Well, at least their admissions offices are.
This time of year I'm thinking of two examples in particular.
Have you noticed how quick they are to take your application fees — say, back in September — and you're still waiting for a decision in March?
Many schools kick that can down the road as long as possible by keeping unconscionably deep waitlists, but it's amazing to me that every year there are schools that don't even do you the courtesy of keeping you updated.
Cherry blossoms are blooming and they're still deciding what to do with your applications.
Because half a year (or more!) isn't enough time, it seems.
You can tell I don't love that practice. (And yes, I see all your angst and agony over on Reddit.)
When I tell law school applicants at the start of the season that it's going to be a marathon and not a sprint, they usually forget about that conversation by the time the spring rolls around, deposit deadlines are coming up, and they're wondering how it's possible that they don't have all their decisions yet.
To which I say: Welcome to law school admissions. (Do top undergrad and MBA programs do things this way? Nope!)
One other way in which law schools have become agents of chaos is the explosion of extra hoops you are expected to jump through.
For applicants who are just now starting the process, cast an eye at Berkeley's application components, for example. Keep scrolling... and scrolling... and scrolling... all the way to the bottom. Wowza.
And some schools love the practice of embedding additional essay prompts in their online applications on the LSAC platform without listing them on their admissions websites (looking at you, UVA), so what I call "hidden essays" can sneak up on you. Unfortunately, some law schools are starting to replicate that terrible and longer-standing practice from the Common App.
You know what else has exploded? Interviews. They are much more common than they were before, and now some schools are even asking for *multiple* interviews. For example, last cycle, Penn did a standard interview after reviewing the application, then did a second interview during waitlist season.
Want to apply for a named scholarship? More essays... and more interviews, some of which are offered only on short notice and on campus (looking at you, Cornell).
Is this all a form a yield protection?
You bet.
But the biggest card that they hold for yield protection remains Early Decision, and this cycle I've seen some schools become more aggressive with trying to fill their incoming classes via Early Decision.
In fact, if you're on the high end of the GPA+LSAT score combination (along with some nice soft factors), the Columbia/Chicago/Penn/etc. tier is going to do some basic game theory, and there's a good chance that they're going to assume that you're holding out for HYS if you do RD instead of ED at their own school. Be prepared for hoops... and hoops... and hoops... and often a WL... and more hoops at those top schools if they offer the opportunity to ED and you do RD instead. Keep in mind that part of their game theory is that they know that you're doing game theory too, and they know that you know that HYS don't offer ED.
That means that you can avoid some of the school-generated chaos in the post-submission part of the cycle by making thoughtful, strategic decisions around Early Decision at the start of the cycle.
One other game-theory tidbit for you to contemplate:
Are you optimizing for price or are you optimizing for admission? Bear in mind that you're not even in the running for a tuition discount at School X if you don't get into School X. 🫠
I expect Early Decision to remain important because top LSAT scores have also proliferated recently:
LSAT scores, like any currency, are subject to inflation. Sometimes that's because high scorers dip in and out of the applicant pool as a function of the larger economy and/or the Presidential administration, and other times because LSAC makes the test easier. Or both at the same time. That 176 isn't so special at the moment, and that has ripple effects across the whole food chain of law schools.
The ‘25 season isn’t over yet. Hang in there.