Seeing people get waitlisted with better numbers than you? Forum

[turkey]

I realize there is probably no black & white answer for this as I don't know anything other than their lawschoolnumbers.com stats, but if I see people who are already waitlisted with better lsat/gpa than me, is that bad news for my chances? I am an older candidate and this person appears to still be in undergrad. I realize they could have had flaws in their package. Forgive my ignorance, but this is my first cycle applying.

[Ernert]

Varies from school to school... it may mean you have no shot (basically if you don't see anyone with numbers around yours or slightly higher getting in at all). If you see that some higher numbers are WL but numbers around yours are admit/WL, that might mean the school is engaging in yield protection (YP) where they basically waitlist students they think are overqualified so as to appear more selective and have a higher yield rate (proportion of those admitted who actually matriculate).

[turkey]

Gotcha. I see some people with gpa's about .3 above mine, but there lsats are 5 points lower than mine...they were accepted without WL. I guess I will just continue to wait it out. Thanks.

[Gail]

Note. This cycle has been really, really weird.

[noleknight16]

Note. This cycle has been really, really weird.

Link to some weird LSN profiles? I could use some hope on reaches lol

[PDaddy]

I realize there is probably no black & white answer for this as I don't know anything other than their lawschoolnumbers.com stats, but if I see people who are already waitlisted with better lsat/gpa than me, is that bad news for my chances? I am an older candidate and this person appears to still be in undergrad. I realize they could have had flaws in their package. Forgive my ignorance, but this is my first cycle applying.

I strongly suggest that you ignore the results of others. That can serve as a rough guide for you, but they should in no way inform you as to what your results will be. As an older candidate,you have additional reasons to ignore those results. First, your situation is unique, and you bring to the table a type of diversity that law schools covet. Secondly, you likely have a maturity and list of accolades that schools will find desirable. Thirdly, don't underestimate the value of life experience. When a professor discusses George Bush, Sr.'s or Bill Clinton's administrations, you will likely be the only one in class who was actually able to understand what was going on during those times.

Treat the process as an individualized one, and you will be fine. No two candidates are alike, and your path is yours alone.

[Errzii]

Just looking at who gets waitlisted doesn't really tell much, at least not the whole story. For example, last cycle UMN waitlisted a lot of people with better raw numbers than their admits (mainly people with >170 LSAT). In that case it's probably just yield protection. If you're curious about your specific chances and don't mind sharing your stats/softs you could just post in the "What are my chances?" forum. Other applicants with similar numbers, experience, softs etc. might be able to provide more accurate estimate of your chances. If you want to preserve anonymity you could always just use PM too.