait for their score before deciding where to apply, and giving them 6 weeks to perfect their app is a lot better than the 2 they'd have without the extension.

once they allow Feb scores to be used, they have to extend the deadline to March 1 because many applicants use how well they think they did on the lsat to decide whether applications are still worth it. If they kept the deadline at Feb 1, then Feb takers wouldn't be making an informed decision.

It's only out of self-interest that people would think that hls would need to search for an "excuse" to mask the weakness of the applicant pool, as if they would have given out signals of the applicant pool during any other year. the type of applicants they want (3.8 173 etc) wouldn't be the type of person who wouldn't have otherwise applied without the deadline extension. this is another reason to doubt that they're extending the deadline to draw in more applicants.

Also, the deadline has never been a hard deadline. it's more that "if you submit after this deadline, we cannot guarantee full consideration, and can only review your app on a space available basis."

1. Is it true that free Feb take is LSAC's remedy for this, typically? All I know is that October tests that were canceled due to weather got a makeup a week or two later.

2. Were a significantly larger number of test centers canceled this year than in previous years? The main problem with your analysis is that it doesn't account for the fact that this is a *new* move by Harvard that they haven't taken in the past. Your explanation doesn't seem to point to anything that's changed this year relative to other years.

This. Plus we know the makeup plan for December takers: take it 12/14, a mere weeke later. I don't see how this affects admissions enough for HLS to do something unprecedented like move the deadline and send an email to ALL December takers inviting them to apply.

[luckystar84]

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[somuchwaiting]

It's just too coincidental that this lines up with the day we get bandwidth data. Not to mention the delayed JS2's, and the fact that 170+ test takers are down again.

2014 LSAT bandwidth changes as 12/06/14 versus 2013
Highest LSAT Number of Applicants Pct Chg YTD
< 140 -28.6%
140–144 -15.5%
145–149 -17.1%
150–154 -14.8%
155–159 -16.3%
160–164 -16.9%
165–169 -15.0%
170–174 -4.6%
175–180 12.1%

Is it possible that 175-180 scorers actually increased this year??

[Howl]

It's just too coincidental that this lines up with the day we get bandwidth data. Not to mention the delayed JS2's, and the fact that 170+ test takers are down again.

2014 LSAT bandwidth changes as 12/06/14 versus 2013
Highest LSAT Number of Applicants Pct Chg YTD
< 140 -28.6%
140–144 -15.5%
145–149 -17.1%
150–154 -14.8%
155–159 -16.3%
160–164 -16.9%
165–169 -15.0%
170–174 -4.6%
175–180 12.1%

Is it possible that 175-180 scorers actually increased this year??

whut.

[Howl]

Dug through the adcomm's thread for more information on^, found this:

175-180 scores are UP 12%?

This is incredibly disheartening.

Keep in mind that with the very small amount of test takers receiving these scores, even small changes in absolute numbers can cause a relatively larger % change.

There were only 353 people who got scores in this range. Which means a 12% increase corresponds to roughly (if my algebra is correct ) an increase of around 38 applicants with a score in this range.

An increase of 38 really doesn't sound too bad.

[lawschool22]

Dug through the adcomm's thread for more information on^, found this:

175-180 scores are UP 12%?

This is incredibly disheartening.

Keep in mind that with the very small amount of test takers receiving these scores, even small changes in absolute numbers can cause a relatively larger % change.

There were only 353 people who got scores in this range. Which means a 12% increase corresponds to roughly (if my algebra is correct ) an increase of around 38 applicants with a score in this range.

An increase of 38 really doesn't sound too bad.

It's also more than offset by the decrease in 170-174. Also we won't know the final count until we know the rate of applications. Those numbers are as of December 7. If apps came in faster/slower as compared to last year that could affect the overall final changes as well.

[luckystar84]

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