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For those of us who applied in late January / Feb, how long would we generally need to wait until we hear back from schools? Is the decision timeline compressed because we applied late? (I imagine this would be the case, since schools need to fill their classes and get deposits down for the Fall term).

What is the latest/earliest that people in this situation hear back from schools? I would be loath to wait until May...

Anyone apply late in prior cycles?

It depends on the school really. You might hear back within a month from some schools, while some schools could take 3 months. There's a huge window here, and no one can really give you an accurate answer. Even if you did know you would still have to wait, so just don't stress about it. It's no longer in your hands, and you did all you could possibly do at this point.

I went complete and sent out everything like third or fourth week of March last cycle. Emory got back to me in week (earliest), and ND got back to me late May (latest), if I'm not mistaken? So about 2 months was my experience, but even still I'd imagine this varies.

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Some schools got back to me quickly...to waitlist me. The schools where I got substantial scholarship aid didn't admit me until the summer. You can't really predict anything about your cycle based on my cycle, though.

I think most schools will give you an initial decision by April 1 or mid-April. So I would expect to hear from many of them in early March.

pterodactyls wrote:I think most schools will give you an initial decision by April 1 or mid-April. So I would expect to hear from many of them in early March.

For the love of Dog I hope you're right.

It depends on the specific law school. Each school may have their own timeline, especially since the applicant pool differs each year. It is best to contact at least one or two of the schools you applied to and see what their timeline is. It may be anywhere between April and May, but once again it depends on the specific school.
Best of luck!