Re: ED question/strategy Forum

[dowu]

[bk1]

1. Whether you can switch I know depends on the deadline (and possibly depends on the school). Only UVA/GULC/Duke have late ED deadlines that I know of. I know UVA/GULC you can switch for sure. Not sure on Duke. You need a late deadline because you're not going to get back your ED decisions from other schools until Nov/Dec.

2. The best way to maximize your odds is do UVA first because of their quick turnaround, then do a school with a normal deadline (e.g. UMich), then do GULC.

3. Be wary of the way ED apps are worded. I know NU/NYU imply that you cannot ED anywhere else in the same cycle even if rejected. I called NYU and they stated this was not their intention (you just cannot concurrently ED, but you can consecutively ED). NU on the other hand implied that you could not even consecutively ED (if you ED NU you can't ED anywhere else that same cycle even if rejected), but their emails were cagey and vague. I would call all schools you intend to ED with just to make sure it's okay.

4. Be wary of switching. Some schools will get you a decision before you can switch. If you RD UVA and ED NYU... if UVA gets back to you with a waitlist before NYU has given you a response then you can't switch your UVA app to ED. There are pros and cons to either (a) submitting RD early and then if possible switching later, and (b) not submitting early so you can guarantee your later app is ED.

[Excellent117]

Pretty sure that sounds right. I think you can only do this once NU takes switches you from ED to RD. I'm not sure how much time is in the overlap of switching you over -> UVA ED deadline, so you might want to look into that.

I'm not sure how much EDing will boost you at NU, since they probably won't accept you via ED. So someone else will have to chime in on that one.

Good luck dude!

1) That's my question though - if you can switch an app to ED after the deadline has passed if the app was originally submitted before the ED deadline.

2) Another member on here told me ED'ing to NU puts you on a preferred hold, so it's not a super significant boost but it's something.

3) Thanks!

The Dude: He doesn't retake, he RDs to both, and gets in to NU and UVA, all with Bowling as his primary WE

[bk1]

1) That's my question though - if you can switch an app to ED after the deadline has passed if the app was originally submitted before the ED deadline.

2) Another member on here told me ED'ing to NU puts you on a preferred hold, so it's not a super significant boost but it's something.

3) Thanks!

1. I doubt it, but call them and ask (they likely won't like the phone call since you're clearly gaming the system but fuck them).

2. I don't think "preferred hold" or whatever it is means shit. What I do think matters is that they understand that you are committed. It'll be a slight boost but probably not huge.

[bk1]

Good info, the only thing with UVA is it's not my top choice (either NU or Michigan is) so I don't want to lock myself into UVA until my (to me) more desirable options are unavailable. I'm also taking the October LSAT so I'll only have time to ED to one place if I can't switch apps at a later date.

That's understandable. And since you won't be able to ED in September because of the LSAT there's no benefit to doing UVA first anyways (and in fact it's a bad idea since you'd be wasting the opportunity to do one of the regular deadline EDs).

I'm not sure whether NU ED is the right call because if you ED there you essentially will only get 1 ED. That's because you won't get the full scholly so they'll defer you into the RD pool and then you won't get a response from them until January (maybe late Dec if you're lucky). The longer you wait on a UVA ED app the less benefit there becomes to it. On the other hand if you ED UMich you know their answer will be by Dec or whenever they give out decisions meaning you can ED UVA earlier than you would had you gone NU-->UVA. This is assuming NU is okay with you EDing twice.

[bk1]

Good advice.

So I'm guessing I should probably ED to Michigan, then UVA if I don't snag Michigan. Apply early regular decision to Northwestern and GTTTown and see what happens? (Northwestern is probably my first choice but there doesn't appear to be a big benefit to ED for me)

If I apply regular decision everywhere, I should be prepared to ride a lot of waitlists, yes?

What you should do I think depends on what your split is and your work experience. If you're risk averse, have a bad split, and/or have little work exp then I would probably maximize your T14 chances by doing ED UMich-->ED UVA. If you've got a decent shot at NU because of your split and work exp and it really is your first choice for a good reason (e.g. you really want to work in Chicago, your SO has a job in Chicago, etc), then I might try something riskier like just EDing NU. At the end of the day it's a judgment call based on your numbers, your tolerance for risk, and your goals. Personally I shot for the moon (forsook EDing to multiple T14s to do a single ED to NYU, and did early UVA RD app as opposed to late UVA ED app) and barely got a single T14 (was accepted to NU off the waitlist). Even though it worked out in the end, looking back I probably would have been more cautious about it and done multiple EDs rather than trying to get a T6.

And yes on the waitlists. Cornell is also decent for splitters too, iirc.

[bk1]

My LSDAS GPA is a 3.01 (so I'm JUST above the 3.0 floor). My LSAT will be 170+ (I scored a 162 last time but shit the bed on an entire section and was testing really well before - just locked up with tension). By the time I'll be actually headed to law school I'll have three full years of work experience, two years paralegal experience at a V50 and one year of managerial experience in an unrelated field.

Does that change your advice at all?

Also, thanks as always. You're one of the most informed poasters on here and I always appreciate your advice.

No problem. I'm happy to help.

I haven't looked at LSN in a while but going off my memory, my thoughts are: you're in the range that NU is probably a really good chance if you score a 172+ (I say that because I think at 170-171 it might be iffier than 172+ but my memory could be wrong on that one). You've got 3 years of work experience which is probably something only about 1/2 of the incoming class has so that puts you on good footing compared to people with 1-2 years. Plus your work experience while not being the best evar is still better than most paperpusher jobs that a lot of people at NU have.

I honestly don't know what you should do. Personally I'm willing to sacrifice location/"dreamschool" for increased chances at a school with similar employment prospects (e.g. even if UVA was my #1 school by a mile and I thought C'ville >>>>>>>>>>> AA/DC/Chicago/etc I would be okay with decreasing my chances at getting into UVA if it meant increasing my overall chances at getting into any T14). As I noted above however, maybe you have legitimate reasons for preferring NU over other lower T14s. If you don't have those then I wouldn't ED NU because I would want to maximize overall T14 chances since NU wouldn't be more worth it on the employability side than other lower T14s. But if you do have good reasons for preferring NU then I think if you got a 172+ I'd go for NU since your chances are probably high. That being said, only you can really assess how important each of these things (preference for NU, risk aversion, likelihood of admissions, etc) are to you in calculating what you should do. You have more of a cushion than sub3s do for sure though so I don't think there's as much risk in going all in on NU.

Also I would look at this year and past year's LSN to see what you think your odds are for ED/RD at each school and factor that in. I haven't looked much at this cycle but it seems looser than last cycle.

[20130312]

Can anyone shed some light on how significant a boost Michigan ED is? I know UVA ED is very formulaic and significant.

I can't seem to find it now, but there is an interview with Dean Z where she specifically says that ED applicants do not get a significant boost. If you look at LSN, it seems that it helps fringe candidates the most, probably for someone with a 169 and a well written "Why Mich?"

[shifty_eyed]

I'm also thinking about doing UVA ED, but only after getting a decision from UT EA. I hope this isn't too much of a thread hijack, but what do you guys think about doing UVA ED in say mid-late November (UT EA decisions came in from October to late Nov according to this year’s LSN)? Should I apply RD before then or just wait until a decision from UT? My reasons for applying to UT are financial and geographical, and I’m also a splitter so it’s not a sure thing.

[sandiego222]

The risk here is getting waitlisted/ denied by UVA before you get the opportunity to switch to expedited decision

[shifty_eyed]

The risk here is getting waitlisted/ denied by UVA before you get the opportunity to switch to expedited decision

That's my main concern. That and that it might be better to apply UVA ED right off the bat, and not worry about Texas since it's iffy whether I'll get in anyway.

[bk1]

The risk here is getting waitlisted/ denied by UVA before you get the opportunity to switch to expedited decision

That's my main concern. That and that it might be better to apply UVA ED right off the bat, and not worry about Texas since it's iffy whether I'll get in anyway.

Or you could just not submit your UVA app at all until you hear from UT and go straight away ED to UVA. There are risks associated with either strategy.

[20130312]

The risk here is getting waitlisted/ denied by UVA before you get the opportunity to switch to expedited decision

That's my main concern. That and that it might be better to apply UVA ED right off the bat, and not worry about Texas since it's iffy whether I'll get in anyway.

Or you could just not submit your UVA app at all until you hear from UT and go straight away ED to UVA. There are risks associated with either strategy.

This is what I was going to recommend. It's probably your best strategy. An ED app to UVA with an LSAT or GPA that's at or above their medians submitted before December is pretty much a lock from what I've seen on here and LSN.

[tdicks]

OP: based on this year's NU threads, i would agree with bk that if you get a 172+ you're in a very good position for NU. there was also quite a bit of unexpected money for splitters this year. as far as ED goes, it is definitely worded in a way that says once you ED, you can't apply anywhere else ED, even if rejected. i got in (ED) with a 3.55/174, and that was the lowest GPA i saw as far as ED goes. obviously not everyone posts on TLS/LSN, but it makes me think EDing at NU would be waste. if you really want NU and you crush the LSAT though, i think waiting to hear back from NU would be worth the risk. i don't know how late the uva/gtown/duke ED deadlines are, but there were a ton of decisions in late december/early january this year.