Law Schools

Elite Law School Enters The Post-LSAT World

How many more people will apply to law school if they don't have to take the LSAT?

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Another T14 law school has decided that the LSAT isn’t all that, and will begin offering applicants the option to avoid the dreaded test entirely and still attend the school.

Today, the University of Pennsylvania Law School announced all applicants for their J.D. programs will have the option of taking either the LSAT, GRE, or GMAT as part of the admissions process. The dean, Ted Ruger, said, while the option is open to all applicants, the pilot program was designed to facilitate the applications of those interested in the law school’s joint degree programs:

“Penn Law is the leader in cross-disciplinary curriculum and degree offerings, and this pilot program aims to build on those strengths,” said Ted Ruger, Dean of Penn Law. “This new initiative allows applicants who plan to take the GMAT or GRE, particularly those interested in our joint degree programs such as our many partnerships with Wharton, including the Francis J. and Wm. Polk Carey JD/MBA program, or our Law and Technology joint degrees with Penn Engineering, to support their application to Penn Law with a single test.”

Penn Law now becomes the 19th law school to accept the GRE in admissions decisions (though they’re the first to accept the GMAT). They join the ranks of team GRE along with Harvard, Columbia, St. John’s, Brooklyn, Northwestern, Arizona, Georgetown, Hawaii, Washington University in St. Louis, Wake Forest, Cardozo School of Law, Texas A&M, BYU, John Marshall Law School, Florida State, Pace, UCLA, and Chicago-Kent College of Law (University of Chicago and University of Georgia allow candidates in dual degree programs skip the LSAT). And we should expect even more schools to jump aboard the good ship GRE — according to a Kaplan survey, a full 25 percent of law schools have plans in the works to accept the GRE.

The ABA is still the body responsible for law school accreditation, and they’ve been dragging their feet on officially weighing in on the validity of law schools using anything but the LSAT in admissions decisions. The current ABA Standard 503 requires admissions tests and that they be “valid and reliable” but in April, an ABA committee recommended eliminating the accreditation standard mandating that schools use a standardized test in admissions. The ABA Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar has agreed to the change, but it still must be adopted by the ABA House of Delegates before it’s official.

Now, law schools will likely keep standardized testing as a component of the  admissions process. But backing away from the requirement language in law school accreditation standards (should it be approved) will give the all-clear to law schools experimenting with GRE.

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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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