Top Law Schools

If I send my app in before October is my Senior GPA worthless? I am counting on my senior to boost my GPA and show upward trajectory. What should I do?

Apply in October.

Boost your GPA Senior year.

Update with fall grades..

This a) shows them you rock.
B) gives them a reason to look at your app again.

Few schools will be rejecting in dec/jan, and many may not be making decisions yet. So this will give you an excuse to contact them and may get you a quicker decision than if you just waited until dec.

There's a handful of schools that may have a decision before your fall GPA posts. Look to the decision graphs on this website - if those are schools you're actively considering and your fall GPA may shift where you sit in terms of their medians, I suppose you might consider delaying your application to those schools until after your fall GPA has posted.

That being said, there's definitely a boost to applying early at most schools. I'd probably only delay if your fall grades stand a chance of pushing you over a median you're currently under, and the school has a history of earlier decisions. If either of those isn't the case, your best bet is to still apply early.

If your GPA is below the median of your target school, then don't apply this cycle. There's no harm in waiting (as much successful applicants do), concentrating on maxing out your GPA senior year, getting some WE and applying the following fall. this is TCR regardless of whether you can update your grades