#application cycle

Ever since the recession, law school admissions cycle have garnered a tremendous amount of discussion. Prior to the economic downturn, applications and enrollment were steadily increasing for years. The law was seen as a safe, stable profession. Following the recession, everything went haywire. Fewer students got jobs, class sizes decreased, and the once predictable application cycles were thrown into disarray.

The trend of uncertainty continued this year. Early on, it looked like many more students than expected were applying to law school and, of those applicants, there was a surge in the number with high LSAT scores. As a result, the early predictions were that this cycle would be more competitive and that it was even more important than ever to apply early, when the greatest number of spots were available.

However, with the benefit of more data, it appears that the overall number of applicant is going to stay the same as last year. Generally, this is favorable news for applicants. Less competition means a greater likelihood of admission. It also looks like the number of applicants with top scores is going to remain flat to down. Again, this is favorable news. The smaller the number of scores in the 170’s, the greater the likelihood that schools will stretch to lower scores in admitting candidates.

Moreover, the early surge in applicants, followed by the current slowdown, means that we could see a lot of movement later in the cycle. Schools may have been waiting to see if the trend of an increasing number of higher-scoring applicants continued into the new years. If the slowdown continues, then we could see a flurry of activity in February and March, when schools realize that they aren’t going to get a wave of applicants with high scores. For those of you who either haven’t heard anything, or have been put on hold or waitlisted, it is very possible that you’ll see movement in the coming months.

For more of the data on these points, you can refer to this article. At the end, you’ll see what may seem like one particularly promising potential prediction — namely, that schools my increase the size of their classes. Not to throw some cold water on the positivity, but I for one am a big fan of smaller law school classes. When you’re applying, bigger classes mean a great chance of getting into your target school. But when you apply for jobs, larger classes mean a great number of above-median students competing for jobs.

Nevertheless, getting into a top-14 school, or a strong regional school, is the first step in achieving success in your legal career. The better the outlook on that crucial first step, the better your overall outlook becomes.

…but the sky isn’t falling.

At the risk of sounding like I’m trying too hard to relate to the youth of America, I’ve been playing a lot of battle royale video games lately. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this new gaming craze, a battle royale is basically the same concept as the hunger games — a number of players are dropped onto an enclosed space, which shrinks over time, and they attempt to survive until all the other players are eliminated.

At the further risk of overusing a tired analogy, a battle royale game is particularly applicable when it comes to the world of law school applications in one key respect — the more players in the game, the worse your odds of success. In battle royale games, you face off against 100 opponents. I’d probably win a lot more matches if that number was 10 and, conversely, I’d probably lose a lot more (if that’s possible) if the number was 200. Similarly, if you’re 1 out of 100 qualified applicants with an LSAT/GPA combo within a school’s desired range, you’re more likely to receive an offer than if you’re 1 out of 200.

Over the last few years, we’ve noted that LSAT takers and applications have been on the rise. We’ve analyzed the various reasons for the rise in applications, from political ideology to a rebounding job market, and we’ve discussed the ways in which the increasing number of applicants might impact your chances of success in applying to schools. The key takeaway all along is largely that — while the sky isn’t falling — an increasing applicant pool makes it more difficult to get offers of admission as a result of the increased competition and the greater number of students with strong scores.

Spivey Consulting released some early data about applicants in this admissions cycle. Looks the number of applicants are up again this year, but less so than they were around this point last year. As a result, it looks like this cycle is going to continue the trend of increasing competitiveness, especially for those students scoring above a 165 on the LSAT, where some of the sharpest increases are evidenced. However, this is probably not going to make it monumentally more difficult to apply to law school, and it doesn’t look we’re destined to continue seeing the same level of increases forever. With that said, for those students looking to secure an offer of admission from a top school, it is important to make sure you get your applications in early — hopefully before the holidays — to best situate yourself for success.

Furthermore, it’s also probably worth noting that last year, the early data showed a sharper increase over the previous year than the later data did. So, the results we’re seeing here could also level off and mitigate some of the anxiety you might be feeling about the larger applicant pool and the increase in higher scores. Only time will tell.

All in all, the early data is consistent with expectations. Further increases in applicants were predictable, as was the slight slowdown in the overall increase. The admissions market is getting more competitive, so use it as extra motivation to get those applications in early! May the odds be ever in your favor.

I’m on the other side of it though!

I’m very very excited and proud to say that I am going to start as a first year in an osteopathic medical school next year! it’s pretty surreal, I still can’t believe that I have reached my goal and am finally on my way to becoming a doctor.

I’m a TA right now in my graduate program and have been giving advice to the first years of the program regarding MCAT, applications, and personal statements and it’s really humbling to think that I was in their exact position a year from now - extremely anxious about the future, impatient about the process, and just scared

I know MCAT season and the beginning of another application cycle is upon us and I just wanted to put some unasked for advice out there. I am not an expert by ANY means... here’s some words from one angsty premed to all of the others out there - don’t stop doing things towards the greater goal. Take things a day at a time and stay on top of yourself. It’s a GRUELING process and you’ll probably find yourself in a pit of despair / feelings of very little self-worth, but be easy on yourself. Watch a movie, listen to a podcast, go to the free night at your local museum, something to keep yourself sane. I, personally, enjoyed the occasional happy hours. Try not to talk about the application process too much with your friends - it’ll get tiring and you don’t want to be that person. Find a mentor if you can, but if you don’t have one (fear not, I didn’t), be your own advocate. This is your future career we’re talking about! Be a little selfish, but not a complete ass. Be happy for your friends getting in before you, don’t be jealous for too long. People will tell you to enjoy the process, but seeing as the process can be as slow as molasses, try to at least just acknowledge that this is your transition period or as the anthropologists would describe, the liminal period. You’ll find yourself out of it soon. Best of luck to everyone out there and keep the faith - even when you don’t want to.

I’ve completed all but one of my secondary applications (I just can’t bring myself to bust it out just yet, plus I don’t want to part with the $85 BECAUSE I’M BROKE). I continue to stay positive throughout this application process but I’m also a realist. 

I’m below average. 

I’m not saying that my IQ is low or anything. My undergraduate grades and my MCAT scores are straight poo. I worked throughout undergrad, was working damn near 60 hours the first time I “studied” for the MCAT. I think by that point I was just burnt out and over it and wanted to put it all behind me. Bad idea. I knew how much I wanted to go to med school. Why didn’t I put in the necessary effort? IDK. Ask 21 year old me, because right now, 23 year old me doesn’t give a sh*t!

Wanna know why?

Because it’s September and I have three interviews. Obviously, they’re not Harvard, Yale, and Columbia. (Although I applied to one of those three...guess who). I hoped, but didn’t think that I would make it this far. I’m a woman and a minority which might’ve helped but I have crap grades and looking at my record, I could see why an admissions committee wouldn’t think that I’m ready for medical school. But some people out there are a little more interested in my story. I have a sh*t ton of extracurriculars, some of them relevant, some of them not. I did really well in my Master’s program. There are some positives to my application. And someone saw them!!

I guess I should get to the point...Don’t let your numbers discourage you! My undergrad institution holds a mock interview in order for the pre-health committee to get a better sense of who you are. The interviewer told me that subpar credentials don’t mean “no med school”, it’s just “which med school”. I seriously appreciated that advice. It helped me form a list of schools and is kind of the baseline for my positive attitude moving forward. 

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This past year has been such a crazy non-stop journey. The combination of lab work, school and clinical research really kept me busy. But now I am once again in this transition stage and things seem very slow. 

I decided to spend this application cycle continuing the research project I was working on but at a new institution. This will give me a chance to expand my knowledge of the field while getting a fresh experience in a new lab. But I ended up moving a little too early and there seems to be this random gap of time where I am not allowed to do any experiments! So with this, my daily schedule has completely changed. Instead of being on the go constantly, I actually have time to do whatever I want! 

I’ve spent it mostly catching up on some literature readings and working on my application, but I can’t seem to shake off this restless feeling. It seems to be a combination of excitement of learning new things and the fear of not being good enough here. On top of this the applications open next week, and I decided to apply to a few MD/PhD programs in addition to MD programs. More and more I am realizing what a big part I hope research has in my future career. I hope that my research work can directly support my patient interactions and also that my clinical work will help guide me in asking the right questions. 

Now I feel like I am starting to write a statement for admissions committee members... Anyways, let’s all play a fun game! Can anyone guess where I am now? It would definitely be easier if you followed me throughout the years :). Here is a clue: my desk.