Let us into law school! (Image via Getty)
This year has been full of surprises, but perhaps the biggest surprise of all — perhaps for those who weren’t paying attention — is the sudden interest people have in going to law school. Back in June, we that suggested that law schools should be prepared for another onslaught of law school applicants thanks to the economic downturn caused by the pandemic, just like what happened with the recession. We’re now in the middle of November, and whaddaya know, law school applicants aren’t just up — they’re way up.
The total number of law school applicants is up 32 percent compared to this time last year, and the number of applications submitted thus far is up by almost 57 percent. According to the Law School Admission Council, applications are up at 194 of the 199 ABA-accredited law schools.
But there are tons of good reasons to be interested in law school right now, aside from applicants being socially distanced from their former social lives. We’re in the middle of a healthcare crisis, we’ve seen our nation divided by political strife, we’ve been involved in protests for the fight against racial injustice in America, and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a legal hero who fought for women’s rights, tragically passed away.
“We are seeing a real surge in candidates taking the LSAT and applying. There are a lot of factors at work here. But we hear a lot of about motivation from [Ruth Bader Ginsburg]—the RBG moment,” said LSAC president Kellye Testy. “We’ve been saying our candidates have ‘really big goals.’ They are talking about racism, COVID, economic inequality, political polarization, and climate change. They are inspired to make a difference.”
And not for nothing, but the LSAT is much easier to take now given that it’s in an online format. Here’s more information on that from Karen Sloan at Law.com:
[T]he introduction of LSAT-Flex in May could also be disrupting normal application trends. The LSAT-Flex is shorter than the traditional LSAT and is given online, with people taking it at home or a location of their choosing. And the LSAT-Flex appears to be yielding higher scores. The number of applicants thus far with scores of 160 or higher is up nearly 44%. And the very highest score band—175 to 180—has more than doubled compared to this time last year.
The fact that the LSAT-Flex is shorter and can be taken at home may be a factor in those higher scores, given that takers are likely to encounter less fatigue and stress than the normal LSAT, which requires them to travel to testing centers, [Fordham Law assistant dean of enrollment Stephen] Brown said. But high scorers also tend to apply earlier in the cycle, [law school admissions consultant Mike] Spivey noted. Thus, they could be overrepresented at this point in the admissions cycle.
While we’ll have to wait and see if these application numbers hold up for the remainder of the admissions cycle, we already know that 31,000 people have signed up to take the January, February, and April administrations of the LSAT. COVID-19 may have virtually decimated the legal profession, but it sure seems like the next generation is ready to get into action.
Law School Applicants Are Way Up. Is It an ‘RBG Moment’? [Law.com]
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.