Law Schools

Rumors Of The LSAT's Demise Were Greatly Exaggerated

Everybody wants in on June's LSAT.

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Elevated view of students writing their GCSE examThe Law School Admission Test — LSAT in common terms — was once the only path to getting a J.D. Law schools needed a standardized test for the admissions process, and the LSAT was the only game in town once upon a time.

Beginning in 2016 there was an assault launched on the dominance of the LSAT. That’s when Arizona Law announced they’d accept the GRE in admissions. Ever since, there’s been an onslaught of schools accepting the alternate test — with the blessing of the American Bar Association. Over 50% of law schools now accept the GRE in admissions! Cue the GRE trend pieces…

But the LSAT is a resilient tradition in the law school ecosphere, and many wannabe lawyers have signed up to take the upcoming administration of the test. As a result the administrators of the LSAT have added an additional testing day — going from three dates to four — for the June administration of the exam. As reported by ABA Journal:

Testing will now take place June 5, 6, 7 and 8, according to the LSAC website. As of April 26, more than 36,000 students had registered for the June LSAT, according to the LSAC. Previously, the largest LSAT administration since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic was in November 2020, with more than 27,000 test-takers.

The upper limit of test-takers typically is 10,000 to 11,000 per day, says Susan L. Krinsky, the LSAC’s vice president for operations and chief of staff.

Last June, 18,354 students registered to take the test, according to the LSAC.

“That’s probably why we assumed that three days would be sufficient,” Krinsky adds.

So, what’s behind the booming popularity of the LSAT? Well, June is the last time you can take the test with the infamous logic games section of the exam, as the LSAT is going through a revamp soon. Krinsky says there are some masochists that want in on both versions of the test, “There are people who just want to try both.”

Plus, the way the Supreme Court keeps chipping away at our rights is motivating folks to go to law school. Krinsky said, “There are some really significant Supreme Court cases that are getting a lot of attention. And that might say to potential applicants there’s a real there’s a reason to go to law school and be a part of this.” So I guess the unprecedented times we live in have a benefit — if you’re a law school.

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Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. 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 or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.

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