Top Law Schools

I keep hearing that applications are up or down this cycle. I'm wondering if it's because the number of applicants increased or if we are just applying to more schools.

Blanketed the east coast (some Midwest) T30.

How do you keep track of 21+ applications? That's gotta be a pretty hairy Excel spreadsheet at this point?

12

....

foxyeconomist wrote:I keep hearing that applications are up or down this cycle. I'm wondering if it's because the number of applicants increased or if we are just applying to more schools.

number of applicants has slightly increased but the major cause of the increase in applications is that people are applying to more schools. LSAC data supports this and multiple adcomms have also said this is the case.

I'm shocked that 35% said 21+. On my own account, I must admit that I immensely over-applied because I was lacking confidence at the start of the cycle.

Sauer Grapes wrote:

foxyeconomist wrote:How do you keep track of 21+ applications? That's gotta be a pretty hairy Excel spreadsheet at this point?

LSN helps a ton.

This.


http://www.lawschoolnumbers.com

CardinalRules wrote:I'm shocked that 35% said 21+. On my own account, I must admit that I immensely over-applied because I was lacking confidence at the start of the cycle.

21+ seems crazy to me too; app quality must suffer at some point over 15. In retrospect, I think I over-applied by applying to 12.

I initially only applied to 3...thinking I would easily get into one of them. The easiest one in my eyes waitlisted me and I panicked and applied to three more. Got into one of the top 3 though...still holding hope for my top two to show me some love.

Yeah, but it doesn't really help keeping track of which schools need which essays.

Also, did you get fee waivers or did you shell out $1500 on applications.

foxyeconomist wrote:Yeah, but it doesn't really help keeping track of which schools need which essays.

Also, did you get fee waivers or did you shell out $1500 on applications.

I spent over $1,000 on applications.

foxyeconomist wrote:Yeah, but it doesn't really help keeping track of which schools need which essays.Also, did you get fee waivers or did you shell out $1500 on applications.

Hence the increased possibility of careless mistakes in PS / resume / soft stuff, which could have played a role in cases such as the OP in the Worst Cycle thread.

CardinalRules wrote:

foxyeconomist wrote:Yeah, but it doesn't really help keeping track of which schools need which essays.

Also, did you get fee waivers or did you shell out $1500 on applications.

I spent over $1,000 on applications.

I spent $360 (in the 21+ category)

CardinalRules wrote:I'm shocked that 35% said 21+. On my own account, I must admit that I immensely over-applied because I was lacking confidence at the start of the cycle.

+1

I applied to 26.

This is probably a weird question because it doesn't even matter anymore now that I have submitted my apps, but how did people get fee waivers? Did you have to apply for them or did schools just send them to you? And if they just sent them to you, what is it based on?

foxyeconomist wrote:Yeah, but it doesn't really help keeping track of which schools need which essays.

Also, did you get fee waivers or did you shell out $1500 on applications.

Perhaps if you were simultaneously filling out all the apps, that would come into play. If you do them one at a time, carefully proofreading everything (name of the school on the PS, school-specific instructions, etc.) it's not that hard. Over the course of a week you can submit 21 apps, three per day spending a couple hours on each one.

Like Cardinal Rules I spent over $1000 on apps, mostly because the schools I thought possible before my LSAT retake were different than the ones after my retake.

blue5385 wrote:This is probably a weird question because it doesn't even matter anymore now that I have submitted my apps, but how did people get fee waivers? Did you have to apply for them or did schools just send them to you? And if they just sent them to you, what is it based on?

LSAC knows your GPA and LSAT score. The schools can then see it and send you a fee waiver through their Candidate Referral Service (CRS). They notify you of the fee waiver through snail mail or emails, though sometimes there are "hidden" fee waivers that you don't know you had until you go to pay for the app on LSAC.

Phoenix School of Law actually sent me an email discussing my exact LSAT score and GPA.

existenz wrote:

foxyeconomist wrote:Yeah, but it doesn't really help keeping track of which schools need which essays.

Also, did you get fee waivers or did you shell out $1500 on applications.

Perhaps if you were simultaneously filling out all the apps, that would come into play. If you do them one at a time, carefully proofreading everything (name of the school on the PS, school-specific instructions, etc.) it's not that hard. Over the course of a week you can submit 21 apps, three per day spending a couple hours on each one.

Like Cardinal Rules I spent over $1000 on apps, mostly because the schools I thought possible before my LSAT retake were different than the ones after my retake.

Haha, I submitted three per day as well; it took me five days. Some of the schools to which I applied sent fee waivers after I had already submitted. I performed significantly better on the actual LSAT than on the practice tests, but I already had finished the applications by then and didn't take the time to rethink the list.

existenz wrote:

blue5385 wrote:This is probably a weird question because it doesn't even matter anymore now that I have submitted my apps, but how did people get fee waivers? Did you have to apply for them or did schools just send them to you? And if they just sent them to you, what is it based on?

LSAC knows your GPA and LSAT score. The schools can then see it and send you a fee waiver through their Candidate Referral Service (CRS). They notify you of the fee waiver through snail mail or emails, though sometimes there are "hidden" fee waivers that you don't know you had until you go to pay for the app on LSAC.

Phoenix School of Law actually sent me an email discussing my exact LSAT score and GPA.

You can also request fee waivers from individual schools. If you're at one of their 75ths, they may be willing.

Every school I paid to apply to rejected or waitlisted me. Every school I got a fee waiver from accepted me (except for a WL from UVA). Ugh.

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

existenz wrote:

blue5385 wrote:This is probably a weird question because it doesn't even matter anymore now that I have submitted my apps, but how did people get fee waivers? Did you have to apply for them or did schools just send them to you? And if they just sent them to you, what is it based on?

LSAC knows your GPA and LSAT score. The schools can then see it and send you a fee waiver through their Candidate Referral Service (CRS). They notify you of the fee waiver through snail mail or emails, though sometimes there are "hidden" fee waivers that you don't know you had until you go to pay for the app on LSAC.

Phoenix School of Law actually sent me an email discussing my exact LSAT score and GPA.

You can also request fee waivers from individual schools. If you're at one of their 75ths, they may be willing.

interesting...I would probably have authorized LSAC to sign me up for the CRS had I known this. thanks for answering my question guys

Yeah, I didn't authorize them until after I had sent my applications. Then, I realized it was harmless.

.

CardinalRules wrote:I'm shocked that 35% said 21+. On my own account, I must admit that I immensely over-applied because I was lacking confidence at the start of the cycle.

I did the opposite but ended with the same effect.

I feel that I grossly under applied (as I discovered when the scholarships started rolling in from targets) due to lack of confidence. Kind of kicking myself now for that.