It’s no surprise to anyone that law school applications are up due to the economy. The New York Times is finally reporting about it – see today’s article: “Recession Spurs Interest in Graduate, Law Schools” for the exact numbers and the trends in applications being noted at University of San Francisco, Cornell Law, and the University of Iowa.
The increase in LSAT takers doesn’t necessarily mean more people are going to actually attend law school – law schools aren’t able to take more people this year than in any other year, and many people are experimenting with the LSAT and law school but not really committed to attending. Also, more people are taking the LSAT multiple times now since the June 2006 policy that moved schools away from averaging multiple LSAT scores.
How will this impact you? I know many of my clients who have long had ambitions to go to law school are worried about their timing. How will this increase change the outcomes of their admission decisions? This is their big question. In my mind, it’s a little bit more important this year to show law is something you’ve seriously considered – this can be done through a letter of recommendation or your resume or through your personal statement. Also, I think those who applied early are seeing the same results they would have seen last year, so that’s the good news. Expect a lot of “holds” and a lot of waitlisting, and don’t despair.
Worry about what is still within your control – your applications, your interactions with the law schools – and when the dust settles hopefully you’ll have played your strategy well so you have good decisions to make.
