Applying early? Forum

[jlam01342]

I don't mean early decision, but is there an actual first come, first serve basis to law schools?

http://www.wikihow.com/Get-a-Good-Score-on-the-LSAT
"However, since law school applications are reviewed and decided upon soon after they're submitted, early applicants face less competition. By taking the LSAT earlier, you avoid the scrutiny that those taking it in the 11th hour will face."

This seems a little farfetched because I would think the adcoms are looking for the best possible candidates, not the ones who apply first. Any comments on this?

[BriaTharen]

Law schools do have a rolling admissions policy- they do not wait until they have all of the applicants, then make a decision. Decisions are made constantly throughout the admissions cycle. From my own cycle, what I have seen is that the people the law schools know for sure they want to accept due to awesome numbers and softs do get accepted, along with some others, and anyone that is on the fence is held until later to see what else comes in. Same thing with rejections. That doesn't mean that there aren't some schools that are more proactive about letting people know ASAP (i.e. DePaul tells applicants that they will know within 2-3 weeks of their application being complete). Early applicants do face some lower level of competition, but it's not enough that will make someone in the 25% LSAT and GPA be an auto-admit.

The main place where there is less competition when you apply early is scholarships. Some schools send out scholarship information with the letters, while other schools prefer to admit/reject, and then award money at a later time. You most certainly run into lower and higher competition depending on when you get your applications in.

The only other place where there would be a lower level of competition is your softs. The first armless, one-legged ballerina that comes along is really impressive. The third or fourth one is not so much. If there is something unique about you, it will stand out more earlier in the cycle.

The wisdom of taking your LSAT early, IMO, is more so you aren't in a panic if you need to retake it.

[mikeyp]

here is some more information on this topic.