When the economy tanks (like it has been doing), application volume and competition for LS admission increases a lot. That has held true for the last two decades with the economic ups and downs.
Meaning, you really have to have your numbers and application materials in great form because you are competing against more people.
For now I'll refrain from expressing my opinions about Obama's socialist agenda that is influencing the economy (not to mention his health care thing he is trying to ram through).
BTW, I applied during a previous bad economic time period. I didn't hear back from many schools until April, May and some in June! I vividly remember staking out and sitting next to in a beach chair my mail box daily (I wasn't working at the time) for many weeks. The mailbox was downstairs and around back from my front door.
The postal carrier knew me well and what I was waiting for. I actually carried a beach chair and a cooler with food and beverages down a big flight of stairs out to the mailboxes daily and sat there for a long time each day. I was living beachfront in Socal at the time so I got a nice tan, watched the ocean, all the girls jogging and rollerblading by while I sat and waited there eating sandwiches and snacks so it wasn't bad.
I'm glad the mailman understood and never pepper sprayed me!
When the acceptance I wanted the most and went with came in in May I was inside upstairs on the top story of my place and the postal carrier went out of his way to walk up a bunch of stairs to my front door, knocked on it really loud, waited for me to get downstairs to the door, handed it to me and said congratulations. He knew how important it was to me.
The school is a family tradition.
Author