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Sorry for the essay. Its a pretty thorough post.

I just received a great opportunity to travel to Asia for upwards of four months come late September and very much want to act on it. Unfortunately the trip falls dead in line with the general opening of applications. Naturally, my greatest worry is that I won't be able to ideally handle the process of filling applications that have an October release date while abroad, or that I won't be able to respond to potential issues that may be sent my way by LSAC / adcomms thereafter. I think my fears could be put to rest with a better understanding of the application process, including LSAC's Credential Assembly Service, as the whole thing is pretty opaque to me at the moment.

The first portion of the trip, September 20 to October 10, will fall over what I think is the most crucial time. Over that period I should have daily, secure access to the internet. Thereafter, I am hopeful to have internet access (at the very minimum) on a weekly basis, but am hoping that by then all my apps will be finalized and sent, and any need for internet would solely be to check my email for confirmations of receipt, etc. I know that this post will probably attract people advising me to pass on the trip, saying that it is not worth the risk considering the impact these next few months will have on my long-term career and general future, but the whole point was to have a year in between applying and attending in which I could travel / pursue other things, and I'd really like to make this work. Naturally, I'll have my PS, addenda, etc. all fully prepared and polished. CAS has already been paid for. My LORs are already logged with LSAC and my transcript has been requested and is en route.

My questions then:
1) To what extent does the CAS auto fill-in your applications? I know it handles LOR's, LSAT scores, and the processed transcript, but what about PS + addenda? Or do those have to be attached separately to each app? How about the trivial form stuff (i.e. home address, ethnicity, etc.)?

2) I've established my school list, so LSAC knows where I intend to apply. Will it inform me in any specific way when these apps open? I assume, regardless, I'll have to click some final 'Confirm' button for each school's app even if the CAS does most of the work filling in the respective info

3) How long did it take you to officially send your apps in once they opened (again assuming that everything I can have in beforehand will be there)?

Basically, if on October 1st I find myself sitting in front of an old computer terminal at some dusty internet cafe in downtown Bangkok, will I be able to easily and confidently access and complete my law school apps??

Just wrote a lot, so I'm a little muddled and probably forgot something. I'm aware a lot of this can probably be answered by making a phone call to LSAC, which I will definitely do, but I was just hoping for some anecdotal advice.

Thanks a lot guys, sorry for being a worrier.

ImTheWiz wrote:1) To what extent does the CAS auto fill-in your applications? I know it handles LOR's, LSAT scores, and the processed transcript, but what about PS + addenda? Or do those have to be attached separately to each app? How about the trivial form stuff (i.e. home address, ethnicity, etc.)?

You have to fill in the entire application form the first time, but LSAC saves the data you enter and will auto-populate every application form after that - although the forms usually have some differences, with unique questions and the like, so some parts will not be auto-populated, and you'll want to read over the entire application to make sure LSAC hasn't messed anything up.

You can attach the PS and other documents each time you apply, but you can also save them and just tick a box to have LSAC use them again.

ImTheWiz wrote:2) I've established my school list, so LSAC knows where I intend to apply. Will it inform me in any specific way when these apps open? I assume, regardless, I'll have to click some final 'Confirm' button for each school's app even if the CAS does most of the work filling in the respective info

You will not be informed. You will have to check. Schools usually announce the opening date a few weeks in advance - on the LSAC website, and their own websites.

ImTheWiz wrote:3) How long did it take you to officially send your apps in once they opened (again assuming that everything I can have in beforehand will be there)?

Probably two hours or more for the first, perhaps half an hour for each after that, unless an app had an unusual question or section that I had to put more thought into. You will want to check each application very, very carefully to make sure there are no issues.

ImTheWiz wrote:Basically, if on October 1st I find myself sitting in front of an old computer terminal at some dusty internet cafe in downtown Bangkok, will I be able to easily and confidently access and complete my law school apps??

If you've got the other stuff sorted out (LORs, transcripts, other attachments), it shouldn't be too bad.

Some schools mail decisions, though (Georgetown, last year), and others mail you forms they want you to complete after a decision has been made (scholarship forms, for example). A few schools also require supplemental forms to be mailed to them as part of the application process.

ImTheWiz wrote:Sorry for the essay. Its a pretty thorough post.

I just received a great opportunity to travel to Asia for upwards of four months come late September and very much want to act on it. Unfortunately the trip falls dead in line with the general opening of applications. Naturally, my greatest worry is that I won't be able to ideally handle the process of filling applications that have an October release date while abroad, or that I won't be able to respond to potential issues that may be sent my way by LSAC / adcomms thereafter. I think my fears could be put to rest with a better understanding of the application process, including LSAC's Credential Assembly Service, as the whole thing is pretty opaque to me at the moment.

The first portion of the trip, September 20 to October 10, will fall over what I think is the most crucial time. Over that period I should have daily, secure access to the internet. Thereafter, I am hopeful to have internet access (at the very minimum) on a weekly basis, but am hoping that by then all my apps will be finalized and sent, and any need for internet would solely be to check my email for confirmations of receipt, etc. I know that this post will probably attract people advising me to pass on the trip, saying that it is not worth the risk considering the impact these next few months will have on my long-term career and general future, but the whole point was to have a year in between applying and attending in which I could travel / pursue other things, and I'd really like to make this work. Naturally, I'll have my PS, addenda, etc. all fully prepared and polished. CAS has already been paid for. My LORs are already logged with LSAC and my transcript has been requested and is en route.

My questions then:
1) To what extent does the CAS auto fill-in your applications? I know it handles LOR's, LSAT scores, and the processed transcript, but what about PS + addenda? Or do those have to be attached separately to each app? How about the trivial form stuff (i.e. home address, ethnicity, etc.)?

2) I've established my school list, so LSAC knows where I intend to apply. Will it inform me in any specific way when these apps open? I assume, regardless, I'll have to click some final 'Confirm' button for each school's app even if the CAS does most of the work filling in the respective info

3) How long did it take you to officially send your apps in once they opened (again assuming that everything I can have in beforehand will be there)?

Basically, if on October 1st I find myself sitting in front of an old computer terminal at some dusty internet cafe in downtown Bangkok, will I be able to easily and confidently access and complete my law school apps??

Just wrote a lot, so I'm a little muddled and probably forgot something. I'm aware a lot of this can probably be answered by making a phone call to LSAC, which I will definitely do, but I was just hoping for some anecdotal advice.

Thanks a lot guys, sorry for being a worrier.

I was abroad the semester I applied to law school and I had no issues getting all of my applications in.

1. All of your basic info will be auto-filled after your first app. Just make sure to double check your apps before submitting because there may be some minor questions that weren't required on your first app. You can save your PS and other documents and just upload them to new applications. Just remember that some schools will have different requirements for your PS (some may limit the word count or require you to right about a certain theme) and may require additional essays, so you are going to have to make time for that.

2. It won't inform you when the apps open, but it will tell you the date that you can view and submit the application, so just make sure you keep track of it.

3. Unless a school requires you to write additional essays or change your PS to fit their word count or theme, applying shouldn't take more than 30 minutes. I wasn't too concerned about submitting my applications really early, so I would complete my application one day, and after a day or so, I would re-read and revise it with "new eyes" to make sure I didn't make any errors.

The process is actually really easy.

Good luck! Have fun in Asia!!!

Thanks very much for the responses. Definitely some information there I didn't know, puts my mind at ease a little bit.

I was outside the US for the entire process, often travelling, and it was fine.


Have fun.