Another Law School Bends To The Winds Of Change In Admissions
Full steam ahead for the GRE train!
It used to be that to even consider becoming a lawyer, you had to ace — or at least do pretty well — on the LSAT. But now that over 30 law schools accept the GRE in lieu of the LSAT, that’s not always true. And more law schools are hopping on the GRE train all the time.
The latest law school to offer students the opportunity to opt out of the LSAT is Seton Hall Law. In their statement on the admissions change, the school focused on the GRE’s ability to attract a broader base of students to law school. As Dean Kathleen M. Boozang said:
“Law can be a very welcoming field for those with interdisciplinary backgrounds, particularly those with STEM degrees, but the act of transitioning to law school can seem so daunting that the value of the law degree gets obscured. We hope that accepting an interdisciplinary test will allow more people to see that a law degree will enhance their careers, particularly those who may not intend to use the degree to practice law.”
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For those keeping track at home, here are the 30+ schools that accept the GRE for admissions purposes:
- Harvard
- Yale
- 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
- Chicago-Kent College of Law
- Penn
- USC
- Cornell
- Buffalo
- NYU
- Florida International University College of Law
- SMU Dedman
- Penn State Law at University Park
- UC Irvine
- Alabama
- BU
- University of Akron School of Law
- University of Chicago and University of Georgia both allow candidates in dual degree programs to skip the LSAT
- Berkeley Law lets students in concurrent or combined degree programs and specialized practice fields submit their GRE score
And we are likely to only see this trend continue. According to a survey by Kaplan Test Prep, a full 25 percent of law schools have plans to accept the GRE. Another Kaplan study determined 49 percent of students surveyed support the move to the GRE.
Even though more and more law schools are on board with the GRE, the body responsible for law school accreditation, the American Bar Association, hasn’t officially weighed in on using anything other than the LSAT in admissions. ABA accreditation Standard 503 currently mandates that law schools require admissions testing and that the test used be “valid and reliable.” Whether the GRE meets that standard, the ABA hasn’t officially said. But now that so many law schools have moved on the GRE, it might be impossible to put the toothpaste back in the tube.
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Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. 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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