Top Law Schools

I'm a nontraditional (older) applicant and considering law school since it would complement my background in finance very nicely and open doors both for what I could do on the business side and potentially for starting my own firm. I'm very familiar with the legal industry through my current work as well as through personal connections, and I'd rather not debate the merits of going to school in this thread (I have different motivation for applying than most 20-somethings) but I was curious how much applications at top schools are affected by applying later in the cycle.

I think my numbers are solid, but I was wondering if there's a certain time I should aim to submit by (like mid-January)?

I have what I'd consider excellent softs (well maybe just "life experience" - work experience with brand name firms, lots of international experience, graduate degrees/publications, professional credentials) and 3.8 GPA, 176 LSAT. Will my chances at schools be better if I hurry up and submit soon? I've done a lot of work on applications, and although some things are out of my control (transcripts), I want to try to expedite things to the extent possible if that might make a difference. FWIW I'm applying to Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, Penn, Virginia, Berkeley, and potentially a few others. I was also surprised to see my GPA was lower than the median (sometimes significantly) at a few of those schools - anyone know if the GPA is given less "weighting" for applicants with significant work experience?

Based on my limited knowledge I'd say you have a good shot at HYS and will be a lock at Columbia down.

Edit: submit as soon as you can with the best app possible.

t-14orbust wrote:
Edit: submit as soon as you can with the best app possible.

Definitely trying to do this, but wasn't sure if there is a certain point after which things get significantly tougher (for example, business schools often have 3 decision rounds but while the first two are relatively the same the last one is usually much more competitive).

Honestly, with apps dropping significantly last year, and with LSAT takers dropping again this year, I think law schools are going to accept applicants with 170+ LSATs no matter when they apply. It's a rankings game, and they need high LSAT scores.

I'm applying late as well. I'm going to ED Virginia. Apply Regular to Penn, Vanderbilt, Georgetown (Vandy to me is the same as G so I wouldn't waste an ED on G.)

withoutapaddle wrote:Honestly, with apps dropping significantly last year, and with LSAT takers dropping again this year, I think law schools are going to accept applicants with 170+ LSATs no matter when they apply. It's a rankings game, and they need high LSAT scores.

I'm applying late as well. I'm going to ED Virginia. Apply Regular to Penn, Vanderbilt, Georgetown (Vandy to me is the same as G so I wouldn't waste an ED on G.)

I don't think the late application will hurt you at HYS and Columbia. You have a solid GPA and an excellent LSAT score, which should help you a lot, especially with apps dwindling this year. It might hurt a bit more at some of the other schools that tend to admit lots of people early in the cycle (read: UVA and Penn). Those schools are also big on yield protection and your numbers suggest you have a good chance of getting into higher-ranked schools, so you may have been WL'd there anyway.

I'd apply ASAP and see what you get. I'd be surprised if you didn't get at least one of HYS.