what is considered late in the application cycle. Forum

[top14dreamer]

Have a gpa slightly above 3.0, but an LSAT in the 170s, and everyone typically says that early Fall is the best time to apply. However, I have not graduated yet (senior) and If you have a semester (18 credit hours) that you plan to get all A's in, there could be a slight gpa bump. So some schools I plan to apply to in October.

However, Fall grades come out in December, so if you were to apply to some other schools around January, after LSAC updates your Fall grades, would January, make you at a significant disadvantage, given you have already taken the LSAT?

[Attax]

As a splitter, this cycle I can tell it definitely was advantageous to apply early. Many schools I didn't hear back from until after I updated my transcript in the spring anyway but heard back very fast after that.

[FuturePanhandler]

As a splitter, this cycle I can tell it definitely was advantageous to apply early. Many schools I didn't hear back from until after I updated my transcript in the spring anyway but heard back very fast after that.

Umm... That makes it seem as if it wasn't that advantageous...

[Attax]

As a splitter, this cycle I can tell it definitely was advantageous to apply early. Many schools I didn't hear back from until after I updated my transcript in the spring anyway but heard back very fast after that.

Umm... That makes it seem as if it wasn't that advantageous...

I should add, I got about half of my acceptances very fast and the other half very fast after updating. Comparatively, I had some friends with better numbers who waited late and got rejected to schools I was admitted too.

Additionally, separate from my one anecdotal situation, the data implies applying early is beneficial. Especially since one semester won't make a substantial difference, at most with 18 credits the kid's GPA will raise to like a 3.25 (not doing the math right now, just roughly guesstimating) which will still be below the 25th percentile for most schools worth going to. Since the OP will still be below the 25th it won't be that advantageous to wait.