Law school applicants are down, breaking five-year streak - Reuters
Signage is seen outside of the Brooklyn Law School in Brooklyn, New York City, U.S., September 14, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
(Reuters) - Is legal education’s pandemic boom beginning to fade?
The number of applicants to law schools nationwide has declined year-over-year for the first time since 2018, according to data from the Law School Admission Council, a nonprofit that administers the Law School Admission Test. As of Nov. 28, 22,662 people had applied to start law school in fall 2022, nearly 5% fewer than this time last year, the council reported.
Admissions experts say it’s an early signal that the highly competitive law school market of the past year may be cooling off, though they cautioned that the current cycle is only a third over — and that landing a seat in law school next year won’t be easy.
“It’s still going to be a seller’s market," said law school admissions consultant Mike Spivey.
The dip follows a 13% rise in the number of applicants who sought to enter law school in fall 2021. That larger pool fueled unprecedented median LSAT score increases at a number of law schools and more diverse classes at some elite campuses. The latest applicant figures are still 26% higher than this time two years ago, the data show.
Spivey attributed some of the current decline to the results of November’s LSAT coming out on Dec. 1 — more than a week later than in 2020. He expects many of those November test takers to submit applications in the next two weeks, which will boost the size of the applicant pool.
But the number of November test takers was also down slightly compared to 2020, according to Susan Krinsky, LSAC's executive vice president for operations. This year’s improved economy and job market could be prompting more people to put off law school, she added.
Spivey predicted this cycle will end with about 5% fewer people seeking a spot in law school.
“The pendulum has started to swing back in favor of applicants,” he said.
Read more:
source: https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/law-school-applicants-are-down-breaking-five-year-streak-2021-11-29/
Your content is great. However, if any of the content contained herein violates any rights of yours, including those of copyright, please contact us immediately by e-mail at media[@]kissrpr.com.