Application volume has risen this year by approximately 6 percent, which means we have more applications to review compared to this time last year. Our applications may rise further as the rate accelerates between now and our February 1 deadline. Nevertheless, the review process is proceeding smoothly and methodically. Please be patient. It is a deliberative process. There are no numerical cut-offs; each application is reviewed, and this takes time. Some admission decisions have been released, and we will continue to make admission offers through March. Keep tabs on your status-checker.

Due to the volume of applications at present, the majority of initial admission notifications are being made via email. I am inundated at present and do not have time to make personal phone calls. I regret this very much because phoning new admits is one of the highlights of my work. The first wave of admission packets will be mailed the week of December 15. We have not finalized any deny decisions yet.

A caveat to those of you who have a Yahoo or Hotmail email account: For some reason, our email often ends up in your spam or junk mail folders. Please be sure to check for our messages there and to adjust your email system accordingly to route our messages into your inbox!

We will close for the holiday break beginning December 22. I have no plans to read applications during the vacation. However, anything can happen because my staff thinks I’m addicted to file-reading. Along with the rest of the Admissions staff, I will return on January 5, 2009. Expect heavy decision-making to ensue shortly thereafter.

I know this is an anxious time for everyone. Thank you for entrusting us with your application and for your patience as we make these important decisions.

All the best,

Edward Tom

As many of you have noticed, the application went live this week and is available on both our website and as an e-app through LSAC. We have been getting plenty of questions through email and on the phone, and I thought I’d address a few of them here. More will follow, but feel free to post your questions here as well.

When to Apply / The Review Process

Here are a few of the questions we’ve been getting related to this subject:

• Am I at a disadvantage taking the December LSAT?

No. We accept December LSAT scores.

Although we operate using rolling admissions, there is no significant disadvantage to applying somewhat later than October - November. Plenty of people apply then, and plenty of them get in. The rolling admissions system is not designed to admit people that otherwise would not have been admitted but for the fact that they applied early. Likewise, we seek to admit highly qualified applicants, even those that apply later.

If you are worried, you can submit your application before your LSAT score is released. This strategy allows for processing time and as soon as your score becomes available your file can be reviewed (assuming we have all the required elements except your LSAT score).

What we recommend that you avoid is taking the December LSAT, writing you personal statement over winter break, requesting letters of rec in January when you are back in school, and submitting your app February 1st. In other words: Minimize the procrastination. And even if you do procrastinate, if you apply by the deadline your file will be read and reviewed throughly and thoughtfully.

• If I apply on October 1st, when can I expect to get a decision?

It’s difficult to say. Rolling admissions = rolling decisions. We will notify you via email when your application is complete and ready for review. We anticipate beginning to read files in mid- to late-October.

The first step in the review process is Administrative review, and out of that process your application will either be admitted, denied, or sent to the Faculty Admissions Committee. Theoretically, you could hear from us rather quickly, within just a few days or weeks of going complete. Alternatively, it could be longer, but that doesn’t mean you won’t be admitted. We get busy here too, and sometimes it takes us longer to review files.

If your application is sent to the Faculty Admissions Committee, we try to tell you that via email. The Admissions Committee reviews files in batches and either admits, denies, or wait lists applicants. The files have to be collected for the Committee, they have to meet and make decisions, and then our office has to process those decisions…All of that takes time.

The short answer: How long it will take for a decision to reach you can vary a great deal from applicant to applicant.

• Can I apply for Early Decision?

No. Berkeley Law does not offer Early Decision.