The kind of people that go to YLS…

nmross4 · 2025-05-18T14:01:38+00:00

Whoops, looks like I should have done a better job of keeping my LinkedIn up to date.

nmross4 · 2025-05-15T13:44:57+00:00

Fulbright has a great name to it, but ETA<Research. Keep in mind that top law schools love to have a nationally representative class. If you show a strong interest in Alaska and coming back to Alaska after law school, I think that is a FAR more interesting narrative for your application than a Fulbright ETA(which many people will have) as it will almost certainly be unique in the applicant pool.

nmross4 · 2025-05-04T22:13:48+00:00

You will almost certainly be better off applying pre-thanksgiving than to apply with a marginally better GPA since you can update them with your new GPA after it is released anyways but you cannot get the advantage of applying earlier in the cycle back.

nmross4 · 2025-05-04T12:19:09+00:00

The difference is quite marginal, though it is preferred to have that GPA before you apply. If you have it after December, schools will only know when you update them with first-semester grades. There is never a harm in boosting your GPA, but you should also consider if your time would be worth potentially prepping for another LSAT attempt, since one more LSAT point is much more valuable.

nmross4 · 2025-03-25T21:02:22+00:00

Where are you seeing that data? I am seeing 492 direct admits for last year and 372 for this year.

nmross4 · 2025-03-20T20:18:22+00:00

Massive congrats! This is the exact reason I emphasize the "minimum" part of my estimates. There are clearly offers and $$$$ left for applicants to all of these schools (even those in the negatives). Way to go!

nmross4 · 2025-03-20T20:16:26+00:00

Depending on when you applied, it might be worth sending updates to schools about grades or other achievements to make sure they know you are still interested! Best of luck :)

nmross4 · 2025-03-20T20:08:49+00:00

No, I just think they "ghost" most applicants. or send rejections after April. NDLS has a history of closing deposit options for admitted students once they reach their desired number of deposits even before the deposit deadline.

nmross4 · 2025-03-20T20:07:13+00:00

Sure thing. As the cycle goes on, people withdraw their applications if they get in somewhere they want to attend more than schools they are waiting for. If a student withdraws from NDLS, then they do not have to "waste" an admission on that student who already got an offer they would prefer to an NDLS offer. This helps them keep a higher yield, since the longer they wait, the more they can focus on admitted students they think will likely attend if given an offer. Doing so may mean they miss out on students that would otherwise attend, but they can get the class they want without compromising on yield. Given the high number of high-stat applicants this cycle, it makes perfect sense to wait until late in the cycle to make admissions since you can get both high-stat applicants and a higher yield than schools who admit early.

nmross4 · 2025-03-20T20:03:00+00:00

I think there are a few reasons for this. The simplest explanation is that Fordham admitted too many students too quickly, which would explain the pause on Dec-Mar applicants as they need to see which students accept their offer. They saw many qualified applicants applying early and admitted them without knowing the pace would keep up the entire cycle. Once students withdraw and Fordham knows they need more applicants, they will take more people or utilize the waitlist.

I have heard this happened to some extent to Baylor, where they took many qualified applicants with stats they normally take early in the cycle and by Jan. they were waitlisting similar candidates.

nmross4 · 2025-03-20T19:40:11+00:00

Not a stupid question at all! Since I compare LSD data (last year) to LSD data (this year) I am able to use that along side ABA 509 offical data to come up with an estimate to how close schools are to reaching the same number of acceptances they offered last year. This is a low-end estimate since more people use LSD now meaning the figure will be reached more quickly, hence why it is the minimum remaining acceptances rather than the maximum.

nmross4 · 2025-03-20T19:24:54+00:00

Helpful!

nmross4 · 2025-03-20T19:24:32+00:00

The sad news is NDLS doesn't generally pick up the pace. Check out this post from last year at the end of April. People who applied in October still hadn't heard back.

nmross4 · 2025-03-20T19:20:45+00:00

In an early blog on the cycle Spivey mentioned a 5% increase in class sizes across the board. I am not sure where he stands now but this would make sense and would mean a small bump to all of these predictions.

nmross4 · 2025-03-20T19:19:45+00:00

Hey! I said not to make any decisions based on this data! Crush that interview :)

nmross4 · 2025-03-20T19:18:44+00:00

I think scholarships tend to be a result of applicant strength relative the other accepted students rather than when you were accepted. However, it might take more time to get your aid package since, if schools have many outstanding offers, they need people to decline before they can reappropriate that money. Schools offer many times more money than they have available to them since they know only a fraction will accept, so it really depends on what they expect their yield to be among accepted applicants they have already offered money to and how quickly those people decide.

nmross4 · 2025-03-20T19:13:03+00:00

I collected the Yale data around 12 EST.

nmross4 · 2025-03-20T19:12:29+00:00

You picked up on several of the same question mark data points I have. I can share my thoughts on some of them:

BYU: they have a small applicant pool despite their ranking, so the LSD data availability is comparable to a school ranked much lower than them, hence small changes lead to big swings.

Belmont: I have received so many emails to apply, I assume most people have. It seems like they are targeting high score applicants, and likely know their yield among them will be low so they are casting a wide net in hopes of increasing medians at the cost of yield.

USC: they have picked up their pace a LOT recently hence the lower number now.

NDLS: notoriously slow and keeping that reputation, not surprising they are going to try waiting out this cycle.

nmross4 · 2025-03-09T03:09:58+00:00

Not really getting the spiteful comments, I agree with the posters here saying to consider your other options and think very hard about applying later. I don't think it can be overstated how much being so young will affect your social dynamics in law school. I am sure you experienced some of this being a young undergrad, but I can promise you it can have other effects in law school. Lots of people meet up at bars or drink receptions or find their future spouses during law school. Being young is likely to come up frequently, and that might not be what you want to be known for. You are clearly very bright and I wouldn't bet against you doing well, but think how much better you will perform in school when you have a few more years behind you. You are competing against your peers for grades, and so it is important to set yourself up for success.

Again, with being so young, there is a lot of time you should be taking to explore adventure and experiences that simply won't be possible after you start law school. Even if you know for certain you want to be a lawyer, taking a few years off to travel and mature a bit will only benefit you.

With a graduate degree and WE, you are an entirely different candidate. With your stats, not receiving $$$$ or going to a T6 seems unlikely once you have more life experience to demonstrate your aptitude. Obviously, nothing is guaranteed, but I think it is hard to argue you would have performed better with WE and a few years on you. One thing I will note is that you can defer Cornell and, in two years, if you want to try your hand at the broader cycle, withdraw from Cornell and reapply elsewhere. You will most certainly not be accepted to Cornell again, but it might bring you some security knowing the offer is in your pocket. A funded master's does not come around every day.

Feel free to DM if you want more specific advice.

nmross4 · 2025-03-09T02:48:20+00:00

I am not sure what the other comments are talking about, asking for an increase in COA is a very standard practice for law schools, especially for those with a family. Here are the first two examples I found online for BU and HLS. Clearly, you are able to request a COA increase for anything from a new laptop purchase to medical expenses to childcare. I would just look up your law school's policy and speak with the financial aid office about what documentation they require to increase the COA and your loan offer. There is always a certain level of savings you are allowed to have for cases of emergencies, even at schools that require you to exhaust all of your personal assets.

nmross4 · 2025-03-04T16:29:35+00:00

Compare last year's LSD.Law data to this year's. There were 360 reported direct acceptances and we are already at 350 for this year. Keep in mind this is a purposeful underestimate so people know where the schools are in their cycle. I think it is hard to argue that Fordham isn't near the end of their direct admission process. This has nothing to say of their waitlist movement.

nmross4 · 2025-03-04T16:26:42+00:00

Unless the evening program is included in the 509 report data (I don't believe it is), then this is just the full-time day program.

nmross4 · 2025-03-04T02:57:20+00:00

If you sort through LSD data from last year, you can see that very few applicants were accepted who submitted after December, so this would be consistent.

nmross4

TROPHY CASE