Ep 02: When Should You Apply to Law School?

When is the best time to apply to law school and is now too late? I'm going to break down three different stages of timing. What is considered early. What is considered on time. And what is really starting to push it and be a little bit too late to maximize your chances for acceptance and for scholarship.

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This episode is all about timing. When's the best time to apply to law school and is now too late?

Welcome to another episode of Break into Law School. My name is Sydney Montgomery and I'm a law school admissions consultant specializing in working with first-generation and minority applicants. 

So let's dive in.

When is the best time to apply to law school and is now too late? I'm going to break down three different stages of timing. What is considered early. What is considered on time. And what is really starting to push it and be a little bit too late to maximize your chances for acceptance and for scholarship. 

So what is early, what's the best time to apply to law school? Well, when they open. Law school applications open in September. And here is why it is so crucial to be among the first people who apply to law school. Law schools are on a rolling application cycle. What that means is it's actually easier to get into school in September than it is in February. 

I always tell students, you can be the same exact applicant. Same essays, same LSAT score. Same GPA. If you apply in September, you might get in with scholarship money. If you apply in February, you might just get denied. And yes it can be that drastic of a difference.

You have to remember that law schools fill their classes as they go. It's a rolling application cycle. So especially if you're someone with an LSAT score or a GPA a little bit below the median, you want to make sure that you're applying in September when they have plenty of spaces. That's when they can be the most holistic in terms of their applications and giving offers. Now, I don't want you to think that they're just giving away offers or anything like that. 

And they're definitely not lowering their standards. 

But they have more room in their class to take someone with a lower GPA or a lower median LSAT score at the beginning.

And of course there are no absolutes and there's no black and white way to look at law school admissions. So this is not true for all schools, but for some schools, once they really started to solidify their class at a certain point, they only want to take applicants that are going to raise their median GPA and LSAT. So if you're applying to a school and you're below their median GPA, and it's February and March, you're not helping them any, you're not an asset to the school as much as you might've been in September when they're really saying, you know, it's okay, we can take a couple of lower students because we can make up for it down the line. Now there are also some schools that give scholarship money out on a rolling basis. So they're literally giving away their money as time goes on. 

And they don't have as much money at the end of the process. Again, this isn't true for every school, but there are some schools for whom this is the case. 

The thing that I have to ask you is wouldn't you rather have the absolute best chance of getting into law school and getting into law school with scholarship money? Oftentimes, I'll talk to students who are thinking about applying later in the cycle. And they'll just tell me, I just really don't want to wait another year. I don't want to reapply in September. I don't want to wait to apply in September. I want to start school in September. 

And for them, I say your law school career is forever. Your legal degree is forever. Your Alma Mater, it's forever. This is the cohort and the alumni base that you are going to take with you for the rest of your life. Isn't that worth waiting for? When you know that your outcomes would be dramatically different if you just waited and applied in September at the beginning of the cycle, when you can foster those relationships with admissions professionals throughout the summer, when you can make sure to show that you're a prepared candidate who has all of their things together. Isn't that worth waiting for? You never really get a second chance to make a first impression.

And so students who tell me, "Well, I'll apply now. And if I have to, I'll just reapply in September". I'd like to remind you that you can't just, or you shouldn't just, submit the same exact essays and applications the second time that you apply. You will need to write and amend your application essays. You want to show them that you actually put effort into your reapplication and that you're not just kind of lazy.  

But you can avoid all of this and avoid reapplying if you come out the gate strong and get an early acceptance offer because you applied in September or October. When you apply in early fall, you will hear back from at least one of your schools by October, November, or December. I know, personally, I applied to all of my schools by Halloween.

I was a senior at Princeton at the time. And I heard back from all, but two of my schools before Christmas, that meant I could go into the holidays relaxed. Knowing that yes, I was going to law school. I had offers that I loved and I had scholarship money. The other thing is that when you get acceptance letters earlier you're able to have longer and more detailed conversations with financial aid. You're able to take your time. You're able to apply to outside scholarships. You're able to have a much more relaxed and enjoyable process. A smooth process. A process that is worth the magnitude of what you're about to embark on. 

Law school can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Although hopefully you don't end up paying that much because you have scholarship money, but it's still a huge investment in yourself. It's a huge investment in your career and your future. 

You should do it right. You should absolutely have everything in line in the fall to submit. Now I told you I would break down the differences between early on time and late applications. So what happens if you don't apply in September or October? Or even November. Well, that's okay. For many law schools, the time period between December and February is what they would call on time. 

Now this isn't true for every law school. And I also want to say that while most law schools are rolling, there are some schools like Yale and to some degree, Harvard that have specific reading periods.  

However for a lot of schools, December through February is perfectly normal. If you were applying to the most selective schools, You do really want to apply by November because applying to the most selective schools in December, January, even, especially February, it's not advisable. Unless, you have a 175 and a 4.0, you're just really not giving yourself your best shot. 

Now does that mean if you apply in January, you're not getting in. No, I'm not saying that. Of course, there are always people who are going to be able to get in in January or February to highly selective schools.

Would I say it's likely? No. And to me part of being a lawyer is risk management so I would choose the path that is the least risky and apply earlier in the cycle.

Now, ultimately you want to make sure that your application is very strong. So while there's almost never a reason why applying in September is not the best option. And certainly never a reason why applying in September, isn't better than applying in February. If you are delaying your application to November because you know that you can get an additional five points on your LSAT exam. That is most certainly worth it.

And this brings me to a point about planning. Because the number one reason I feel that students delay their applications is because they are waiting to retake the LSAT exam. They are not happy with their LSAT score. They need a little bit more time to study. And that's why at the very beginning of the process, when you think, oh, I want to go to law school, I'd love it if you could just take an LSAT diagnostic test and see where your baseline score is, because that will help you figure out if you need three months, six months, nine months to study for the LSAT. And then you just work backwards from september to figure out when you should start preparing for the LSAT and preparing your application materials.

Once you have a timeline, then you can start thinking about how you're going to prepare for the exam. Are you going to get a tutor? Which course are you going to take? How much do you need to improve on the test for the schools that you would love to go to? Because when you don't give yourself enough time, when you start studying for the LSAT in August or September, you're immediately pushing your timeline back. You're immediately putting yourself in a stressful situation where you're trying to rush. 

And nothing good comes out of rushing.

 But if you can't get your applications in in september october then again i would say that applying on time, not early and not quite late for some schools would be november december through january timeframe.

So now let's talk about, what's considered applying late in the cycle. If you are talking about applying to law school in late February, March. April. May I've heard people apply as late as June. I don't recommend it. Can you get into law school? If you apply in June. Somewhere. I'm sure people have done it. 

Can you get in? If you apply in March. Somewhere, some places. But why. Why would you want to set yourself up for objectively a less than optimal outcome? And sometimes students say, well, I'm applying to hybrid programs or online programs, flex programs. So that application timing doesn't matter to me. And I don't know why they think that because that's actually just not true. It still would benefit you to apply earlier in the cycle than later in the cycle.

The only time I can see it not being beneficial is if you tell me that your top choice school is fine with you applying in March and you know, 100% that you wouldn't get any more scholarship money. If you had applied in September. Which I don't know if you can really say that, but if you can tell me that the scholarship money is looking the same and you've had a conversation with the admissions Dean or director and that, you know, your chances of getting in are still incredibly high. And that may be there's a special program that you're going to be applying to that makes applying so late in the game worth it. Okay. Sure apply in March, April, whenever. But for the vast majority of people applying after March, you are not giving yourself your best chance. 

What you're doing is just shortchanging your destiny. You're shortchanging your future. Because you're now rushing a process that was never meant to be a rush. You had all of these opportunities waiting for you and you still have them waiting for you if you wait to apply in September but you're deciding that because you would rather go now you don't want all of those opportunities and you're going to settle for less.

I see this thinking a lot also with students that are maybe not even a good test taker, maybe either L SAT score is low or their GPA is low. And for students that have had to overcome multiple academic barriers, I just want to say that law school is absolutely attainable for you. You just have to give yourself your best shot. 

And your best chance and applying in February, March, April, what have you is not giving yourself your best chance? Because what I see happen to students in this stage is that they apply to law school in March or later. They don't get in. And they think, well, I just can't be a lawyer. My scores aren't high enough. My GPA isn't high enough. I just can't be a lawyer. 

And that's not true. It's absolutely not true. It's not that you can't be a lawyer. It's that you shouldn't apply to law school in March or April. It's like you should apply to the right schools in September. You should be relationship building and you should write incredibly strong and compelling essays. 

So why do that to yourself? Why apply in March or April and set yourself up for disappointment? And even if you do get in what is the scholarship money really looking at that point  really looking like at that point. And I don't want to belabor this issue. But I will also say that the caliber of schools that you're going to get into when you apply that late in the cycle. Or just a completely different tier of schools than you would have gotten into in the fall. And I'm not going to stop you if this is something that is on your heart and you really want to do that. But think about getting into law school in April. 

And or applying to law school in April and getting in, in the summer and having to pay full freight for a lower tier school. Now you're hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt for a school that might have a median salary of $50,000. So while of course i understand that becoming a jd in and of itself is worth it for some people and outreacher  (customer facing) 

As a first-generation graduate of Harvard law school and the only lawyer in my family, I definitely do understand that. But I want to help you make wise decisions. Even if you have a JD, if you can't get a job, or if you get a job that's only $50,000, which in and of itself is a fine salary, but not if you have $200,000 of debt. 

You're not making a wise decision and lawyers are supposed to be good at making decisions. We're supposed to have great judgment and we're supposed to mitigate risks in our life. So I'm actually asking you to take your law school applications as an opportunity to have your first legal case.  I want you to make a case for why you should be giving yourself your best chance

So to recap, applying early would be applying in September, October. Even maybe November for most schools. And then applying on time would be November, December, and January for some schools, February is still considered on time, but certainly not for selective schools. Anything after February I'm considered. 

I'm considering late. 

And that means that they may have already accepted and filled 75% of their class by then. And you don't want to just be coming into the game at that point. I want you to really think about the scholarship money that's already been given out. And think about the scholarship money that you could have if you apply in September. 

That's why, when I work with my students, I really try to help them get scholarships. Over 56% of my students receive at least a half tuition scholarship to law school. 

And you'll see that most of my law school application bootcamps will start in the spring. Or in the summer to end in August, September or October, I do have a couple of late start boot camps for October and November, but we are absolutely finished in December. Because I don't believe in setting you up for what I don't consider your most successful application process. 

I want you to go to the best school possible to maximize your academic potential with as little debt as possible. And so I can only give you the advice that I think is going to set you up for your future, and that is still applied in the fall. 

Now, you know, I'm really big on trying to give as much content and information away as I can for free. So if you go on my website, you will be able to download a free, essential guide to applying to law school that walks you through every single step of the application process, your essays, your letters of recommendation, your resume, your identity, all the components of your law school application that you really need is in this guide. 

It's a foundational primmer on all the parts that are going to make you successful. And if you're saying, you know, I really want to maximize my chances of going to law school. I want to maximize my scholarships. I don't want to do this on my own. I don't want to make mistakes. I don't want to waste time on Reddit and the internet and end up applying late in the cycle because I couldn't figure something out. Then I'm inviting you to join me in one of my law school application, boot camps, or join me in private consulting. The boot camps are a really amazing cohort of a small number of students. And I really guide you and walk you step-by-step on every part of the process through your brainstorming, through choosing schools, your personal statements, your resumes, everything that you need. And we talk about navigating waitlist offers, interviews and financial aid. 

You can also join me in private one-on-one consulting and we can go through that entire process and I can be your cheerleader and I can help push you to the success and the potential that I know that you can be. My goal is not just to get you to law school, but to keep you in law school and to keep you thriving in your career as an attorney. 

This was another episode of Break into Law School with Sydney Montgomery. 

Have a question you want answered? You can submit them at Bit.ly/breakintolawschool. 

Make sure that you rate and review this episode, if it was helpful to you. And if you're looking for even more inspiration, check out my podcast, Mindful Prayers for Students, where I provide encouragement, mindfulness, and prayer on your academic journey.