Full Ride Early Decision?

In one of our recent episodes of LSAT Demon Daily, LSAT Demon co-founders Ben Olson and Nathan Fox discussed a question many law school applicants face: whether to apply to a binding early decision admissions program.

The conversation was prompted by an email from a listener considering UCLA’s early decision program, which offers a full-ride scholarship. They wondered if this option was worth pursuing or if it would be better to apply broadly to other schools as well.

If you’re considering applying binding early decision, this article will help you understand the pros and cons of doing so. 

Early Decision Can Limit Your Options 

It is important to be cautious about binding early decision applications for law schools. While the offer of a full ride is enticing, it can limit your opportunities. 

Take UCLA as an example. It’s a great school, but applying early decision means you’re locked in if accepted, even if another top school like Stanford or Berkeley accepts you later with a competitive offer. 

Before you apply early decision anywhere, triple-check the details of any scholarships guaranteed with acceptance. Some schools offer students conditional scholarships, which can be revoked based on academic performance. Other schools offer scholarships of the exact tuition amount for the first year but don’t increase that scholarship to keep up with tuition increases. Understand what you are signing up for before applying—you don’t want your full ride to turn into a tuition bill after your first year.

Apply Broadly

The listener’s application is strong: a 4.0 GPA, 173 LSAT score, two years of experience at a criminal defense firm, and a pre-law resume. With that strong of an application, the listener can expect multiple full-ride offers from competing schools if they apply broadly. Applying binding early decision to UCLA may force the listener to turn down an even better offer somewhere else, and UCLA may offer the listener a full scholarship even if they don’t apply binding early decision.

That’s why you need to apply broadly. Even if a school isn’t in your preferred state or region, a great scholarship offer might make it worth considering, and there’s always the option to return to your hometown (or move to wherever you prefer to work) after graduation. Applying broadly means applying to a minimum of ten schools in order to receive competing offers and increase your chances of success in scholarship negotiation. 

You Might Regret Applying Early Decision

You don’t want to regret locking yourself into a binding early decision program, which could happen. 

For example, let’s say you were accepted to Stanford or another top school. In this case, you might regret being tied to UCLA. Stanford, for example, offers need-based aid, which could make attending a prestigious school more affordable than you expected. Applying broadly gives you the flexibility to compare offers and choose the best overall fit, both academically and financially.

Takeaway

While binding early decision programs can be appealing, they are not usually the best route for applicants with strong profiles. 

Applying broadly means you will have more options to choose from and can lead to better financial and academic outcomes.