Law Schools

Another Law School Jumps On The GRE Train

This won't be the last law school to accept the GRE.

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All aboard!

Yet another law school has decided to reject the necessity of the LSAT — the traditional law school admissions exam — in favor of providing applicants with a choice. Yesterday, the John Marshall Law School in Chicago announced it would accept GRE scores for Fall 2018 admission.

For those keeping track of the seemingly inevitable wave of law schools branching out to accept the GRE, there are now 15 law school that take the GRE — that’s over 5 percent of law schools overall. Harvard, Northwestern, Arizona, Georgetown, Hawaii, Washington University in St. Louis, Wake Forest, Texas A&M, BYU, Cardozo, and George Washington also no longer require the LSAT. (Plus UCLA Law and the University of Chicago allow some students to take the GRE. Such as if they’re applying to a joint degree program or if already enrolled in another graduate program at the school.)

And don’t think this is the end of the schools jumping on the GRE bandwagon. According to a recent survey by Kaplan Test Prep, 25 percent of law schools have plans in the works to accept the GRE.

In the announcement of the admissions requirement change, Chante Spann, Assistant Dean for Admissions, touted the enhanced diversity accepting the GRE is expected to reap:

“Diversity, opportunity, and innovation have been guiding ideals at The John Marshall Law School for more than 115 years,” Chante Spann, Assistant Dean for Admissions at John Marshall, said. “By accepting the GRE, we’re offering students who might not have otherwise considered law school access to a legal education and the opportunity to change lives.”

This trend of GRE use in law school admissions is only expected to continue, despite the fact the ABA still hasn’t weighed in on the validity of the GRE as an alternative to the LSAT. The question is whether the GRE meets accreditation Standard 503, which requires admissions tests be “valid and reliable.” Several law schools as well as the Educational Testing Service — the makers of the GRE — have done their own studies, which unsurprisingly affirm the validity of the exam.

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John Marshall Law School’s decision to accept the GRE also may cast light on whether the University of Illinois College of Law is ready to get on board with the GRE. The University of Illinois at Chicago and John Marshall are in talks to merge, and it might make sense for the university system to have a unified stance on the admissions process.

headshotKathryn 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).

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