Should I reapply if I applied really late this cycle? Forum

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melmelcoolj

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Should I reapply if I applied really late this cycle?

Post by melmelcoolj » Wed Mar 22, 2017 11:58 pm

I have applied really late, like right on the deadline or very close to the deadlines in Feb. I have been since put on "priority reserve" at Duke, and on "reserve" at Cornell. I have only gotten into two schools so far - WUSTL with a full scholarship and UCLA with half. I have not really negotiated the offers with the respective schools. And I have heard back from none of the other schools.

My GPA/LSAT is 3.5/172, and I have two years of pretty solid international WE. I would say it is above average, but I have not won any Rhodes or won any elections. I graduated from a top 10 private undergrad.

As for now, I am still waiting to hear back from the majority of the law schools I have applied to. Given it is already March, I think I probably get waitlisted at almost all of the T14s. Should I sit out this cycle and reapply in September? I really don't want to wait another year, but my goal is BigLaw. Should I just go to one of the aforementioned schools and transfer, or should I reapply and hope for a better result next cycle?

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Re: Should I reapply if I applied really late this cycle?

Post by grades?? » Thu Mar 23, 2017 12:00 am

reapply

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cavalier1138

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Re: Should I reapply if I applied really late this cycle?

Post by cavalier1138 » Thu Mar 23, 2017 6:08 am

Yes, reapply. Splitters get a big advantage applying early in the cycle.

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Re: Should I reapply if I applied really late this cycle?

Post by hillaryrodham » Thu Mar 23, 2017 10:08 am

Yes, reapply. I have identical stats and nearly identical softs, and I applied the day applications opened. I got into every T14 I applied to excluding HYS, many with substantial $$.

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Re: Should I reapply if I applied really late this cycle?

Post by Dcc617 » Thu Mar 23, 2017 10:15 am

grades?? wrote:reapply

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melmelcoolj

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Re: Should I reapply if I applied really late this cycle?

Post by melmelcoolj » Thu Mar 23, 2017 10:35 pm

hillaryrodham wrote:Yes, reapply. I have identical stats and nearly identical softs, and I applied the day applications opened. I got into every T14 I applied to excluding HYS, many with substantial $$.
Thanks hillaryrodham. I am so happy that you got great results - it really gets my hopes up for next cycle.

I am not sure if I should retake. I have maxed out my three takes already. But I think I will be able to retake again in October 2017, if needed. I think I might be able to get 173+ in the next take.

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melmelcoolj

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Re: Should I reapply if I applied really late this cycle?

Post by melmelcoolj » Thu Mar 23, 2017 10:36 pm

cavalier1138 wrote:Yes, reapply. Splitters get a big advantage applying early in the cycle.
Thanks. Do you think I should retake my LSAT? I have already taken it for three times. But I can retake in Oct 2017. Do you think it would be beneficiary to get it up to 173-175ish?

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Re: Should I reapply if I applied really late this cycle?

Post by hillaryrodham » Fri Mar 24, 2017 9:23 am

No problem and thanks, I have no doubt you'll have an excellent cycle as well! Feel free to PM me if you wanna talk retakes/application stuff. Basically I decided not to retake since it would have only marginally increased my shot at HYS but even then, I felt that my GPA would have really held me back/I wasn't willing to pay $$$$ for either of those schools given my schollys at one of CCN.

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Re: Should I reapply if I applied really late this cycle?

Post by chicagoburger » Fri Mar 24, 2017 11:57 am

melmelcoolj wrote:I have applied really late, like right on the deadline or very close to the deadlines in Feb. I have been since put on "priority reserve" at Duke, and on "reserve" at Cornell. I have only gotten into two schools so far - WUSTL with a full scholarship and UCLA with half. I have not really negotiated the offers with the respective schools. And I have heard back from none of the other schools.

My GPA/LSAT is 3.5/172, and I have two years of pretty solid international WE. I would say it is above average, but I have not won any Rhodes or won any elections. I graduated from a top 10 private undergrad.

As for now, I am still waiting to hear back from the majority of the law schools I have applied to. Given it is already March, I think I probably get waitlisted at almost all of the T14s. Should I sit out this cycle and reapply in September? I really don't want to wait another year, but my goal is BigLaw. Should I just go to one of the aforementioned schools and transfer, or should I reapply and hope for a better result next cycle?
No, you shouldn't. Because your stat won't change. Funding is not a problem at top schools. They pick students based on quality, not timestamp of qualified applications. If proven otherwise, these schools are not worth going imo.

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Re: Should I reapply if I applied really late this cycle?

Post by Dcc617 » Fri Mar 24, 2017 12:01 pm

chicagoburger wrote:
melmelcoolj wrote:I have applied really late, like right on the deadline or very close to the deadlines in Feb. I have been since put on "priority reserve" at Duke, and on "reserve" at Cornell. I have only gotten into two schools so far - WUSTL with a full scholarship and UCLA with half. I have not really negotiated the offers with the respective schools. And I have heard back from none of the other schools.

My GPA/LSAT is 3.5/172, and I have two years of pretty solid international WE. I would say it is above average, but I have not won any Rhodes or won any elections. I graduated from a top 10 private undergrad.

As for now, I am still waiting to hear back from the majority of the law schools I have applied to. Given it is already March, I think I probably get waitlisted at almost all of the T14s. Should I sit out this cycle and reapply in September? I really don't want to wait another year, but my goal is BigLaw. Should I just go to one of the aforementioned schools and transfer, or should I reapply and hope for a better result next cycle?
No, you shouldn't. Because your stat won't change. Funding is not a problem at top schools. They pick students based on quality, not timestamp of qualified applications. If proven otherwise, these schools are not worth going imo.
Bad advice, don't listen.

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Re: Should I reapply if I applied really late this cycle?

Post by cavalier1138 » Fri Mar 24, 2017 12:14 pm

chicagoburger wrote: No, you shouldn't. Because your stat won't change. Funding is not a problem at top schools. They pick students based on quality, not timestamp of qualified applications. If proven otherwise, these schools are not worth going imo.
Are you trolling, or are you actually an idiot?

OP: this is categorically wrong. And to answer your prior question, there's nothing wrong with retaking if you want to make your position at Columbia (for example) stronger. But I don't think there's any score that will make you a viable candidate at HYS with that GPA, so you're in a position where a retake has probably hit a point of diminishing returns.

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Re: Should I reapply if I applied really late this cycle?

Post by big_willy_style_333 » Fri Mar 24, 2017 12:18 pm

chicagoburger wrote:
melmelcoolj wrote:I have applied really late, like right on the deadline or very close to the deadlines in Feb. I have been since put on "priority reserve" at Duke, and on "reserve" at Cornell. I have only gotten into two schools so far - WUSTL with a full scholarship and UCLA with half. I have not really negotiated the offers with the respective schools. And I have heard back from none of the other schools.

My GPA/LSAT is 3.5/172, and I have two years of pretty solid international WE. I would say it is above average, but I have not won any Rhodes or won any elections. I graduated from a top 10 private undergrad.

As for now, I am still waiting to hear back from the majority of the law schools I have applied to. Given it is already March, I think I probably get waitlisted at almost all of the T14s. Should I sit out this cycle and reapply in September? I really don't want to wait another year, but my goal is BigLaw. Should I just go to one of the aforementioned schools and transfer, or should I reapply and hope for a better result next cycle?
No, you shouldn't. Because your stat won't change. Funding is not a problem at top schools. They pick students based on quality, not timestamp of qualified applications. If proven otherwise, these schools are not worth going imo.
Why would you rule out going to a school that gives you significantly better chances at quality employment simply because their application process is designed in a way that gives a slight advantage to applicants applying earlier? Even if not sitting out this cycle were the right choice, this is terrible reasoning.

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Re: Should I reapply if I applied really late this cycle?

Post by hillaryrodham » Fri Mar 24, 2017 2:46 pm

OP I agree with Cav (his advice doesn't really need my 0L approval but thought I'd chime in for what it's worth). That's how I felt about retaking as well-there aren't many more doors a higher score can really open at this point because of our lower GPAs. But knock yourself out if you want!

As for chicagoburger, applying earlier in the cycle has been shown time and time again to be beneficial to applicants. There are more spots and more $ available in October then there are in March. After lurking for the better part of the last year and a half though, I've come to learn that no one should take their advice seriously so feel free to ignore any post with their screen name in it.

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Thomas Hagan, ESQ.

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Re: Should I reapply if I applied really late this cycle?

Post by Thomas Hagan, ESQ. » Fri Mar 24, 2017 3:22 pm

chicagoburger wrote:
melmelcoolj wrote:I have applied really late, like right on the deadline or very close to the deadlines in Feb. I have been since put on "priority reserve" at Duke, and on "reserve" at Cornell. I have only gotten into two schools so far - WUSTL with a full scholarship and UCLA with half. I have not really negotiated the offers with the respective schools. And I have heard back from none of the other schools.

My GPA/LSAT is 3.5/172, and I have two years of pretty solid international WE. I would say it is above average, but I have not won any Rhodes or won any elections. I graduated from a top 10 private undergrad.

As for now, I am still waiting to hear back from the majority of the law schools I have applied to. Given it is already March, I think I probably get waitlisted at almost all of the T14s. Should I sit out this cycle and reapply in September? I really don't want to wait another year, but my goal is BigLaw. Should I just go to one of the aforementioned schools and transfer, or should I reapply and hope for a better result next cycle?
No, you shouldn't. Because your stat won't change. Funding is not a problem at top schools. They pick students based on quality, not timestamp of qualified applications. If proven otherwise, these schools are not worth going imo.
Your ass was designed to sit on, so you're not supposed to talk out of it.

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Re: Should I reapply if I applied really late this cycle?

Post by Thomas Hagan, ESQ. » Fri Mar 24, 2017 3:25 pm

OP, even if you don't re-take the LSAT, applying early will improve your chances at these schools drastically!

- Someone that re-applied early this year.

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Re: Should I reapply if I applied really late this cycle?

Post by chicagoburger » Fri Mar 24, 2017 11:51 pm

Thomas Hagan, ESQ. wrote:OP, even if you don't re-take the LSAT, applying early will improve your chances at these schools drastically!

- Someone that re-applied early this year.
fuking loser

User has been banned for turning the on-topics into their own personal battleground.

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Re: Should I reapply if I applied really late this cycle?

Post by Thomas Hagan, ESQ. » Sat Mar 25, 2017 12:33 am

chicagoburger wrote:
Thomas Hagan, ESQ. wrote:OP, even if you don't re-take the LSAT, applying early will improve your chances at these schools drastically!

- Someone that re-applied early this year.
fuking loser
I'd rather be a loser than be $200k in debt at a shit school AND be stupid at the same time :/ sucks to suck

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Re: Should I reapply if I applied really late this cycle?

Post by quigleyest » Sat Mar 25, 2017 2:29 am

cavalier1138 wrote:
chicagoburger wrote: No, you shouldn't. Because your stat won't change. Funding is not a problem at top schools. They pick students based on quality, not timestamp of qualified applications. If proven otherwise, these schools are not worth going imo.
Are you trolling, or are you actually an idiot?

OP: this is categorically wrong. And to answer your prior question, there's nothing wrong with retaking if you want to make your position at Columbia (for example) stronger. But I don't think there's any score that will make you a viable candidate at HYS with that GPA, so you're in a position where a retake has probably hit a point of diminishing returns.
I'm wondering what you , and people in the thread, would advise for a 3.6/173? Probably not sit out a whole cycle, but if i've already taken 3 times (173,173,172), what about a June take?

Had bubbling error on 2nd take and no idea about the 172 since it was this Feb.... was honestly suprised to not do better...

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Re: Should I reapply if I applied really late this cycle?

Post by melmelcoolj » Sat Mar 25, 2017 5:29 am

Thanks everyone for the detailed advice you gave me. I gather from this thread that I should reapply next year, unless I miraculously get off one of the T6 waitlists I will be on. It does not feel good to be rejected, but I guess I will have to reapply. I am not sure if I will retake - I have a lot of work responsibilities, and I don't think I will have enough time to buckle down and study for the LSAT.

Another update: I received an email from Georgetown today saying that I am on the Preferred Waitlist. I believe there is another tier of "very preferred" waitlist - or something to that effect. Now I am simply worried that my application is seriously flawed (in addition to late), so they would not even place me on the "special" list.

It just occurred to me that I have another question: I am wondering if I should visit those schools that waitlisted me in May? If that would increase my chances, I may be able to spare some money for that trip. I am currently in another part of the world, so I will literally have to spend 3000-4000 dollars on the trip, but I believe that is tolerable if that is a good admission move.

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Re: Should I reapply if I applied really late this cycle?

Post by cavalier1138 » Sat Mar 25, 2017 7:49 am

quigleyest wrote:
cavalier1138 wrote:
chicagoburger wrote: No, you shouldn't. Because your stat won't change. Funding is not a problem at top schools. They pick students based on quality, not timestamp of qualified applications. If proven otherwise, these schools are not worth going imo.
Are you trolling, or are you actually an idiot?

OP: this is categorically wrong. And to answer your prior question, there's nothing wrong with retaking if you want to make your position at Columbia (for example) stronger. But I don't think there's any score that will make you a viable candidate at HYS with that GPA, so you're in a position where a retake has probably hit a point of diminishing returns.
I'm wondering what you , and people in the thread, would advise for a 3.6/173? Probably not sit out a whole cycle, but if i've already taken 3 times (173,173,172), what about a June take?

Had bubbling error on 2nd take and no idea about the 172 since it was this Feb.... was honestly suprised to not do better...
I'm very on the fence about retaking a 173. The only school it will really affect would be Harvard, and your GPA would keep you out of HYS anyway, even with the higher score. The mid-to-upper 170s are the point of diminishing returns for the LSAT, because you're above everyone's 75th percentile score.

If you think you can do better and you can spare the cash, a retake never hurts. But I don't see it changing your results.

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Re: Should I reapply if I applied really late this cycle?

Post by addie1412 » Sat Mar 25, 2017 10:03 am

Fwiw, I got H with a similar GPA and a 175. I think retaking is a defensible choice, especially since you'll be sitting out a cycle anyways.

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Re: Should I reapply if I applied really late this cycle?

Post by Nebby » Sat Mar 25, 2017 10:08 am

grades?? wrote:reapply

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Re: Should I reapply if I applied really late this cycle?

Post by melmelcoolj » Sat Mar 25, 2017 12:37 pm

addie1412 wrote:Fwiw, I got H with a similar GPA and a 175. I think retaking is a defensible choice, especially since you'll be sitting out a cycle anyways.
Thanks Addie! I am wondering if you have significant WE or softs? Or are you an alum? A legacy? URM?

I don't mean to undermine your credentials, and certainly congrats on the H acceptance. I just heard that H has a GPA floor of 3.6, and I am wondering if your success is at all replicable in my case.

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Re: Should I reapply if I applied really late this cycle?

Post by waldorf » Tue Mar 28, 2017 9:57 pm

chicagoburger wrote:
Thomas Hagan, ESQ. wrote:OP, even if you don't re-take the LSAT, applying early will improve your chances at these schools drastically!

- Someone that re-applied early this year.
fuking loser

User has been banned for turning the on-topics into their own personal battleground.
HAHA I just saw this. Bless up.

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Re: Should I reapply if I applied really late this cycle?

Post by Thomas Hagan, ESQ. » Tue Mar 28, 2017 11:33 pm

bwaldorf wrote:
chicagoburger wrote:
Thomas Hagan, ESQ. wrote:OP, even if you don't re-take the LSAT, applying early will improve your chances at these schools drastically!

- Someone that re-applied early this year.
fuking loser

User has been banned for turning the on-topics into their own personal battleground.
HAHA I just saw this. Bless up.
OMG HAHA!

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