1. Research Early—and Research Thoroughly
One of the most common mistakes applicants make is waiting until they are ready to submit applications before investigating Early Decision options. Unlike regular decision programs, ED deadlines often fall several weeks or even months earlier and may require additional forms, binding agreements, interviews, or scholarship-specific applications.
Because policies, deadlines, and benefits vary significantly from school to school, applicants should begin reviewing ED programs during the summer or early fall of the application cycle. Starting early gives you time to evaluate whether the potential admissions advantage, scholarship opportunity, or expedited review process is worth the tradeoff of committing before you can compare offers from other law schools or fully evaluated what school might be the right fit for you.
Researching early also helps ensure you don’t miss an ED opportunity that may align particularly well with your goals and financial considerations. Additionally, it will help you create an ideal application timeline that accounts for earlier deadlines, which can affect the LSAT, obtaining letters of recommendation, and more.
2. What are your goals and priorities around scholarship?
Almost every ED program is binding. While there may be unique benefits associated with these binding programs – including guaranteed scholarship, some provide no scholarship opportunity at all. Binding ED programs, if admitted, remove the ability to consider and compare scholarships. Applicants admitted through regular decision may be able to compare financial aid offers and better assess how different scholarship offers best support their legal education and long-term goals. Additionally, some schools provide for reconsideration of scholarship offers – ED applicants typically lose any opportunity for reconsideration.
Question to ask yourself:
Am I willing to attend this law school even if another school would potentially offer a substantially greater scholarship?
3. ED May Benefit Certain “Splitter” Applicants
ED are mutually beneficial programs -one of the benefits to law schools is the ability to gain a committed group of admitted students early in the admissions process. While ED is not a magic admissions boost, it may offer some advantages to highly committed applicants whose GPA and LSAT profiles do not align in the same way within a school’s institutional priorities (percentile ranges). For applicant’s whose GPA and LSAT fall in different percentile ranges at the same school, it can be difficult to assess their level of competitiveness or how they may be viewed with other candidates. While ED should not be viewed as a strategy to overcome significant vulnerabilities in core application components, it does offer “splitter” applicants the unique ability to demonstrate their high commitment in attending that particular school – which is always a valuable attribute in candidates for admissions decision-makers.
4. Research Outcomes and Individual Fit First
One mistake applicants make is choosing an ED school based solely on rankings. Almost every ED program is binding. While there may be unique benefits associated with these binding program – one cost is the ability to consider different options/choices if admitted. While you may have a dream school that you begin the admissions process with – for many applicants those priorities change throughout the course of the admissions process as they learn more about different schools and gain clarity on what is most important in terms of their admissions goals and what school feel like the right fit. Binding programs, if admitted, remove the ability to consider and compare multiple offers of admissions. Before committing to a binding program, review:
- ABA employment data
- Bar passage rates
- Geographic placement
- Cost of Attendance
- Current student perspectives
- The schools community and culture
- The institution’s goals and values
A school should be your true first choice because of its fit to your unique goals and priorities – not simply because of its place in a ranking. Additionally, you will want to engage directly with a school before deciding to apply ED (perhaps even visit) to make sure you truly see yourself there.
Conclusion
Early Decision can be an excellent option when a law school is unquestionably your first choice and the financial implications are clear. However, applicants should remember that Early Decision is not a single admissions strategy. Every program is different. Before signing a binding agreement, understand exactly what you are gaining—and what opportunities you may be giving up.
Reminder! Interested applicants should verify Early Decision (ED) program details directly with each law school for the current law admissions cycle.