“Wait – You don’t have to take the LSAT for Law School Admission? Seriously?!?”
Don't burn those LSAT prep books just yet
If your LSAT spidey senses were particularly aflutter over the last 48 hours, it’s probably because a very interesting article was published by the National Law Journal Wednesday, creating a lot of buzz around the law school blog-o-sphere.
The article outlines the potential plans for the ABA to no longer require the LSAT to be taken in order to be admitted into Law School. I know, right – after all those cups of coffee, weeks without seeing family, friends, sunlight or SportsCenter!! Alas, take comfort: prospective law school students after you will be forced to suffer the same cruel and unusual punishment that is the LSAT.
This change in policy may be adopted, however it certainly does not signify the end of the dreaded exam. I think it very unlikely that the top law school programs will cease desiring prospective students to report an LSAT score, for the simple reason that they believe in the test’s diagnostic capabilities and gives them another quantifiable statistic to boast about. It’s no secret that the top schools want the top students, and the LSAT has been the standard for determining one’s ability to succeed in law school for the past million years (citation needed, but it’s been roughly that long). And as long as the top schools are requiring the scores, you can bet that others will follow suit.
What is more interesting to consider is the relevance of such a change in policy to the vaunted US News and World Report Rankings. Graduate programs in every style of ivory-tower architectural influence go to great lengths to ensure that they are as highly ranked as possible. Predictably, the average LSAT score of admitted students plays a role in where an institution will be ranked on this list.
Does this mean that schools might now admit certain students that they like without requiring LSAT scores? It’s possible, and this would certainly allow schools to be more liberal with their admission standards while still keep their precious average LSAT score statistics up to snuff. Lower tier schools may jump at the opportunity to disassociate themselves with the sub standard LSAT averages of their students by dropping the requirement. Only time will tell, but this seems to be a classic example of Shakespearean comedy: Much Ado About Nothing.
Check out some of the reactions from across the web:
//www.abajournal.com/news/article/lsat_would_be_optional_under_possible_aba_accreditation_change/
//amlawdaily.typepad.com/amlawdaily/2011/01/killthelsat.html
//legalblogwatch.typepad.com/legal_blog_watch/2011/01/will-the-aba-make-lsats-voluntary.html