2013:Looking-Ahead at Sobering LSAC Statistics; Looking-Back at Aggregated LSAT Performance.

We hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and are all ready to tackle 2013!  The new year is shaping up to be yet another interesting one for us in the law school admissions game.  Last week, we shared with you 2012 statistics from the LSAC regarding application trends for this past fall.  The LSAC has also published some forward-looking statistics, based upon early applicants for the fall of 2013.

In what continues to be shocking news, as of December 7^th, applicants are down 22.4% and applications are down 24.6% from 2012.  If this trend continues, the total number of applicants for the incoming Fall 2013 class will be ~51,000.  To put that number in perspective for you, 56,000 applicants were admitted for the Fall of 2011 – 5,000 more than the currently-expected applicant pool.  For the first time ever, ABA schools may have fewer applicants than historic acceptances.  Absent proactive class contraction, some schools may have some tough choices to make.  This will be a very interesting year to watch.

Regardless, the LSAT will continue to be a crucial part of all candidate applications.  And that’s why we’re here.  All this month, we’ll be taking an in-depth look at one of the LSAC’s many, many research reports. Specifically we’ll be analyzing, LSAT Performance With Regional, Gender, and Racial/Ethnic Breakdowns: 2005–2006 Through 2011–2012 Testing Years.  In the subsequent weeks, we’ll slice and dice LSAT performance data – just as the report says – by geography, gender, race and ethnicity.  We will not be editorializing as to why the data is as it is, but will be sharing some highlights for you that you may be able to share with your advisees as they seek to put together competitive applications this spring and next fall.

Thanks for making Kaplan one of your trusted sources for relevant – and hopefully intriguing – information in 2012.  We look forward to more conversation right here this year.