UPDATE: LSAT vs GRE: Will Students Choose GRE for Law School Admissions?
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I previously wrote about Harvard Law's frankly-BS (pardon my French) argument for adding the GRE option, but I wanted to briefly answer another pressing question:
(This one's especially for my colleagues in the LSAT biz, and fellow LSAT lovers.)
Will the LSAT's popularity drop significantly over the next few years? Is it time to start brushing up on random-ass vocabulary words and middle-school math?
Let's look at what happened to the number of GMAT exams administered after business schools started accepting the GRE:
* 265,613 GMAT exams administered from July 2008- June 2009.
* 261,248 GMAT exams administered from July 2015 - June 2016.
The bottom line: Despite the GRE's widespread adoption in that market (starting in 2006), GMAT test administrations are still around the recent baseline average from 2008-2013.
See below graph from this article:
(Note: Top business schools began accepting GRE scores as an alternative to the GMAT in 2006, so this chart reflects the competition between the two exams. And, for those wondering, the GMAT spike in 2011-12, and subsequent drop, was due to students taking it early to avoid an impending change to the test that occurred in the 2012-13 cycle.)
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(This one's especially for my colleagues in the LSAT biz, and fellow LSAT lovers.)
Will the LSAT's popularity drop significantly over the next few years? Is it time to start brushing up on random-ass vocabulary words and middle-school math?
Let's look at what happened to the number of GMAT exams administered after business schools started accepting the GRE:
* 265,613 GMAT exams administered from July 2008- June 2009.
* 261,248 GMAT exams administered from July 2015 - June 2016.
The bottom line: Despite the GRE's widespread adoption in that market (starting in 2006), GMAT test administrations are still around the recent baseline average from 2008-2013.
See below graph from this article:
(Note: Top business schools began accepting GRE scores as an alternative to the GMAT in 2006, so this chart reflects the competition between the two exams. And, for those wondering, the GMAT spike in 2011-12, and subsequent drop, was due to students taking it early to avoid an impending change to the test that occurred in the 2012-13 cycle.)
It'll likely take a few years for the full consequences of this change to play out, and if anything, it'll most likely lead to more law school applicants overall (not necessarily a significant decline in LSAT takers). Many people will take both, or at least look at both, and see where they do better percentile-wise...
Ironically, if anything, this will lead students to spend more on test prep, since many will take both the LSAT and the GRE. By "increasing access to legal education," law schools are the only winners here.
Further Reading:
LSAT Blog: Harvard Law Accepting GRE Scores: An LSAT-Style Logical Fallacy
Ironically, if anything, this will lead students to spend more on test prep, since many will take both the LSAT and the GRE. By "increasing access to legal education," law schools are the only winners here.
Further Reading:
LSAT Blog: Harvard Law Accepting GRE Scores: An LSAT-Style Logical Fallacy
Those are encouraging numbers for those of us in the LSAT business (and who happen to think the GRE is a worse test than the LSAT and the GMAT).
ReplyDeleteBut I was under the impression that a lot of GMAT's staying power was due to growth in international applicants. Did you find any stats on that?
Excellent point, Graeme. Yes, that's true, and there are some stats out there from GMAC on this (I remember reading some about China).
DeleteHowever, the LSAT has been growing in international markets as well (including India). I'll dig into this more and probably write another article about it soon.