How Law Schools Make Decisions
Episode notes
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Some law school applications are denied without ever being opened.
Ben Parker and former law school admissions leader Autumn Lockett break down how law schools actually make admissions decisions, from the first LSAT and GPA sort to holistic review, scholarship consideration, waitlists, and final committee decisions.
Autumn explains the three broad admissions buckets: presumptive denies, applicants who receive a deeper read, and presumptive admits.
At some schools, applicants who fall below the numerical cutoffs are denied before anyone opens the application. For applicants in the middle, the personal statement, recommendations, work history, school fit, and institutional priorities become much more important.
They also discuss why a low GPA and a low LSAT create different concerns, how an older or “stale” GPA can be overcome with evidence of growth, why a 177 LSAT and 4.0 GPA can still produce a waitlist, and how yield protection works when a school believes an applicant is unlikely to enroll.
The takeaway: your numbers matter.
They set the frame for the rest of the application. The stronger your numbers, the more control you have over which admissions pile you enter and the offers you receive.
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