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Hi guys,

I have a 159 Lsat and a 3.65 GPA. I am considering applying early decision at Emory or Notre Dame. Emory has $45,000 of merit aid guaranteed attached to their early decision acceptance. I was wondering if this would make their early decision considerably more competitive. Also, I have been warned that Notre Dame is one of the more (if not the most) conservative law schools. I would not be overly concerned whether my fellow classmates or professors were conservative, but I have been told that it may be harder to clerk with a liberal judge or work for a liberal public interest firm. I was wondering how valid this rumor is and my chance at either school. Thanks!

I'm guessing that you didn't mention a URM status because you're not a URM, is this safe to assume?

The general consensus is that you shouldn't ED since there isn't very good significant data to support a boost for ED applicants who don't already have the numbers to get in RD. If there is an attached scholarship, then yes, it will be more competitive. If you go to http://mylsn.info/ and plug in a range of your stats the outcomes of some applicants with your numbers don't look too good for Emory or ND. Instead of considering applying ED, I think you should consider retaking the LSAT to improve your chances at both Emory and ND. Zero insight on the rumors you've heard.

Thank you for the insight! I figured I had a shot if there was an early decision boost given that their bottom 25% percentiles for GPA and LSAT were lower than my GPA and LSAT. I was considering both of them my reach schools.