Which ED should I do?

[SReid]

Hey! I've been reading this forum and I really appreciate all the really helpful, insightful feedback. I was wondering if I could get some help figuring out which Early Decision program to do. I'm quite debt-averse and would love to qualify for one of these full-tuition ED programs.
LSAT: 168
GPA: 3.76 (from a regional school, not sure if that affects admission's view on the GPA)
I recognize that my stats might not get me early decision anywhere, but would like to give it a shot.
Comparing Boston University, WashU, Emory, and Northwestern. Do you think I have a shot at any of these? How high up the rankings can I go before it's just foolish to waste an ED?
Thanks for the help!

[nicholaspavic]

Hi Reid,

Great questions and I want to refer you to a great website called MyLSN. The answer to your questions as you might imagine is a bit more complex than a simple yes or no answer. But, here's how to start. Go here: https://mylsn.info/r/pre-law/admissions/graph/

Now, go to "Other Options" and select "Only" for the "Early Decision" category. You can also plug in other specifics about your sex, ethnicity, military service etc in order to really zero in on the admissions most similar to you. Dave Killoran showed me this site himself and we both really love it.

One big warning though. Per the home page:

MyLSN does not show you your chances of admission at a particular school. MyLSN only shows you how many applications in our database have self-reported success and failure in gaining admission to any given law school. As a result, you might very well be accepted to every school that this website returns a “0%” acceptance rate for, and you might be rejected at every school that this website returns a 100% acceptance rate for.

Please let me know if this helps, and if so, please let other people know that PowerScore was helpful to you. We'd really appreciate it no matter what forum or site it's on!

[Dave Killoran]

That's a great site for seeing outcomes, and check out this article as well: Applying to Law School: To Early Decision or Not to Early Decision. Right away you can see that a school like Emory probably shouldn't be on the list, but also that Northwestern gives you a great bump for ED.

Thanks!

[SReid]

This is very helpful. I really appreciate mylsn and that article on early decision. I have a follow-up if that's okay.
I am looking at WashU's early decision right now, which is my favorite ED. They promise a decision within two weeks of applying. BU's program ED deadline is not until November 14th. Would I be breaking any rules through applying to WashU early decision, and if not getting it, apply to BU ED?
At no time would I be applying ED for multiple schools, although, I may submit multiple applications. Does the fact that they are not both simultaneously live separate me from the rule about not applying multiple ED applications?

[Dave Killoran]

This is very helpful. I really appreciate mylsn and that article on early decision. I have a follow-up if that's okay.
I am looking at WashU's early decision right now, which is my favorite ED. They promise a decision within two weeks of applying. BU's program ED deadline is not until November 14th. Would I be breaking any rules through applying to WashU early decision, and if not getting it, apply to BU ED?
At no time would I be applying ED for multiple schools, although, I may submit multiple applications. Does the fact that they are not both simultaneously live separate me from the rule about not applying multiple ED applications?

I don't believe this breaks any rules, but you need to check with the schools since this is an unusual situation/proposal and they are the arbiters on this. Once you get their clearance then you know you are okay going forward with this.

I suspect they will say it's fine, but just double-check with them to be sure. Please let me know what they say. Thanks!

[SReid]

I will report back. Thanks, Dave!