When is it too late to solicit fee waivers? Forum

[lawyerdude]

I'll be taking the December LSAT, and applying immediately after I get my score. I'm wondering if schools will still send fee waivers for December LSAT takers, and whether January is too late to solicit additional fee waivers?

Additionally, what happens in a hypothetical where one pays to apply to a school, and then receives a fee waiver afterwards? Do they get a refund?

[risa]

Almost all the fee waivers I've gotten have explicitly said if you already applied you're out of luck - no refunds.

[M458]

Almost all the fee waivers I've gotten have explicitly said if you already applied you're out of luck - no refunds.

This is generally true, but I did want to point out on exception; I solicited a fee waiver from Vanderbilt and they responded that they only gave them through CRS, but that if I applied and later received one, they'd refund the app fee.

[lawyerdude]

Hmm... so theoretically, once I get my December LSAT score, should I wait a few days to see if I get a fee waiver based on my score? I know it sounds ridiculous to prolong my apps for the sake of application money, but understand that I'm broke as a joke (but not broke enough to get an LSAC fee waiver -_-). What's the best thing to do in that situation?

[Nonconsecutive]

Almost all the fee waivers I've gotten have explicitly said if you already applied you're out of luck - no refunds.

This is generally true, but I did want to point out on exception; I solicited a fee waiver from Vanderbilt and they responded that they only gave them through CRS, but that if I applied and later received one, they'd refund the app fee.

Yep, there are a few like this, Cornell being another such example where you can get a refund. Generally speaking they state whether they do refunds or not on their website, worst case scenario a quick email to admissions will also answer your question in that regard for a particular school.

[Dany]

Yes, schools send out fee waivers after December LSAT scores are released.

This thread: http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 0#p3719419 is from December 2010, but should give you a general idea of the timeline. You can also still solicit waivers in late December/early January.

I personally wouldn't apply to a school, pay, and hope to get the fee waived later. Most schools will not refund, so unless you know a school will do so, I wouldn't risk it. Either wait and see if you get a CRS waiver, or email the school(s) and ask and wait to hear back.