2009-2010 Fee Waiver Tracker/FAQ Thread Forum

[wired]

Hmm... I sent a request to UVA on Thursday (after operating hours) and I still haven't heard back from them... How long was everyone else's turn around time?

I'd love to apply to UVA - I'm a fringe applicant (high LSAT splitter) and a fee waiver would definitely put me over the edge for it.

[missvik218]

Hmm... I sent a request to UVA on Thursday (after operating hours) and I still haven't heard back from them... How long was everyone else's turn around time?

I'd love to apply to UVA - I'm a fringe applicant (high LSAT splitter) and a fee waiver would definitely put me over the edge for it.

Mine from them took a day or two, you should have something by the middle of the week.

[gahthelaw]

Is it me or does it seem like fee-waivers simply stopped coming all of a sudden? I had a week or two where I got the same batch most people got and then the well dried up. I know I wont be getting them from UVA or Duke (although, really, I was surprised I got them from W&M and Minn.) I'd like to get apps out as early as possible but I'm also a man with a budget.

might be about time for me to send out some e-mails and start asking...

nothing wrong with asking for fee waivers. i think there will definitely be some normal ebb and flow to the waivers though - they'd come in batches after LSAT scores come out and as applications go up. I bet some more will roll in around the first week of september, and then again after the october test.

[Tuyarp]

Does anyone have the e-mail address for Northwestern admissions office? The link on their website doesn't work for me. Thanks!

[Helmholtz]

Does anyone have the e-mail address for Northwestern admissions office? The link on their website doesn't work for me. Thanks!

admissions@law.northwestern.edu worked for me

[kurama20]

Do you have to be signed up for the CRS to receive fee waivers from schools?

[pellery]

I took the June LSAT and did very well; when will I start receiving more fee waivers from schools?

[taxman021]

I may have overlooked this information somewhere, but is there a place where we can find out which schools offer merit-based waivers and which don't? If, for some reason, someone knows all this information off the top of their head, the schools I'm interested in knowing about are (I've noted in parentheses those schools that I know do/do not offer merit-based waivers ... of course, I could be wrong. If so, please tell me.):

Yale
Harvard
Stanford
Columbia
Chicago
NYU
Berkeley (no)
Michigan (yes)
Virginia (yes)
Duke (no)
Northwestern (yes)
Georgetown (yes)
UCLA
USC

i emailed ucla and usc today and they told me although i should be able to get one, they haven't started giving them out yet and that if i dont hear from them by mid september, i should shoot them another email

[wired]

Do you have to be signed up for the CRS to receive fee waivers from schools?

Yes.

I took the June LSAT and did very well; when will I start receiving more fee waivers from schools?

If they decide to send you any, they usually will send it as part of a batch. No one knows exactly when schools send out fee waivers.

[Pankun]

Does anyone have the e-mail address for Northwestern admissions office? The link on their website doesn't work for me. Thanks!

admissions@law.northwestern.edu worked for me

Did Northwestern give you one? When I asked them, they said that I have to fill out some special Fee Waiver Application along side my normal application.

[Helmholtz]

Does anyone have the e-mail address for Northwestern admissions office? The link on their website doesn't work for me. Thanks!

admissions@law.northwestern.edu worked for me

Did Northwestern give you one? When I asked them, they said that I have to fill out some special Fee Waiver Application along side my normal application.

The sent me one w/o a request.

[Pankun]

Does anyone have the e-mail address for Northwestern admissions office? The link on their website doesn't work for me. Thanks!

admissions@law.northwestern.edu worked for me

Did Northwestern give you one? When I asked them, they said that I have to fill out some special Fee Waiver Application along side my normal application.

The sent me one w/o a request.

Thats cool. I didn't like Northwestern anywayzzz. Shiiiiit.

[chief915]

Michigan sent one upon an email request:

Dear ###,

Thank you for your interest in Michigan Law. I am happy to grant you a merit-based fee waiver. If you apply through LSAC, when you are ready to submit your application, indicate that you will 'pay the school directly,' and then reply to this email so we can waive your fee when your application arrives. If you will apply instead through Embark (via our website), please email me after you have begun your application for further information. Please let me know if you have any questions. We look forward to your visit and receiving your application.

Best,

####

[oneforship]

Michigan sent one upon an email request:

Dear ###,

Thank you for your interest in Michigan Law. I am happy to grant you a merit-based fee waiver. If you apply through LSAC, when you are ready to submit your application, indicate that you will 'pay the school directly,' and then reply to this email so we can waive your fee when your application arrives. If you will apply instead through Embark (via our website), please email me after you have begun your application for further information. Please let me know if you have any questions. We look forward to your visit and receiving your application.

Best,

####

numbers?

[jackassjim]

Michigan sent one upon an email request:

Dear ###,

Thank you for your interest in Michigan Law. I am happy to grant you a merit-based fee waiver. If you apply through LSAC, when you are ready to submit your application, indicate that you will 'pay the school directly,' and then reply to this email so we can waive your fee when your application arrives. If you will apply instead through Embark (via our website), please email me after you have begun your application for further information. Please let me know if you have any questions. We look forward to your visit and receiving your application.

Best,

####

I don't feel so special any more. I received the exact same reply, with identical wording, just a few weeks ago in response to my query.

[tintin]

has anyone gotten one by emailing from Penn?

[Helmholtz]

has anyone gotten one by emailing from Penn?

I have an LSAT a couple points above their 75th, emailed them, and was denied. I don't know anybody who actually received one on a request.

[GMVarun]

Thanks for posting this information guys -- I did not even know this was a possibility until discovering this earlier this week.

Since then I emailed Michigan and Georgetown and am 1/2 though I guess Georgetown did not really address my question ( I am looking for a merit fee waiver and they gave me info on a need fee waiver, but I suppose that's a rejection).

I thought I saw this earlier, but has someone emailed Cornell and if so what email did you use? I saw on their site that they usually grant it for need purposes. Does anybody know about for merit purposes?

Thanks again for the help. You guys have already saved me at least 60 dollars.

[Pankun]

Thanks for posting this information guys -- I did not even know this was a possibility until discovering this earlier this week.

Since then I emailed Michigan and Georgetown and am 1/2 though I guess Georgetown did not really address my question ( I am looking for a merit fee waiver and they gave me info on a need fee waiver, but I suppose that's a rejection).

I thought I saw this earlier, but has someone emailed Cornell and if so what email did you use? I saw on their site that they usually grant it for need purposes. Does anybody know about for merit purposes?

Thanks again for the help. You guys have already saved me at least 60 dollars.

I called Cornell today and they said they typically auto-grant them (every school is telling me this however). I asked them if they already started, and they said no. I asked when, and they said typically right after LSATs are administered. Then I told them that I wanted to apply early, and she said no problem. Apply early, pay the fee, you'll still get a fee waiver if you qualify. If you get the fee waiver, they'll process a refund. Seems so much more complicating then just giving out a fee waiver right now. I guess they don't want to lose unnecessary money.

[babaghanouj]

Hmm, somehow I think our odds of getting those late fee waivers probably worsen considerably if we've already applied when they start sending them... What incentive does the school have to issue these refunds?

[Pankun]

Hmm, somehow I think our odds of getting those late fee waivers probably worsen considerably if we've already applied when they start sending them... What incentive does the school have to issue these refunds?

Yeah it didn't make sense to me either. To be honest, I won't be applying to Cornell early. If I do apply to them, it will be because they gave me a fee waiver. Not to be a big snob, but this shit ain't cheap.

[emtuoh]

If anyone's interested in Cardozo, I e-mailed them yesterday and I got a reply saying that they'll begin to send out fee waivers on September 7th.

[JennBNYC]

Sorry if this seems lazy, but there are SO many pages in this thread, and in lieu of reading through them all, I'm hoping someone can answer my question (I'm at work and can't read through all of them one by one..gotta be sneaky @ my desk ).

Is it too late to get fee waivers?

I take the LSAT in September, but I have a good GPA (3.99). Do they need to see both to grant one?

I saw that I need to register for CRS. Once I do that, do they come to me with them, or do I need to email them, or something, to request one?

Sorry for all the questions (when they answers are probably in there), but any help would be great!

[missvik218]

Sorry if this seems lazy, but there are SO many pages in this thread, and in lieu of reading through them all, I'm hoping someone can answer my question (I'm at work and can't read through all of them one by one..gotta be sneaky @ my desk ).

Is it too late to get fee waivers?
No

I take the LSAT in September, but I have a good GPA (3.99). Do they need to see both to grant one?
I don't know, you can either try or wait ... but it doesn't really matter because you can't apply until you have your score anyway.

I saw that I need to register for CRS. Once I do that, do they come to me with them, or do I need to email them, or something, to request one?
Some schools will send them once your LSAT is released, and some you will have to e-mail asking.

Sorry for all the questions (when they answers are probably in there), but any help would be great!

[JennBNYC]

Sorry if this seems lazy, but there are SO many pages in this thread, and in lieu of reading through them all, I'm hoping someone can answer my question (I'm at work and can't read through all of them one by one..gotta be sneaky @ my desk ).

Is it too late to get fee waivers?
No

I take the LSAT in September, but I have a good GPA (3.99). Do they need to see both to grant one?
I don't know, you can either try or wait ... but it doesn't really matter because you can't apply until you have your score anyway.

I saw that I need to register for CRS. Once I do that, do they come to me with them, or do I need to email them, or something, to request one?
Some schools will send them once your LSAT is released, and some you will have to e-mail asking.

Sorry for all the questions (when they answers are probably in there), but any help would be great!

Thanks missvik218! That's good news. I initially didn't sign up for CRS because I didn't like the idea of schools/people having access to my personal info (SSN, etc) without my immediate knowledge, but I guess a lot of people use this service, and it seems to be worth it (for fee waivers at least)! Best of luck to everyone with saving some money!