A PROCEDURE FOR GETTING INTO THE MOST DESIRABLE LAW SCHOOL THAT ACCEPTS YOU

Do not feel that accepting admission to a law school is an irrevocable decision. Law schools expect that some applicants who accept admission will later decline admission; in fact, law schools even encourage this practice by accepting wait-listed applicants up until as late as early August. Note that your accepting and then rejecting admission to a law school will probably make two people happy: you and the person who takes your seat at the law school you accepted but later rejected.

The acceptance procedure. Before the deadline set (very likely this deadline will be April 1) by the most appealing law school that has accepted you, notify this law school, using certified mail/return receipt requested, that you are happy to accept their offer and, if required, pay their seat deposit.       The other law schools that accepted you should be notified that you will be attending another law school      The law schools that wait-listed you and are not as appealing as the law school whose offer you accepted should be notified that you will be attending another law school.      For the law schools that wait-listed you and that are more appealing than the law school that you accepted, read the following subsection: The Care and Feeding of the Law Schools That Wait-Listed You. Keep in mind that your interest in a law school that is wait-listing you may decline as time goes on so continue to evaluate your interest in law schools that are wait-listing you.     This is the end of the admission procedure for you unless, after already accepting admission to a law school, you receive an acceptance letter from a law school (most likely a law school that wait-listed you) more desirable than the law school whose offer you already accepted. What should you do now? This more desirable law school should be notified, using certified mail/return receipt requested, that you are happy to accept their offer (and, if required, pay the seat deposit).      The law school whose offer you once accepted but are now rejecting should be notified that you will be attending another law school. Since you have nothing to lose, you should ask this law school for a refund on your seat deposit, dorm deposit, etc.. Why do this? Why not? There is no harm in trying.       The law schools that are still wait-listing you and are not as appealing as the law school whose offer you just accepted should be notified that you will be attending another law school.      For the law schools that are still wait-listing you and that are more appealing than the new law school that you accepted, continue to read the following subsection: The Care and Feeding of the Law Schools That Wait-Listed You.      This is the end of the admission procedure for you unless a most appealing law school accepts you. If this happens, by now you should know what to do.        In short, our procedure is to always accept an offer from the most appealing law school that accepts you and always notify the law schools that are out-of-the- running. Disadvantage of this procedure. To reserve your seat at a law school that has admitted you, very likely you will be required to submit, on or before a given deadline, a seat deposit (a typical fee may be around $200). Some law schools may require a larger seat deposit circa July 1.These seat deposits are credited to your first-semester tuition but, if you do not register, these deposits may be forfeited or only partially refunded. The preceding procedure for getting into the most desirable law school that accepts you may involve the loss of one or more seat or dorm deposits. Our feeling is that this is a small price to pay for getting into the most desirable law school that eventually accepts you.