It is no secret that law schools are dealing with declining numbers of applicants, and as a result, smaller law school classes. What may be bad news for law schools may turn out to be good news for those who are still interested in attending. The National Law Journal recently reported a significant change in the way in which law schools will be looking at June LSAT scores. As a general rule, anyone taking the June LSAT knew it was too late to apply for admission for the fall term. But this year, at least 25 law schools announced a change to this policy and said they would consider scores from the recently administered June test.
Historically to be considered for fall admissions, prospective law students would need to take the LSAT no later than the February preceding matriculation (December for some schools); anyone taking the June LSAT would be getting a head start on applications that open in the fall for the next year.
Faced with a 34% decline in applications since the peak of 2010, law schools are looking for different ways to boost their numbers. Jeff Thomas, director of pre-law programs at Kaplan indicated that accepting June LSAT scores is new. Thomas said, “This is the first year I have heard of school explicitly stating as a policy that they would consider June LSAT scores.”
A number of top-ranked schools are on the list of schools considering June LSAT scores. While a number of schools have officially announced this change in policy, many others are are also accepting the June LSAT “unofficially.” While there may be greater flexibility with respect to scores, prospective students were required none-the-less to complete their applications by the end of June.
