Law Schools

Law Schools Reveal Their Future Plans For The LSAT And GRE

Is the LSAT doomed to be a relic of the past? Law schools weigh in!

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test exam lastLike winter, change is coming to the law school admissions process. For those who have not been following the latest controversy in law school admissions, Arizona Law School recently announced they’d accept students who had only taken the GRE and not the LSAT. Arizona’s controversial move was seemingly forced by declining applications. In accepting the GRE in lieu of the LSAT, Arizona Law conducted their own study as to the validity of the change, and those results are being evaluated by the American Bar Association.

And Arizona is not alone. Many law schools, particularly those outside of the very top of the rankings, have seen their application numbers dwindle, and with that has come a lowering of admissions standards. By opening up the pool of applicants to those who have not taken the demanding LSAT exam, the hope is Arizona will be better able to fill its classes. Though, to date, only a handful of students have been accepted to Arizona Law with only the GRE, the school expects the number to climb.

But what about the other law schools? Is Arizona Law the start of a new trend? Or is Arizona the only school that’s willing to make the switch? Instead of the speculation that has dominated the conversation thus far, Kaplan Test Prep actually surveyed law schools to find out what was in store for the future of law school admissions. Kaplan conducted an anonymous survey of 125 law schools to find out exactly how close the LSAT is to being a relic of the past.

The short answer is not very close. Fifty-six percent of those surveyed say they won’t be adopting the GRE as a law school admissions test. Fourteen percent are onboard with the change, and the remaining 30 percent are undecided if they’ll be making the move. According to Kaplan’s press release:

“Right now, there doesn’t seem to be any great enthusiasm by law schools to adopt the GRE as an alternative to the LSAT, which isn’t too surprising considering that law schools tend to be judicious, wanting to see all evidence and research before making an important decision like this,” says Jeff Thomas, executive director of pre-law programs, Kaplan Test Prep. “What’s particularly interesting is that nearly a third of law schools say they are unsure if they will accept the GRE, as opposed to simply being against it, which suggests that the pro-GRE movement has room to grow. We’ll be watching developments closely so that pre-law students have the most accurate and up-to-date information to make good decisions.”

I spoke with Thomas in advance of the announcement of the survey results, and he noted law schools are being cautious about potentially moving to the GRE. While noting this could be a boon for their schools, perhaps one that is too good to be true, most are waiting on additional guidance from the ABA, and also potentially from their own validity studies.

The Kaplan survey went further than just asking law schools what they would do, they also delved into why. Arizona’s move to the GRE has been couched in lofty rhetoric of increasing the diversity of their school, but it isn’t hard for savvy observers to note other factors that may be driving the change — specifically, the dropping application numbers. In order to continuing being financially viable, law schools simply must put butts in seats. Like an academic Galactus, once schools have gone through the pool of LSAT takers, moving to the pool of GRE takers is seen as a logical progression. And because the U.S. News & World Report rankings haven’t yet caught up with the change, the schools’ precious rankings will remain unscathed.

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Eight in 10 admissions officers say that law schools that accept the GRE might do so because they “want a more diverse pool of applicants and students.” But admissions officers say there are other, less altruistic reasons law schools may allow applicants to submit GRE scores. Eighty-four percent say law schools that adopt the GRE may do so because they are “concerned about filling seats because of dropping/stagnant application numbers.” And 70 percent say it could be because U.S. News & World Report doesn’t yet factor GRE scores of accepted students into their rankings — this would allow law schools to admit potentially less qualified students without immediate consequences.

While noting the pressure that law schools are under to fill their classes, Thomas was struck by the quality of law school admissions personal and their genuine desire to expand opportunities for potential law students. He said that when admissions professionals go through applications they come across candidates who they feel may be well-qualified or who they want to take a chance on but they simply cannot admit them because of testing thresholds. Making a change to the GRE may allow schools to bet on these students, and they may indeed thrive in the law school environment.

But they may not thrive, or they may find themselves ill prepared to pass the bar exam. In recent years, as law schools have lowered their admissions standards, there has been a correlation to sharp dips in bar passage rates. Indeed, Erica Moeser, head of the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE), puts the blame for declining bar passage rates squarely on lower law school admissions standards.

Yes, the LSAT may prevent some people from getting into law school, but if those people find themselves unable to pass the bar exam at the end of law school, is that a bad thing? Perhaps their dreams will be crushed, but at least they won’t have accumulated six figures in educational debt before they realize being a practicing attorney is just not in the cards for them. As Thomas said, “The LSAT is a harder test, no doubt about it. It’s a significant barrier to entry, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.”

All of these interests are what schools, and the ABA, must consider when evaluating the usefulness of the GRE as a law school admissions test. Given the conservative and risk-adverse nature of legal education as a whole, it seems even if they are coming, the seas of change will take some time to get here. Which means, at least for now, the LSAT remains king.

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Earlier: Arizona Law Picked A Fight With A Big Dog
Law School Deans Fight Back Against The Tyranny Of The LSAT
LSAC Is Backing Off Arizona Law School, For Now
This Law School Will Pay You To Take The GRE To Save Its U.S. News Rank From The Dreaded LSAT
Who Is To Blame For The Dumbing Of The Legal Profession?
Killing The LSAT Is A Bad Deal For Students
Which Law School’s Enrollment Has Dropped By More Than 50 Percent?
This Law School’s Enrollment Is Down By Almost 80 Percent
Law School Applications Plummet

Kathryn Rubino is an editor at Above the Law. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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