Did applying late in the cycle kill my chances at Yale? Forum

[eagles111]

I wasn't going to apply to Yale. Then in January, after my other apps were in, I visited a friend who's there for a PhD and checked it out and decided what the hell. The predictor has me being considered, if slightly below the median (47%) on whatever formula it uses. However, I only got my application in this week and I'm worried I might have hurt my chances by waiting so long. Does anyone know(/think they know/have a completely uninformed opinion for me to worry over) how much difference there is late vs early in the cycle? Does it make no difference because they are so picky that they would have waited till now on me anyway?

Me:
not URM
3.70/176 magna cum laude, departmental honors from top 10 liberal arts college (according to USN&WR)
I'm hoping magna+honors+school reputation could help overcome my (for Yale) low GPA. In terms of softs, recs were very good (I was told) from UG prof and major advisor, solid PS.
Weakness (obviously besides being below 25% GPA): my work experience (fitness industry) is completely unrelated to law school and really my "what have you done since college" doesnt appear to live up to my "potential" on paper. However, I used my 250-word to address what I've been doing and why it's important and enjoyable for me.

anyway. anyone care to speculate on my chances? or if applying late did me in?

[jks289]

I wasn't going to apply to Yale. Then in January, after my other apps were in, I visited a friend who's there for a PhD and checked it out and decided what the hell. The predictor has me being considered, if slightly below the median (47%) on whatever formula it uses. However, I only got my application in this week and I'm worried I might have hurt my chances by waiting so long. Does anyone know(/think they know/have a completely uninformed opinion for me to worry over) how much difference there is late vs early in the cycle? Does it make no difference because they are so picky that they would have waited till now on me anyway?

Me:
not URM
3.70/176 magna cum laude, departmental honors from top 10 liberal arts college (according to USN&WR)
I'm hoping magna+honors+school reputation could help overcome my (for Yale) low GPA. In terms of softs, recs were very good (I was told) from UG prof and major advisor, solid PS.
Weakness (obviously besides being below 25% GPA): my work experience (fitness industry) is completely unrelated to law school and really my "what have you done since college" doesnt appear to live up to my "potential" on paper. However, I used my 250-word to address what I've been doing and why it's important and enjoyable for me.

anyway. anyone care to speculate on my chances? or if applying late did me in?

I know someone with a 4.0, 178 who ended up on the waitlist because of applying late. Not to say that was the only reason, but when she spoke to an adcom they said there just weren't enough spots. She ended up at SLS so I think you'll ok long term.

[eagles111]

If i get in at SLS you won't hear me crying about a ding from Yale. pretty nervous about that one too.

[bdubs]

I was under the impression that timing didn't matter nearly as much at Yale as it did elsewhere. They don't "fill" their class until after the Feb. 15 deadline, it isn't exactly clear how many of their spots they fill from rolling admits though.

http://www.top-law-schools.com/yale-law-school.html

[eagles111]

thanks bdubs. I hadn't seen info like this on any other tls pages so i didnt even look on yales. for people too lazy to click the link:

"Due to the unique nature of Yale’s application review process, most applications are “under review” for longer than they might be at other schools. Even “presumptive admits” may hear back in 6-8 weeks at the earliest; some applications may not result in a final answer for many months. Yale is notorious for releasing many admissions decisions in mid-late April. However, it should be noted that applying earlier in the cycle does not provide any boost to an applicant’s chances of being admitted; while the school does give offers of admission on a rolling basis, it does not fill the class until after having read all applications submitted by February 15th."

also a link to the yale admission blog http://blogs.law.yale.edu/blogs/admissi ... ation.aspx

hopefully that's good news for me and other late submitters.

[im_blue]

I think applying late hurts less for Yale than other law schools. If anything keeps you out, it'll be your GPA, which is probably close to the absolutely minimum cutoff of any non-URM applicant (lowest GPA in the class last year was ~3.55 which was almost certainly a URM).

[lawman335]

Obviously your chances will be less as u have applied late , if u rejected this time don't worry apply early next time......

[kazu]

Obviously your chances will be less as u have applied late , if u rejected this time don't worry apply early next time......

Christ man don't you get tired of going around saying unhelpful things?

[vanwinkle]

Obviously your chances will be less as u have applied late , if u rejected this time don't worry apply early next time......

Totally incorrect response. Please stop going around and trying to give very simplistic and sometimes wrong "advice" in order to impress people. Ur doin it wrong.

Yale is the one school where applying late hurts least. They specifically state that they do not do a rolling admissions process and wait to declare the class "filled" and offer acceptances until they've reviewed all applications. OP should be fine as long as he's in by now.

[usuaggie]

Obviously your chances will be less as u have applied late , if u rejected this time don't worry apply early next time......

Totally incorrect response. Please stop going around and trying to give very simplistic and sometimes wrong "advice" in order to impress people. Ur doin it wrong.

Yale is the one school where applying late hurts least. They specifically state that they do not do a rolling admissions process and wait to declare the class "filled" and offer acceptances until they've reviewed all applications.

he is a flame. just made his account and already 60 posts, and at least one in a "fake non-english native speaker" voice

[vanwinkle]

he is a flame.

I know he's a flame, but by correcting him I try to at least provide a service to those who don't.

[4910]

i went through lawman's posts and most of them are pretty generic and pointless

[vanwinkle]

i went through lawman's posts and most of them are pretty generic and pointless

Sadly this is true of most TLS posters. The main difference is that most of them aren't generic and pointless 50 times in a single evening.