The Lone Star State has finally gotten in on that sweet sweet GRE action. After reporting yesterday that there were 9 schools accepting the GRE in lieu of the LSAT for admission beginning in the Fall of 2018, today we have word that another school has joined their ranks, creating the the GRE Top 10.
As reported by Texas Lawyer, Texas A&M is the first Texan law school to join the ranks of Harvard, Columbia, Northwestern, Arizona, Georgetown, Hawaii, Washington University in St. Louis, St. John’s, and Wake Forest in accepting the GRE.
As I indicated yesterday, we haven’t seen the last school to make a move towards the GRE; a recent survey by Kaplan Test Prep found that 25 percent of law schools have plans in the works to accept the GRE, and as the floodgates open we’ll see more schools rush through.
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In what has become a typical statement following the move to the GRE, A&M touts the wider applicant pool — to those not serious enough about going to law school to bother with the LSAT — as a primary benefit:
“It will also make law school more attractive to highly qualified students who have diverse educational backgrounds and interests, including students from fields such as engineering and science,” [interim dean Thomas] Mitchell said.
The school conducted its own validity study and found the GRE was an acceptable admissions exam in compliance with ABA standard 503, which requires alternatives to the LSAT be “valid and reliable.” The ABA has yet to officially weigh in on whether the GRE meets that criteria, though the Educational Testing Service –the makers of the GRE — has completed their own study affirming the validity of the exam.
So, with application season upon us, which school will be the next to accept the GRE?
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Kathryn Rubino is an editor at Above the Law. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).