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Hi all,

I'm preparing to send in some transfer apps and I already have two professors who have agreed to write me LORs, but I have a couple of logistical questions and I was hoping someone who'd been through the process might be able to help.

-- Is everything submitted through LSAC like in the 1L admissions process? I've gathered all the information I can from my target schools' websites, but some seem to have their own applications and sometimes indicate that you can send things directly to them. Will everything be available on LSAC once the applications come out? (I guess I'm thinking mostly about the LORs. If I could just have my professors write one letter and send it to LSAC, that would obviously be more convenient for them.)

-- When is the best time to actually submit the application? I know the schools want to see my full 1L transcript, which won't be available until late May/early June. Do I wait until then to send everything?

Thanks!

JudgeLearnedPaw wrote:Hi all,

I'm preparing to send in some transfer apps and I already have two professors who have agreed to write me LORs, but I have a couple of logistical questions and I was hoping someone who'd been through the process might be able to help.

-- Is everything submitted through LSAC like in the 1L admissions process? I've gathered all the information I can from my target schools' websites, but some seem to have their own applications and sometimes indicate that you can send things directly to them. Will everything be available on LSAC once the applications come out? (I guess I'm thinking mostly about the LORs. If I could just have my professors write one letter and send it to LSAC, that would obviously be more convenient for them.)

-- When is the best time to actually submit the application? I know the schools want to see my full 1L transcript, which won't be available until late May/early June. Do I wait until then to send everything?

Thanks!

For schools that do it without LSAC, it seems it's done entirely without LSAC. For example, UT's app says "Note: Please do not send materials to LSAC."

For your second question, I'm sure you're going to get different answers, but I sent mine as soon as everything that I was sending myself was ready to go, including being able to talk about my grades. I also included an unofficial transcript, noting in my cover letter that my official transcript was forthcoming from the school.

Thus, I sent my app the day spring grades came out, and informed my recommender the day I submitted. My view of it was this: While they won't immediately have a complete file (dean's cert, official transcript, and maybe LOR depending on how fast my recommender dropped it in the mail), they would have enough if they wanted to review my file preliminarily and have a decision ready assuming the other materials bore out the information I provided.

As it turned out, that may be how it happened. I received an email late on a Thursday (10 days after my application had arrived) that they'd received the official transcript and dean's cert and then was accepted on Friday.

ETA: If you're currently at a school known for releasing spring grades late or you are applying to a school with very few transfer slots, I could see a good argument for applying prior to spring grades to sort of reserve a place in line. If you do that, you probably want to update your file as soon as spring grades come out with an updated resume and a copy of your unofficial transcript, letting them know that the official transcript and dean's cert are now being processed.

JudgeLearnedPaw wrote:Hi all,

I'm preparing to send in some transfer apps and I already have two professors who have agreed to write me LORs, but I have a couple of logistical questions and I was hoping someone who'd been through the process might be able to help.

-- Is everything submitted through LSAC like in the 1L admissions process? I've gathered all the information I can from my target schools' websites, but some seem to have their own applications and sometimes indicate that you can send things directly to them. Will everything be available on LSAC once the applications come out? (I guess I'm thinking mostly about the LORs. If I could just have my professors write one letter and send it to LSAC, that would obviously be more convenient for them.)

-- When is the best time to actually submit the application? I know the schools want to see my full 1L transcript, which won't be available until late May/early June. Do I wait until then to send everything?

Thanks!

Every school that I applied to (HLS, CLS, NYU, GULC) took everything through LSAC, except for Texas, which requires that you send a paper application. However, I ended submitting some of my paperwork directly to the schools and they had no issue with it.

I did something similar to the above poster. I had all of my paperwork, LORs, etc. submitted to LSAC before the end of the Spring semester. I also arranged with my school to mail out my official transcripts as soon as they came out. I was able to submit my LSAC application, with my unofficial transcript, as soon as my Spring grades were posted. I have no idea when my official transcripts were sent, but I was accepted shortly after my application was submitted.

I was only applying to two schools, so I sent everything directly to admissions if it wasn't already on LSAC because I threw my apps together in about two weeks. My timing didn't seem to matter much, as I got into both of the schools to which I applied (Berkeley and SLS).