So, you haven’t heard back yet.

But what does that mean? The answer, as is most often the case in law school, is that it depends. Surprised? Didn’t think so. Let’s start with upper tier law schools.

If you’ve applied to schools in the top tier (and let’s assume you have), you should first check on the status of your application. It is unusual for such schools to send admissions decisions out any later than the end of April. For instance:

“Offers of admission are usually made between January and late April…”
– UCLA School Of Law

“Applicants are informed of decisions beginning in December and continuing through the month of April.”
– UC Davis School of Law

If you haven’t yet picked up what I’m putting down, listen up. Those top tier schools either lost your application or you don’t check your mail very often. You should have heard from them one way or another by now. If you haven’t, pick up the phone, send an e-mail or run into the admissions office naked. Whatever gets their attention.

Now, if you haven’t yet heard back from some lower-tier schools there’s still hope. For one, some of those schools don’t have hard application deadlines. For example, Southwestern will examine applications after their April 1st deadline on a case-by-case basis. Granted, they may have filled up their class already, but there’s always the possibility that you get on a wait list and fill an unexpectedly empty spot.

Also, if you haven’t heard back from such a school, you may be a particularly perplexing case. You may have a pretty good GPA and an inexplicably bad LSAT score. Maybe you have a good LSAT score and a good GPA, but you were caught tagging as an 18 year old in high school and your record still has that Krylon touch on it. Whatever the case may be, the school is having a tough time dealing with your particular application. Regardless of what’s going on, it probably couldn’t hurt to make some of sort of contact with your prospective schools. At the very least, it may assuage what must now be a mountain of anxiety.

Until next time, as they say in The Hundred Acre Wood, “TTFN! Ta-ta for now!”