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Okay so I applied last year and every single place I applied to, I was waitlisted. I applied to BU, BC, GWU, George Mason, Colorado, etc. even down to Northeastern and I was waitlisted at every. single. one. So my question is--was it a timing thing? I applied mid February.

My numbers are 159 and 3.5 and I'm a URM. I'm retaking in December and scoring like 165 area right now.

I called BU to see what I could improve and they told me that they make their first evaluations in November and December so applying earlier would help me. My question is--was the timing a factor in my application? Obviously my score and app weren't amazing because if they were, I would have gotten in.
I'm working on that (doing AmeriCorps now) but should I go ahead and apply now so that when my December scores are in, absolutely everything I have is out there?

Your LSAT looks a bit low for all those schools

Yes, timing was a factor. Those schools have already made a bunch of offers by mid-February. You might have still gotten in with better numbers, but they were in a position of waiting on other students to make a decision before they'd consider someone with your scores.