Did I screw myself applying too late? Forum

[democrattotheend]

I took the LSAT in December for the first time, and I just sent most of my applications over the past week. I know I should have sent them out while waiting for the score or even before I took it, but before I took it I was busy studying, and afterwards, I was kind of demoralized because I didn't think I did very well (why couldn't they have told us about the -14 curve earlier?) and couldn't bring myself to spend the money on places that I thought were out of reach.

I ended up doing better than expected and now I am really happy with my numbers (3.82/173), but I am worried that I screwed myself by applying in late December/early January to a lot of reach schools. I'm especially worried about Berkeley, because on LSN, it looks like almost everyone who applied in January or later last year got rejected regardless of their numbers. LSP has me as Admit but I'm not so convinced anymore. I applied 12/29, and so far have not heard a word from them, which I know is normal but I am worried that I applied too late.

How much do you think applying in late December/early January is going to hurt me at Berkeley, Columbia, Harvard (long shot anyway), Stanford, and Penn? I think at Yale and NYU it doesn't matter when you apply, but I am worried that I may have screwed myself out of the other schools by applying too late. Am I worrying too much?

[ps494]

I took the LSAT in December for the first time, and I just sent most of my applications over the past week. I know I should have sent them out while waiting for the score or even before I took it, but before I took it I was busy studying, and afterwards, I was kind of demoralized because I didn't think I did very well (why couldn't they have told us about the -14 curve earlier?) and couldn't bring myself to spend the money on places that I thought were out of reach.

I ended up doing better than expected and now I am really happy with my numbers (3.82/173), but I am worried that I screwed myself by applying in late December/early January to a lot of reach schools. I'm especially worried about Berkeley, because on LSN, it looks like almost everyone who applied in January or later last year got rejected regardless of their numbers. LSP has me as Admit but I'm not so convinced anymore. I applied 12/29, and so far have not heard a word from them, which I know is normal but I am worried that I applied too late.

How much do you think applying in late December/early January is going to hurt me at Berkeley, Columbia, Harvard (long shot anyway), Stanford, and Penn? I think at Yale and NYU it doesn't matter when you apply, but I am worried that I may have screwed myself out of the other schools by applying too late. Am I worrying too much?

Wondering the exact same thing. I'm also going to piggyback on your question if you don't mind. How much does applying in January/February affect scholarship offers?

[BenJ]

You should be just fine at Penn. Berkeley, as you figured out, likes the early apps, but you still stand a decent chance. Same with Columbia, which is less harsh on late applicants than Berkeley but generally harder to get into. Stanford is a long-shot at this point, Harvard as well, although both remain quite possible.

Applying late hurts you at NYU and Yale, too, although they say otherwise. It just hurts less. You should be okay at NYU, and Yale is very unpredictable; although you're about at the median, they accept people well below their median and reject people well above with some frequency.

[bloodonthetracks]

I think you're in better shape than you think. I think it's unlikely you'd be rejected from anywhere other than HYS. Your stats will pull you through. I'm in much worse shape, having applied everywhere a week ago with a 3.9 but a 170 on a retake.

[democrattotheend]

I think you're in better shape than you think. I think it's unlikely you'd be rejected from anywhere other than HYS. Your stats will pull you through. I'm in much worse shape, having applied everywhere a week ago with a 3.9 but a 170 on a retake.

I'm not sure you are worse off. Looking at LSN, I sometimes think I might be better off with a slightly lower LSAT with a 3.9. Was the 170 better than your original score?

[democrattotheend]

You should be just fine at Penn. Berkeley, as you figured out, likes the early apps, but you still stand a decent chance. Same with Columbia, which is less harsh on late applicants than Berkeley but generally harder to get into. Stanford is a long-shot at this point, Harvard as well, although both remain quite possible.

Applying late hurts you at NYU and Yale, too, although they say otherwise. It just hurts less. You should be okay at NYU, and Yale is very unpredictable; although you're about at the median, they accept people well below their median and reject people well above with some frequency.

That's good advice. I haven't applied to Yale yet because I thought it didn't matter, and was planning on taking a little break before submitting that one, but I guess I should hurry up. It's a long shot anyway, because my GPA is below median and my LSAT is right on the median, and as a non-URM I think you need to be a bit above median. But like you said, Yale is so unpredictable that it may be worth a shot. It's my dream, and it's worth $87 to know that I didn't give up on a dream.

I am going to submit Stanford tonight...luckily, I read their admissions blog, and they said that they wouldn't be processing anything between mid-December and now, and that taking the December LSAT wouldn't hurt you. So I wish I'd submitted a few days ago, but they just reopened today, so hopefully I am still in the running, although that's a long shot too. I wasn't even going to apply to Harvard and Stanford until I got my score and a bunch of people said I had a shot.

[bloodonthetracks]

I think you're in better shape than you think. I think it's unlikely you'd be rejected from anywhere other than HYS. Your stats will pull you through. I'm in much worse shape, having applied everywhere a week ago with a 3.9 but a 170 on a retake.

I'm not sure you are worse off. Looking at LSN, I sometimes think I might be better off with a slightly lower LSAT with a 3.9. Was the 170 better than your original score?

yeah it was a big jump (bombed first one); i wrote an addendum, and hopefully they will appreciate the gaping disparity between the two scores. if my GPA gives me the edge over you anywhere, it's at berkeley.

[bloodonthetracks]

also, i really don't think it hurts you to apply late to yale. they say explicitly on their admissions blog that they it does not matter when you apply. i believe it would only help you to apply early if you had extremely good prospects and had the chance to bypass faculty review.