LobsterLawHawk56 '25–'26 app cycle

Hello! This will be a report of my decisions/recap of my cycle so far. It will be updated as decisions come in. Below my recount of decisions, you can find my wisdom for any potential future applicants looking at my profile.

University of Houston - Result: Acceptance. January 15, 2026

My first decision of the cycle was also the first school that I applied to. I am very grateful to receive an acceptance for my first decision! UHLC is a strong in-state option for me and perhaps one of the more underrated T100 schools. However, I was a little disappointed not to receive any scholarship money, which could make attending more of a challenge. Still, I am looking forward to see what other schools have to offer before making my final decision. Go Cougars!

University of Texas at Austin - Result: Waitlist. January 23, 2026

I was not expecting to hear from Texas this soon, and definitely not at 5:00 pm on a Friday of a fairly slow decision week. Nonetheless, this result was not much of a surprise for me. UT Austin was always my “hail Mary” school, and I knew that it would be a reach with my LSAT score. Even though I was a little bit disappointed since UT Austin is my state public flagship university, I am grateful that I was not outright rejected, and I fully intend to ride the waitlist.

Pennsylvania State University - Result: Acceptance. January 30, 2026

After a week of radio silence from schools, this was very much a pleasant surprise! Not only did I get an acceptance from Penn State, but also with a scholarship of $54,000 a year! I am very grateful for this offer, as it would very nearly cover the full tuition. Penn State was a safety for me, but also the first school to offer me money through a scholarship. Most certainly I will consider this as an option. Go Lions!

University of Wisconsin - Result: Waitlist. February 3, 2026

I received the email on Tuesday afternoon. It was not an unexpected result as Wisconsin seems to be trying to raise their medians this year and my LSAT score is only slightly above their medians. Still, it was a disappointing result nonetheless. Ah well, now to continue waiting for other decisions to come in!

Texas A&M University - Result: Waitlist. February 9, 2026

This one stings. Of all the top 30 schools, this is the one that I thought I would have the best shot at. Plus, besides UT, it is the best school in my state. Very disappointing result, especially since there were people with my stats who got admitted. Oh well, I guess I’ll have one more waitlist to ride this cycle, hoping that better results are coming!

University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign - Result: Acceptance. February 10, 2026

Just got the email around 3:30! My banner disappeared on the 9th, so I had a hunch that I would hear soon. This was one of my top choices, so I am very pleased at this result! Scholarship money was a little low, but considering my LSAT score I’m grateful for the acceptance. Go Illini!

University of Colorado, Boulder - Result: Acceptance. February 13, 2026

I got the email just before noon. Very happy to receive an acceptance from Colorado Law. However, no merit scholarship and out of state tuition makes this a difficult one to accept. Still, glad that I got in. Go Buffs!

Temple University - Result: Waitlist. February 13, 2026

I got this email only ten minutes after the Colorado acceptance. Disappointed by this result. I really thought that I had a shot for Temple, and they were one of the first schools that I applied to. Oh well, there are still other options!

University of Maine - Result: Acceptance. February 17, 2026

I got the call from the Dean this afternoon. Very happy with this result!

University of Minnesota - Result: Rejection. February 17, 2026

When there is good news, there must come bad. Got this result only about 30 minutes after my Maine acceptance. First rejection of the cycle. Disappointing, especially since I thought I had a good chance and expected at least a waitlist. Ah well, on with the next!

University of Denver - Result: Waitlist. February 18, 2026

This one surprised me. Being at the 75th for LSAT and over the 75th for GPA, I thought for sure that I would be accepted. I suppose law school applications truly are unpredictable.

University of California, Davis - Result: Rejection. February 23, 2026

This one was disappointing, especially since I got into similarly ranked schools. It was also one of my top choices, making this an all more unfortunate result. Really thought that I would at least get a waitlist.

University of Connecticut - Result: Waitlist. February 24, 2026

With how many people UConn was waitlisting this year, I sort of expected that this was coming. However, still unfortunate since I thought I had a real chance here. UConn wasn’t my top choice of school, but an acceptance still would have been nice.

Rutgers University - Result: Rejection. March 2, 2026

This was the surprise of the cycle. Rutgers was one of my super safeties, so a rejection certainly was not something that I was expecting. I have better offers from better schools, so it doesn’t really matter, but still a shocking result nonetheless.

Boston University - Result: Waitlist. March 9, 2026

This is the result that I was waiting for. Certainly not ideal, but I knew that this was the most likely outcome. I will hold on to some hope of getting off, although that’s probably unlikely.

Washington University in St. Louis - Result: Rejection. March 13, 2026

Probably the biggest disappointment of the cycle. I was really hoping that WashU would come through, or that I would at least be placed on the waitlist. Oh well, five more to go!

Villanova University - Result: Rejection. April 1, 2026

No April fools here - I got the email in the afternoon. Disappointing result, especially since I recently got to visit Villanova and quite liked it. Oh well, at least they finally got back to me!

University of Alabama - Result: Waitlist. April 13, 2026

This one hurts, but it was entirely expected since it appears that very few people with a sub 169 LSAT score got in this cycle. Still, as a graduate of Alabama’s undergrad, this is still very disappointing to see.

Withdrawals

April 10, 2026, University of Colorado-Boulder — I really hated to do this, but I just couldn’t justify full out of state tuition at Colorado. It’s an excellent school, but I think I’ll pass on the almost $300,000 in debt!

April 13, 2026, University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign — One of my top choices this cycle. Unfortunately, my scholarship was just too low and I could not justify over $200,000 in debt.

April 15, 2026, Penn State Dickinson — Penn State gave me a really good scholarship. Unfortunately, I wasn’t totally in love with the school when I visited, and its sort of in the middle of nowhere. Good school, but it just didn’t seem like the right fit for me. You can only go to law school once, so you might as well be really sure and really excited about the option you choose.

Update April 16

I have decided to wait out the waitlists and R&R. I had some good options, but I just didn’t feel that I would be best served attending at this time. Besides, I think that I can do better on my LSAT, hopefully get some better options next cycle. Until next time…

Texas A&M University - Result: Acceptance. May 6, 2026

I got the call the morning of the 6th. Honestly, I am shocked by this result. Before I got the call, I had already withdrawn from all of my acceptances and had written off this cycle. I was going full force into LSAT study and R&R planning. It really does show that life can sometimes be unpredictable! I’m once again, back in the fall 2026 law school game!

University of Wisconsin - Result: Acceptance. June 30, 2026

I was surprised to get an interview. A day later I got my acceptance email. Scholarship came afterwards. I attempted to negotiate to hopefully match the offer with Texas A&M, however I only got a few thousand dollars more. I am happy that I got another acceptance at a school like Wisconsin, but ultimately had to turn them down over cost.

Texas A&M University - Result: Attending. July 31, 2026

It took me a long time to get here. I applied to 21 schools from sea to shining sea. Definitely applied to more than I was initially expecting, I probably overdid it. I applied to around 6-7 “Reaches” 6-7 “Targets” and about 7 “Safeties”. For most of the schools I applied to, I was a reverse splitter. My results were sort of surprising: I got into accepted and rejected into schools across the board, and the patterns did not always make sense. This cycle, this past year, was LONG. I can still remember being a senior in college ready to graduate working through Ellen Cassidy’s the Loophole book in Logical Reasoning. Last summer and fall, I spent hours studying for the LSAT. Following that, months writing my essays and sending our applications. The hardest part was definitely the waiting. It was only a few months ago that I was withdrawing from all of my initial acceptances, I did not expect playing the waitlists to be successful.

In the end, I had choices. I chose Texas A&M because it was the best school I could get into for the lowest amount of debt possible. Although some might disagree, It is the second best school in my state according to LSD and US News. I am incredibly grateful for this outcome and I am really excited to begin this next phase of my life!

Parting Advice

Having been through it all, If I were to redo the application process earlier, I would not have applied to as many schools. 21 was WAY too many, and, even with the various fee waivers I collected, way too expensive. I really think that for the vast majority of applicants, unless you are blanketing the T14 or are fishing for negotiation money, there is no need for more than 15, and even that might be a lot. Apply to the schools that you really want to attend.

I would also like to remind any future applicants that even if you think that you would want to attend a certain school, it is always possible and perfectly fine to visit and find that you don’t like it. If you’re unsure that you’ll be happy at a school or have a bad feeling, the safest bet is not to attend.

Also, don’t count yourself out just because you’re on the waitlist. LOCIs matter. Your essays and interest in a school matters. If you’re on the waitlist for a school or schools you think that you might want to attend, don’t be afraid to send multiple LOCIs every few weeks or months. Adcoms will read them, and they could get you in, even with scholarship. I thought that I was totally out this cycle when all I had was my waitlists left, and now I’m attending one of my waitlists. It’s not over until you step foot on campus on the first day of school.

Don’t take out needless debt to attend law school. I kind of already talked about this below, but schools will try to convince you to take out more debt for their school. Law schools only have so much money to give out every year, and you only have so much power to negotiate. Even if they come up, that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to accept if they don’t give you what you need. Don’t blindly attend your cheapest option. It’s normal to have doubts, but you do need to be sure that you really do want to attend the school you go to, because you will be there for the next three years of your life, and where you go will profoundly affect the after. However, don’t attend a school that’s significantly more expensive when it has the same, worse, or marginally better outcomes. In other words, go to the best school for the cheapest price. If that school’s not for you, don’t go.

My last piece of advice is probably the hardest. But if you’re a future applicant, be easy on yourself, and touch grass. It is so easy to let this process get to you. Even at the end, you may doubt whether you made the right decision. Trust yourself. Trust your gut. Make the best decision for yourself and your career. To repeat another piece of advice I read on LSD, you will end up where you’re supposed to, not necessarily where you originally thought you would be. The waiting will be hard. The temptation to incessantly browse Reddit, stare at the recent decisions and search for other applicants on LSD, and refresh your status checkers will be strong. Most applicants, myself included, probably fall to that temptation. Don’t waste too much time on this. Do something else, spend time with friends and family, or on your hobbies. In the end, what will come to pass will come to pass, no matter how many times a day you log into LSD or Reddit.

Best of luck, and final goodbyes!

My main advice for those who might begin the process in the future would most certainly be to start studying for the LSAT EARLY. Take it as many times as you need, and start working on your personal statement, optional essays, and letters of recommendation the summer before. Make sure that you spend time working on your applications. Effort shows through your essays, and schools are more likely to admit you and offer scholarships if they see that you put in the effort to apply, and didn’t just cut corners to get an application out faster. Also, I found that I was crafting higher-quality applications on the schools that I applied to later, because I was more familiar with the process. If there are schools that you really want to attend, it is best to save those for last where you can really submit a high value application, rather than to rush it to be an earlier applicant. Be sure to apply to schools that you would like to attend, and do plenty of research beforehand.

Apply broadly, and make sure to sign up for CRS. It saves A LOT of money down the line. Apply broadly to schools you think you have a reasonable shot at. Maybe add a few “hail Mary” passes, and look to see how much money you could get at each school. The LSAT Demon scholarship estimator was a big help to me when it came to estimating potential costs, but is often wrong. It may be a better idea to look on LSD scholarship data for people of your stats in the latest cycle. Assume that you will get less than you expect. Then, estimate the total cost of attendance on a school’s website to see how much a year a certain school it likely to cost including fees and cost of living.

Law school costs A LOT of money, even excluding the opportunity cost. The schools that are most likely to give you the most money to make it even somewhat affordable and to make the in most cases inevitable debt burden even somewhat manageable are likely to be schools where you are way above the medians. Be sure to identify “safety” schools that you would like to attend and that can help you reach your goals, then go where the money is. However, it is also important to look at the quality of the school you are going to. Make sure you are comfortable with the most likely outcome of a school before you commit. Also, be sure to visit if you can. If you are not totally on board and excited for a school that is low debt and ok with its median outcomes, it is better not to go than to go and find out you hate it.

Last piece of advice, pack a lot of patience. Good luck to all current and future applicants!