ABC News.com explores the issue of making the LSAT optional for law school admissions. The question is: how essential is the LSAT? Donald Polden, committee chair and dean of Santa Clara Law, notes that “the LSAT has shown to be a reliable predictor of first-year performance for law school applicants, but not how they will finish or what type of lawyer they will be.”
Eliminating the LSAT requirement could help to diversify student bodies at law schools. This concept is already implemented through established waiver programs, in which “several law schools at state universities already exempt these schools from the LSAT requirement for state residents who have graduated from their own universities.”
Furthermore, a 2009 study “demonstrated a lag among African-American and Mexican-American law school admissions, even as these minority groups continued to apply to law schools in relatively constant numbers.”
The low numbers of minorities admitted into law school may have something to do with the power of U.S. News rankings. Since, “according to Robert Morse, director of data research for U.S. News, law school admissions data counts for 25 percent of their annual Best Law Schools rankings. A majority of low scores from minorities can lower the median score for an incoming class and thereby drop the school’s national ranking.” Not much incentive to accept low-scoring minorities, is there?
Plus, with U.S. News still heavily weighing the LSAT in their rankings regardless of the decision, schools will be less inclined to drop the requirement, especially if there is some kind of “penalty on schools for whatever student they’re not getting LSAT scores from.”
On the other side of the coin, without the LSAT requirement, schools could have more flexibility regarding who they accept, perhaps benefiting minorities and foreign law graduates. However, if the LSAT truly is predictive of first-year law school success, then how would these groups fare without the test? They may have an easier time getting into school, but are they being set up for failure once there?
The final LSAT decision is years away, but meanwhile it seems that there are plenty of factors to consider.
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Read the full article: And the LSAT Debate Continues…
