Individual school apps or general LSADS app?

[jakeb1881]

Hey there, just a soon-to-be applicant wanting to know if there is any advantage to doing the individual applications at various schools or if the LSADS is the way to go.  Thanks in advance for the feedback!

[_____]

You are confused.  There is no common app.  All apps are individual school apps.

You have to sign up with LSDAS so that each school can receive your transcript and LSAT info (you can also send them your LORs if you want).

That said, LSDAS also offers electronic versions of each school's individual app, and you can fill those out and submit (and sometimes pay them) them online. 

If you apply electronically through LSDAS, there is also a "common information" page where you put things like your name and address so that the infromation autopopulates into your electronic apps.  But there is no common app.  Also, make sure the info autopopulates right; each app is slightly different, and so you have to make sure everything looks right...

Hope this helps.

[jakeb1881]

You are confused.  There is no common app.  All apps are individual school apps.

You have to sign up with LSDAS so that each school can receive your transcript and LSAT info (you can also send them your LORs if you want).

That said, LSDAS also offers electronic versions of each school's individual app, and you can fill those out and submit (and sometimes pay them) them online. 

If you apply electronically through LSDAS, there is also a "common information" page where you put things like your name and address so that the infromation autopopulates into your electronic apps.  But there is no common app.  Also, make sure the info autopopulates right; each app is slightly different, and so you have to make sure everything looks right...

Hope this helps.

Yes, that does help.  Sorry about the confusion...good things to know.

[jenery]

I only applied through LSDAS, and I don't think there's any downside to doing it that way.  Any supplemental or school-specific materials were just attached as word documents.  It was super easy this way plus LSDAS keeps everything in one place so if I needed to print out an app later, I knew where it was and didn't have to make copies of paper apps.

[_____]

I only applied through LSDAS, and I don't think there's any downside to doing it that way.  Any supplemental or school-specific materials were just attached as word documents.  It was super easy this way plus LSDAS keeps everything in one place so if I needed to print out an app later, I knew where it was and didn't have to make copies of paper apps.

Yes, this was quite handy.

A second word of caution, however: Some fee waivers require paper submission of the applications (Columbia and Northwestern come to mind).

What I did (and what worked) was to fill out the electronic version and then print it out on nice paper.  I then mailed the hard copy of the electronic version along with the waiver form, and voila!  Clear, legible, hard-copy applications... (As opposed to filling out the applications by hand or with a typewriter--who has a typewriter anymore anyways???)

Good luck!

[eskillen1981]

Even though it might feel less redundant in filling out apps on LSDAS as all your personal information self populates, I would apply online (not LSDAS) if the school allows.  When you submit an application through LSDAS it takes awhile (at some places up to 3-4 weeks) for the school to receive your application.  Then the school then has to request your letters of rec and LSDAS report, which is another several weeks. The general rule of thumb is that the earlier you get your apps in the better and by applying online you will definitely get your apps in more quickly than someone who submits their application through LSDAS.

[_____]

When you submit an application through LSDAS it takes awhile (at some places up to 3-4 weeks) for the school to receive your application.  Then the school then has to request your letters of rec and LSDAS report, which is another several weeks.

Not in my experience.  I submitted most of my 25+ apps through LSDAS, and 99.9% of the time, my reports were requested within one to two business days.  Most of them the very next business day, actually.

It's true that it takes them up to a couple of weeks to receive the (hard copy) reports that they request, but I saw NO evidence of such a delay between electronic submission of an app and the request of the report itself.

[billthethrill]

I only applied through LSDAS, and I don't think there's any downside to doing it that way.  Any supplemental or school-specific materials were just attached as word documents. 

You attatch it as a Word Document but it is converted into an Acrobat file.  This is much better because the document is locked and people can't go back and look at the changes you made.

Also, with LSDAS, you can save files on their server and attach them to your various applications with ease.  I recommend using LSDAS if you are applying to more than five schools.  I highly recommend it if you are applying to more than ten.  Some schools waive the app fee if you apply through LSDAS and many let you pay by credit card.  I hated waiting for my checks to clear for app fees.

Lastly, I hear that many schools prefer the LSDAS versions over the paper.  For one thing  it is easier for them to print out multiple copies (for the adcomms) than it is to photocopy paper originals.

[dollarbill]

LSDAS is much more convenient.  Some of the info here is misleading.  For one thing, most of the time, the system will know which schools have granted you a fee waiver and you won't have to pay.  And it doesn't take any longer for the applications to get to the schools.  Some schools, notably Chicago, do not request score reports as soon as they get the application, but instead wait and request reports in bunches.  This has nothing to do with how the applications were transmitted.

[billthethrill]

For one thing, most of the time, the system will know which schools have granted you a fee waiver and you won't have to pay. 

LSDAS does have many schools that waive the app fee and still allow you to submit an app through the system.  But, there are still other schools (like Washington and Lee last year) that give you a waiver and expressly state that you have to send in a paper copy and not an electronic one.