The National Jurist: “The National Jurist- Law grads give schools high marks, but want change”
Gatekeepers cite need for greater sensitivity to diverse backgrounds, questions about
Writing section value, desire for greater alignment with high school curriculum
Note to editors: Kaplan is a subsidiary of The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO)
Press Contacts: Russell Schaffer, russell.schaffer@kaplan.com, 212.453.7538
Twitter: @KapTestNews, @KaplanSATACT
New York, NY (September 19, 2013) – The SAT and ACT®, the high-stakes admissions exams taken by millions of aspiring college students each year, will both look very different in two years — and that’s welcome news to college admissions officers. According to Kaplan Test Prep’s 2013 survey* of college admissions officers from 422 top schools across the country, 72% agree that “the SAT should be changed” — which aligns with the College Board’s plan to overhaul the test in 2015. Though the SAT maker hasn’t provided many specifics about the planned changes, the announced intent is to better align the exam with what students learn. Test takers can also expect changes to the Writing section, where mastery of facts will be more prominent.
College admissions officers surveyed offered an array of opinions on what needs to be changed about the SAT, most notably:
Being more sensitive to perceived socioeconomic and cultural biases
Revamping, making optional or even eliminating the Writing section
Making the SAT’s content more reflective of high school curriculum
While admissions officers support revising the SAT, students are more ambivalent. In a separate Kaplan survey of SAT takers in March, only 39% of students said the exam should change, while 35% opted for no change; remaining survey respondents were unsure. The last time the SAT saw a major revamp was in 2005 when the Writing Section was added, bringing the scoring scale up to 2400 from 1600.
Admissions officers are more comfortable with the current ACT, with 76% saying the ACT should not change, at least from a content perspective; the vast majority (87%) agree with the test maker’s decision to change the ACT to a computer-based format in 2015.
“Aspiring college students and their parents will have much to process over the next two years as both the SAT and ACT fundamentally change,” said Seppy Basili, vice president of K-12 and college admissions programs, Kaplan Test Prep. “Key things to consider: exams are rarely easier after a major change, and few teens have ever taken a three-hour long computer-based test. We’ll be tracking the changes closely and update our own curriculum accordingly to ensure students are prepared.”
Also of note: Of the 88% of colleges and universities surveyed that require either an SAT or ACT score for admission, 99% say they have no plans to drop the requirement.
Other key survey results:
On Grade Inflation: 60% of college admissions officers think grade inflation is a problem; of this group, 60% say Advanced Placement courses contribute to the problem. (Grades in AP courses are weighted more heavily into a student’s GPA than are non-AP courses.)
On AP Courses: Only 10% of college admissions officers say an applicant’s AP test scores are “very important,” while nearly three times as many (27%) say it’s “not at all important” (37% say AP scores are “somewhat important” and 26% say they’re “not very important”)
On College Application Essays: A strong majority of college admissions officers (68%) say that they’d describe less than a third of applicants’ personal essays as “excellent or outstanding.”
On Plagiarism: 10% of college admissions officers say plagiarism is a “somewhat” to “very” serious problem among applicants; 10% of admissions officers also use anti-plagiarism software to catch relevant cases among applicants.
* For the 2013 survey, 422 admissions officers from the nation’s top national, liberal arts and regional colleges and universities – as compiled from U.S. News & World Report – were polled by telephone between July and August 2013. Among participating schools were four of the top ten ranked ones.
SAT is a registered trademark of the College Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this product; ACT is a registered trademark of ACT, Inc., which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse this product.
About Kaplan Test Prep
Kaplan Test Prep (www.kaptest.com) is a premier provider of educational and career services for individuals, schools and businesses. Established in 1938, Kaplan is the world leader in the test prep industry. With a comprehensive menu of online offerings as well as a complete array of print books and digital products, Kaplan offers preparation for more than 90 standardized tests, including entrance exams for secondary school, college and graduate school, as well as professional licensing exams for attorneys, physicians and nurses. Kaplan also provides private tutoring and graduate admissions consulting services.
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2 CommentsLatest Expansion Will Make Kaplan Full-Service Bar Review Available to 96%
of All Bar Takers Nationwide
Note to editors: Kaplan is a subsidiary of The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO)
Press Contacts: Russell Schaffer, russell.schaffer@kaplan.com, 212.453.7538
Twitter: @KapTestNews, @KaplanBarReview
New York, NY (September 18, 2013) – Kaplan Bar Review, a leading provider of full-service bar preparation, is launching its full-service bar review programs to students preparing for the state bar exams in four more states: Connecticut and Rhode Island, in time for the February 2014 bar exams, and Louisiana and Oregon, in time for the July 2014 bar exams. This latest expansion brings to 42 the total number of states served by Kaplan Bar Review (as of July 2014), accounting for more than 96 percent of the entire U.S. bar-taking population.
“Kaplan Bar Review’s expansion of full-service bar review to these four additional states enables students in these states to benefit from our unsurpassed curriculum and resources, and builds on our continued success in helping an ever-growing number of law students across the country to pass the bar,” said Steven Marietti, vice president and general manager, Kaplan Bar Review. “We’re pleased to deliver students Kaplan Bar Review’s practical tools to help them understand and remember legal concepts; unlimited essay grading that provides students with clear and specific feedback; exam-like, multiple-choice practice questions; and an adaptive, exam-focused daily syllabus that progressively tailors learning to individual students and helps them improve their weakest areas.”
Although pass rates vary by state, overall 67 percent of all bar exam takers (55,253 out of 82,920) nationally passed their exam In 2012 (the most recent fully recorded year). The pass rates for all students in Connecticut (73 percent), Oregon (72 percent), and Rhode Island (78 percent) were above the national average; Louisiana’s pass rate of 59 percent was below.
About Kaplan Bar Review
Kaplan Bar Review (www.kaplanbarreview.com) provides full-service bar review programs in 42 states (Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming) and Washington DC, making its courses available to over 96% of the U.S. Bar-taking population. Additionally, Kaplan Bar Review offers supplemental preparation for the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE).
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WIBC (Fox- Indianapolis): “Indy Attorneys and Survey Say Law School is too Long”
Inside Higher Ed: “New Law Grads Agree That Law School Is Too Long”
Bloomberg Current: “Recent Law Grads Favor Two Years of Legal Ed”
VentureBeat: “TechStars- powered Kaplan EdTech Accelerator holds its first demo day in NYC”
JD Journal: “63% of Law School Grads Would Cut 3rd Year”
Greedy Associates: “Recent Grads, Like Obama, Think Third Year Needs Revamp”
JD Oasis: “Survey says: third year of law school is useless!”
Graduate Guide: “JD Graduates Believe Law School Could Be Shorter”
Gawker: “Law School Grads: “Law School Is Too Long”
The New York Post: “Law students: Third year of law school a waste of time, money”
Business Insider: “63% Of Law School Grads Think The Third Year Is Pointless”
Above The Law: “Recent Graduates Overwhelmingly Think Their Third Year Was Useless”
Familiar List of Names and Rankings Should Encourage College Applicants to Think Independently
Note to editors: Kaplan is a subsidiary of The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO)
Press Contacts: Russell Schaffer, russell.schaffer@kaplan.com, 212.453.7538
Twitter: @KapTestNews
New York, NY (September 10, 2013) – Kaplan Test Prep issued the following statement today regarding how students should view the U.S. News & World Report’s 2014 college rankings that were just released today:
“The U.S. News & World Report college rankings, long a trusted companion for students going through the college admissions process, can be helpful as an aggregate source of data around different factors such as student population, academic life and other considerations. The statistics behind the rankings can offer useful insights. For example, a school’s freshmen retention rate can be a good indicator of whether current students are happy at that school and a school’s financial aid profile can indicate its likelihood of offering need- or merit-based aid. That said, a school’s actual rank is probably more important to administrators and alumni than it is to the average college applicant.
Our advice to students is not to focus on where a college falls in the rankings. Just because it’s a familiar, prestigious name doesn’t mean it’s necessarily a good match. Instead, they should find schools that have the academic programs and social environment that create the best overall ‘fit’ for their academic, financial and lifestyle needs.”
To arrange an interview with a Kaplan Test Prep college admissions expert, please contact Russell Schaffer at russell.schaffer@kaplan.com or 212.453.7538.
About Kaplan Test Prep
Kaplan Test Prep (www.kaptest.com) is a premier provider of educational and career services for individuals, schools and businesses. Established in 1938, Kaplan is the world leader in the test prep industry. With a comprehensive menu of online offerings as well as a complete array of print books and digital products, Kaplan offers preparation for more than 90 standardized tests, including entrance exams for secondary school, college and graduate school, as well as professional licensing exams for attorneys, physicians and nurses. Kaplan also provides private tutoring and graduate admissions consulting services.
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Findings Echo President Obama’s Remarks Suggesting Law Schools Should Consider Shortening Their Length of Study
Note to editors: Kaplan is a subsidiary of The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO)
Press Contacts: Russell Schaffer, russell.schaffer@kaplan.com, 212.453.7538
Twitter: @KapTestNews, @KaplanBarReview
New York, NY (September 10, 2013) – A new Kaplan Bar Review survey* of 712 law school graduates from the class of 2013 finds that a strong majority of newly minted JDs agree with President Barack Obama’s recent comments** that law schools should think about changing the way they currently educate aspiring attorneys. Among the findings:
Belief that Legal Education Needs to Change: 87% of new law school graduates surveyed say that the U.S. legal education system needs “to undergo significant changes to better prepare future attorneys for the changing employment landscape and legal profession.” Notably, the American Bar Association, the organization that accredits law schools, agrees with these new JDs and is currently preparing to make recommendations on how to address growing concerns about the cost of a law school education and its effectiveness in preparing graduates to practice. In the meantime though, some law schools are already taking proactive measures on these fronts.***
Support for Less is More: Specifically, when asked, “Do you think the traditional three-year law school education can be condensed into two years without negatively impacting the practice-readiness of new attorneys?”, 63% answered in the affirmative.
More Clinics: But if a third year is required, 97% say they favor a law school model that incorporates clinical experience, which is designed to make students more practice-ready. During the first two years of law school, students generally take courses on the basics of law, while the third year is spent taking electives.
High Marks for Law School: Despite law school graduates’ call for changes, the vast majority still give their law school high marks. 37% gave their law school education an “A” grade, while 50% gave it a “B”. Only 11% gave their legal education a “C” grade; 1% scored it a “D”. No respondents gave their law school education an “F”.
“Because of the current challenging job market for lawyers and subsequent decline in law school applications, this is an unprecedented time of introspection within the legal education community. While some law schools are already implementing curriculum changes to adapt to the changing landscape, the likelihood of any widespread changes across legal education is years away,” said Steve Marietti, General Manager, Kaplan Bar Review. “In reality, the length of a law school education is less relevant than whether it’s effective in helping students succeed.”
For more information about Kaplan Bar Review’s survey and the changing landscape of legal education, please contact Russell Schaffer at 212.453.7538 or russell.schaffer@kaplan.com.
*The online survey was conducted in August 2013 of 712 law school graduates who took a bar review course with Kaplan Bar Review.
**“Obama Suggests Shaving One Year Off Of Law School,” ABC News, August 23, 2013, Arlette Saenz. http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/08/obama-fields-questions-on-education-at-town-hall/
***”Does law school have a future?”, Forbes, December 18, 2012, Elizabeth G. Olson. http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2012/12/18/does-law-school-have-a-future/
About Kaplan Bar Review
Kaplan Bar Review (www.kaplanbarreview.com) provides full-service bar review programs in 38 states (Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming) and Washington DC, making its courses available to over 92% of the U.S. Bar-taking population. Additionally, Kaplan Bar Review offers supplemental preparation for the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE).
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