When to submit applications? Plan to take Oct LSAT Forum

[Consigliere3]

Hi all,
I plan to take the October 2015 LSAT, when should I apply to law schools?

I am only considering applying to schools in my state and the adjacent state, so my choices are limited. (Must be close to due to family responsibilities)

Would there be any benefit in applying this early for schools that might have an accelerated or a weekend JD program?

Thanks In advance

[antiworldly]

There's not much advantage to applying before you get your score. Most schools will put you in a holding pattern if they see you've signed up/are waiting for a LSAT. This is assuming you've already taken it once so have a reportable score. Without at least one LSAT you can't apply.

That being said, as long as you get your application in by Jan 1, you'll still be ahead of the curve, so no need to worry too much. It looks like the median application was sent in ~Feb 1. LSAT applications by week. Good luck on the LSAT.

[ChemEng1642]

You can apply right after your scores come out. Applications open earlier though (think early september) so if you don't think that starting to work on the application will take away from studying for the LSAT you can start working on them then. Otherwise, use the 3 weeks between when you finish the LSAT and when the scores get released to finish up those apps. Submit as soon as you feel the apps are in the best quality you can make them with the caveat that before the New Year is probably better than after.

[antiworldly]

You can apply right after your scores come out. Applications open earlier though (think early september) so if you don't think that starting to work on the application will take away from studying for the LSAT you can start working on them then. Otherwise, use the 3 weeks between when you finish the LSAT and when the scores get released to finish up those apps. Submit as soon as you feel the apps are in the best quality you can make them with the caveat that before the New Year is probably better than after.

This is a good caveat: whatever you do, don't let applying get in the way of LSAT studying. Kill the LSAT, worry about hiding the body later.

[MurdockLLP]

Hi all,
I plan to take the October 2015 LSAT, when should I apply to law schools?

I am only considering applying to schools in my state and the adjacent state, so my choices are limited. (Must be close to due to family responsibilities)

Would there be any benefit in applying this early for schools that might have an accelerated or a weekend JD program?

Thanks In advance

Just an FYI, you may want to apply to a few other schools outside of this criteria for the sole purpose of negotiating scholarship money. Just because you want to go to a school in NY (for example) doesn't mean you wont want to apply to schools in DC, St. Louis, etc. If a school views another school as a peer (and would be swayed by the scholarship money they give you), you'll be able to receive significantly more money from your desired school. Don't let the $28 application prevent you from thousands of dollars in extra scholarship money.

[gyra15]

You can apply right after your scores come out. Applications open earlier though (think early september) so if you don't think that starting to work on the application will take away from studying for the LSAT you can start working on them then. Otherwise, use the 3 weeks between when you finish the LSAT and when the scores get released to finish up those apps. Submit as soon as you feel the apps are in the best quality you can make them with the caveat that before the New Year is probably better than after.

Also note that regardless of how early you complete your apps it is still considered incomplete without your LOR. Be sure to ask for those ASAP (one of my recommenders took 4 months to submit his)

[KMart]

The above two posters have solidly answered your question. I'd apply the day the scores come out. While it's a slight boost to apply early, it still is a boost. November-ish is still early for admissions.

Be ready - you have all summer so hopefully you can balance your application materials and LSAT studying.