Boston College Law Announces Early Decision Program

Boston College (BC) Law School is now letting applicants apply via early decision. The law school announced the launch of its new early decision admissions program earlier this week.

“We are pleased to bring our Early Decision Program forward as a new milestone for both prospective students and the Law School itself,” Shawn McShay, assistant dean for Graduate Enrollment Management at Boston College, says. “It provides opportunities and greater certainty for those applying to BC Law and selecting the incoming class as their first choice, should they be admitted.”

Early decision is a binding admission process—meaning that if accepted, an applicant must attend. BC Law’s early decision application deadline is November 1, with early decisions released by December 15.

EARLY DECISION: PROS VS. CONS

If you’re intent on attending a specific law school, applying via early decision may signal to admissions officers that you’re highly interested in their program—which experts say can help boost your chances of admission.

“Applying early decision signals to admissions officers that an applicant is so interested in attending their school that he or she is willing to forgo all other applications if accepted,” Gabriel Kuris, founder of Top Law Coach, writes for US News. “Law schools prefer such highly motivated applicants because they raise campus morale, they don’t need to be wooed and they make it easier to lock in a balanced incoming class. Admissions officers are therefore a bit more lenient toward early decision applicants whose grades or LSAT score are lower than the school median. This gives their chances of admission a little nudge.”

But Kuris also warns that early decision’s binding commitment may limit options for financial aid packages, as an applicant is tied to one law school.

“Because of this commitment, early decision applicants have little leverage to negotiate for higher merit-based scholarships or to defer admission by one or two years,” Kuris says. “Once you’ve bought a car, it’s a lot harder to ask for a discount.”

Luckily, at BC Law, early decision applicants have access to three scholarship and financial aid options.

“We have a very special community at BC Law,” McShay says. “We look for applicants who embody the values of that community and who will thrive both in our program and as leaders in the profession after graduation. Early Decision is about finding a good fit—both for the applicants and for the Law School.”

Sources: Boston College Law School Magazine, US News