Top Law Schools

I am curious what others experiences have been with responses from schools that granted them a fee waiver based on "outstanding academic credentials." I did not get my applications in until mid-December and have a number of these applications pending. Were others overwhelmingly admitted to schools that granted fee waivers or are there a number of instances of waitlists/denials?

Thanks!

Depends on the school. Usually schools that give out fee waivers give them to solid applicants, borderline applicants, and weak applicants that they already know are auto-deny and will then use to boost their selectivity rating.

If you get a fee waiver, take it with a grain of salt but be content that you won't have to pay the outrageous application fee.

Comparing yourself to a school's medians is a much better predictor for whether you will get in than a fee waiver.

if you'd like an anecdote, i got a fee waiver from michigan with a personalized note from Dean Z and i made it clear both in my app and a later addendum that mich was my top choice but i was unable to apply ED because of a prior time commitment....and then today i got rejected.

I was given many fee waivers at my UG school's law fair. They didn't even know my numbers at that point, so I think this example would play against any correlation between fee waivers and acceptances.

I got a fee waiver to UVA, applied fairly early, and then promptly got rejected outright.

i honestly think that fee waivers are just sent out to people so that the schools applications numbers will get higher, especially with minorities. Im a minority and got so many fee waivers to midwest and bumblefuck schools that I never heard of but that were high ranked, that I had no shot of getting into.

I got into every school that gave me a fee waiver.

That sucks about the Michigan thing : /

foxtrottortxof wrote:I got into every school that gave me a fee waiver.

That sucks about the Michigan thing : /

Thanks! The waitlist invite from UChicago coming on the same day softened the blow, but I have some other acceptances and scholarships that I feel good about thus far. There are lots of other people with good numbers (better than me) getting rejected from Mich, so who knows what the hell is going on?

I received a waiver and personalized note from UM as well so I will assume my denial is on its way.

I know its not quite on the same scale as UVA or Mich, but I got a waiver to Pacific McGeorge. They actually sent me sevral pieces of snail mail, not just email. I was lured into applying by crappy weather in Iowa and the fact the my LSAT was at their 75th percentile. I got the rejection today.

I got several fee-waivers from some good schools. I've only heard back from one of those schools, Vanderbilt, where I got in. Hopefully this bodes well for the rest of the schools that granted me fee-waivers.

I got a fee waiver to American and Brooklyn (in at AU, no word on BLS), but I don't know how it was applied - I didn't get an email, I just didn't have to pay the app fee. My friend with the same LSAT didn't get the fee waiver for AU but emailed them and asked for it, and we both got in.

Adjudicator wrote:I got a fee waiver to UVA, applied fairly early, and then promptly got rejected outright.

UVA gave me a fee waiver and I applied ED on 12/15. Got rejected outright 12/18.

All I know is that according to the FAQ on the Michigan site, roughly 50% of the people who get a fee waiver are admitted...so a little better statistically when it comes to being accepted.

i got a fee waiver to boston, rejected a couple days ago... its never a sure thing i guess

UVA waiver - WL
Penn waiver - WL
Mich no waiver - In
Cornell no waiver - In
Georgetown no waiver - In

So I guess they don't mean too much.

William and Mary - Really? With a 3.5/160!
Minnesota - again really?

Didn't apply to these two because it is auto reject. Then I got waivers to Utah, Iowa, and Baylor - of course if I managed to get into these schools it would be at sticker price so I did not apply.

DocHawkeye wrote:I know its not quite on the same scale as UVA or Mich, but I got a waiver to Pacific McGeorge. They actually sent me sevral pieces of snail mail, not just email. I was lured into applying by crappy weather in Iowa and the fact the my LSAT was at their 75th percentile. I got the rejection today.

Oh, that sucks. They emailed me several times for my application, and I thought that would be a good sign. I got a lot of fee waivers, and now I'm worried about all of them, but I know you never can predict with schools... still. Worrisome.

-

maglialoro wrote:I was just offered a fee waiver by UVA, but is it even worth applying since I am at the bottom of their stats (3.7, 167)?

not unless URM and/or exceptional softs

maglialoro wrote:I was just offered a fee waiver by UVA, but is it even worth applying since I am at the bottom of their stats (3.7, 167)?

Well...it's free? So...yes? Because free = worth nothing = worth everything = 0/0 = omg = just do it. Unless you need to save that $12 for LSAC.

EDIT: My fee waiver/acceptance/rejection/WL info is in my LSN profile.

-

-

maglialoro wrote:

NZA wrote:

maglialoro wrote:I was just offered a fee waiver by UVA, but is it even worth applying since I am at the bottom of their stats (3.7, 167)?

Well...it's free? So...yes? Because free = worth nothing = worth everything = 0/0 = omg = just do it. Unless you need to save that $12 for LSAC.

EDIT: My fee waiver/acceptance/rejection/WL info is in my LSN profile.

i suppose you are right however, I am just trying to figure out the adverse effects of applying to 2 or 3 more schools this late in the game

Adverse effects? Like what?

-