<p>My question is pretty straightforward. I know ED gives you an upper hand, but I also know applying regular just reallllly early also gives you an upper hand.</p>
<p>The reason I ask this question is because I am juggling with Early Decision to my #1 school, but my #2 isn't far behind. I don't want to lock myself in with ED in case I get into both, but there's a good chance I won't get into either (and the ED push might be more than necessary).</p>
<p>So, basically what I'm asking, should I pressure myself to decide upon one school to go ED to, or should I just apply to both schools [regular decision] the day they start accepting applications? Is there a big difference between the two?</p>
<p>I don't know anything about ED at law schools, but I know enough about how it works for undergrads to see "I don't want to lock myself in with ED in case I get into both" and, based on such a statement, advise you to avoid the process.</p>
<p>I've only seen the ED numbers for one law school (Columbia; tucked away somewhere on their website at one point) and they certainly weren't encouraging. ED applicants were accepted at around a 2% higher clip. Definitely not worth the loss of flexibility.</p>
<p>That statistic in itself proves little. People who apply ED will tend to have lower chances, borderline at best, since if they were a very good candidate, they wouldn't want to lose the chance of going to HYS or getting a scholarship</p>
<p>So let me give you some more details about my case, and see if you can give me some advice.</p>
<p>My #1 is NYU (where I am undergrad, and I'm going to try to get to know the law school people) and my #2 is Columbia. The reason there's a strong chance I won't get into either is because my numbers will probably fall short. However, there are a bunch of soft factors that very well might help me out (if they care about that kind of stuff).</p>
<p>So basically, what I said in my last post, only replace #1 with NYU and #2 with Columbia. I want to do the way that will cause them to look at my soft factors a lot more (more than GPA and LSAT).</p>
<p>Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>CJ: I don't know how smart it is to characterize the Columbia Law ED group as significantly less strong than the regular admissions group. I would argue it's stronger on the whole, but boards like these aren't the place for reasoned discussion.</p>
<p>Haha. Well I certainly know a bunch of undergrad professors in the legal realm, and I know the line between these guys and the Law School professors can blur. Also, I'm doing a research project, which I hope will open the right doors to the right people.</p>
<p>If your numbers are below the median, then you will certainly benefit from applying ED. However, the boost will be limited when compared to undergraduate admissions. If the choice is between going to a lower ranked T-14 and going to NYU, then don't apply ED. Apply early, but not ED. If the choice is between a T14 and schools outside of that group, apply ED (this also assumes that you're main focus is on getting into the top-private firms and you're not concerned as much about debt if you got into a T14). These are simply meant to be my personal suggestions, and not some absolute statement on the best path.</p>