Best Admissions Strategy

[midjeep]

I know the consensus here regarding admissions is to apply early, I think that applying later on in the process has its advantage. I applied early to many schools and received a lot of dings, but what amazed me was a WL at a school that I thought would have a rejected me flat out. I think its safe to apply to many places at different times. Early admissions is probably the best chance, but i think sometimes applying later may help you out. If a school hasnt hit its numbers, it might admit quite a few who might have been rejected if they applied early. I have just noticed quite a few people who apply in March and get an acceptance a few weeks later with so-so stats. Just a little quirp for some potential applicants.

[sarmstrong806]

I think I agree with you. Even thought the websites say they use the same standards and early admission is just for people that have their mind made up, I can't help but think that they might defer you to regular admission automatically if you are not a shoe in.

On the other hand you have no idea how many slots they have, it could be the opposite of what you're saying, and a school does hit its numbers. They could have already accepted similar people.

[MaroonOut2005]

I think it all depends on class size.  If the law school is small, they need to have a good idea about how is actually attending so Early Decision will probably help (Notre Dame said it does).  On the other hand, if they have a large law school, they are probably number hungry and will probably WL if you are a marginal applicant, since they don't have a good idea about the entire class quality.

Thanks and Gig 'Em,
Jason