Top 100 Law School Application Deadlines and Latest Acceptable LSAT: 2021 Edition

Comments

1. Andrew says

   January 28, 2021 at 10:00 pm

   Thanks for the response Dave! What I meant by the reply I made on my first comment was **I** should have said “schools that will accept LSAT scores from these months” not “schools that will **only** accept…” because in my first comment the “only accept” in my original comment totally changed my question (I feel like I’m analyzing an LR with tricky language question right now lol!).

   I am still a bit confused by the “first and only” in the original bullet, so I will restate my intended question: Will the schools that accept the 2021 June/July LSAT this year disallow a score from June/July 2021 if I take the February LSAT and cancel my score and then retake in June/July and submit that score?

   The first and only makes it sound like you are only eligible to submit the June/July score if it is not a retake. Am I mistake in my understanding of first and only?

   Thanks again Dave!

   Reply

   • Dave Killoran says

     January 30, 2021 at 2:48 pm

     Ahh, gotcha! And yes, it like an LR question 🙂

     To your questions, good news: no, they won’t disallow it. If you take February and then cancel, June (etc) is still open to you. The “first and only” means that at those schools, students can wait as long as June (etc) before taking their LSAT. Thus, if June was your first LSAT then at those schools it would be just fine 🙂 Retakes are not being factored into the chart at all, because they don’t matter; if a school accepts a certain LSAT, it does not matter if it is a retake or the first time. The bottom line being is that we are trying to let students know how late of an LSAt they could take and still be in the running.

     I hope that helps!

     Reply

2. Andrew says

   January 27, 2021 at 1:58 am

   “Latest Acceptable Test Date: For some schools, this is a “strongly recommended”. Schools that accept the June or July LSAT have been highlighted. To clarify, these schools will accept this test as the first and only LSAT you’ve taken. Note: LSAC hasn’t released the June and July test dates as of this posting and schools are waiting for the score release dates before agreeing to accept those tests.”

   I’m a bit confused by this bullet. Are you saying that schools that will only accept LSAT scores from these months only if they are the first and only test you have taken? For example if I take the test Feb 2021 for the first time and use the score preview to cancel a score I don’t like, will those schools disqualify me if I retake on June/July and submit that score?

   Reply

   • Andrew says

     January 27, 2021 at 2:02 am

     Should say “schools that will accept LSAT scores from these months” not “schools that will **only** accept…”

     Reply

   • Dave Killoran says

     January 28, 2021 at 1:11 pm

     Hi Andrew,

     Thanks for the message! This is a case where the category name contains really critical information. As per the title, you are looking at the last date of each cycle that a school will accept. Now, for many schools that date is a hard deadline, but for others it’s more of a soft deadline, which is noted in the very first line of this description. But, in every case, as this is a the “last acceptable,” it means schools would accept results from that test and all prior tests.

     So, for example, let’s use Yale. Their last acceptable was January 2021. That means if you took your first LSAT in January 2021 and kept it, you are in the clear and can apply. If you took any prior LSAT to January 2021 and received a score, you are in the clear. If you took your first LSAT in January 2021 LSAT and cancelled, then you are out fo the running at Yale; they don’t take later LSATs and January 2021 was the last acceptable.

     Now let’s use Arizona. Their last acceptable is June 2021. That means if you took your first LSAT in June 2021 and kept it, you are in the clear and can apply. If you took any prior LSAT to June 2021 and received a score, you are in the clear. If you took your first LSAT in June 2021 LSAT and cancelled, then you are out of the running at Arizona; they don’t take later LSATs and June 2021 is the last acceptable (that can always change, so we recommend checking with the school when new LSAT dates come out in a few weeks).

     The “first and only” simply means you can take that late LSAT as your only and be fine; it’ doesn’t have to be that specific month; if you took a test earlier one you’d be fine too. Think of it as a timeline window that opens int he fall, and then goes for various lengths depending on the school. Some close that window early (Yale), others much later (Arizona). So, aased on the name of the category, the description is actually correct here and requires no change–it’s accurate as stated.

     Thanks!

     Reply

3. Harry Wise says

   January 22, 2021 at 5:22 am

   Hi, I took the LSAT back in my Junior year of college in 2017. I did average on the test and know scores are valid for 5 years. I am strongly considering law school again after obtaining real world engineering experience and would pursue IP Law. Looking at acceptance dates now and knowing I would want to retake the LSAT, I am unsure the best course of action. The closest LSAT available now is the April test due to registration dates. I am unsure the best course of action. Apply to schools with my current test and denote I plan to register and take April? Otherwise, hold off, and limit the quantity of schools that will accept scores/applications following that test?
   I appreciate the help and advice.

   Reply

   • Dave Killoran says

     January 22, 2021 at 5:17 pm

     Hi Harry,

     Thanks for the question! to answer accurately, I need a sense of the schools you’d be looking at. Are they in the Top 10? Top 50? Etc.

     Thanks!

     Reply