Showing posts with label admissions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label admissions. Show all posts

Law Schools Stalk You on Facebook, Google to Find Dirt


LSAT Blog Law Schools Facebook Google Find Dirt Googled Applicant
We all know employers google and facebook job applicants to find additional information about them, but did you know law school admission officers do the same thing?

While you might be looking up your law school admission deans on Facebook and Google, they're doing their own background research on you, too.

(See, LSAT scores and GPAs aren't all they care about.)

The 14 Worst Law Schools (Based on Employment Statistics)

LSAT Blog 15 Worst Law Schools Employment

The good folks at Constitutional Daily analyzed data from Law School Transparency and compiled a list of law schools with underemployment scores higher than their employment scores. (Visit Constitutional Daily for further details.)

Basically, these schools have more underemployed graduates than employed ones, according to LST's numbers.

That sounds pretty bad to me.

Here are the 14 schools ranked by the difference between their underemployment and employment scores (h/t TaxProf Blog):

India's Law School Bubble

LSAT Blog Law School Bubble India Edition
A few years ago, some Indian law schools began accepting a modified version of the LSAT (as an alternative to the Common Law Admission Test). If you look at the CLAT website, you'll understand why.

In what other respect is India taking a page from the U.S.?

Law School Admission Deans on Applicant Numbers


LSAT Blog Law School Admission Deans Applicant Numbers
I've written quite a bit about the significant drop in law school applicant numbers and what it means for law school admissions.

A variety of news articles have also covered the decline, often interviewing law school admission deans.

In this blog post, I compile some choice quotes from law school admission deans (and others).

Columbia Law School Employment Troubles


This week, the New York Post reported that Columbia Law School had updated its employment website with additional employment information after its previous update raised some questions.

The newest update includes two significant pieces of data:

-a detailed breakdown for Columbia's Class of 2011
-the number of school-funded jobs for the Classes of 2009, 2010, and 2011

The Post writes:

Law School Employment Numbers Database


Law School Transparency, a legal education policy organization, has just released an online database containing detailed employment and salary information for the class of 2010 at all ABA-accredited law schools.

It combines information from 4 different sources:

LSAT Requirement May Be Eliminated

LSAT Blog LSAT Requirement May Be Eliminated
The ABA's Standards Review Committee has voted, once again, to consider dropping the "LSAT requirement" for admission to law school.

In this post, I address 3 questions:

1. What is the LSAT requirement?
2. Why would the committee consider dropping it?
3. How would this affect law school admissions?

Guy Sues LSAC For Refusing Double-Time LSAT Accommodations


LSAT Blog LSAT Accommodations: Double Time LSAT
Nathan F., a law student in Massachusetts, wants to transfer to a better law school.

Unfortunately, he has learning disabilities that limit his ability to do well on the LSAT. He's also got ADHD, anxiety disorder, OCD, and mild depression. When he applied for LSAT accommodations, he was granted 50% extra time on the LSAT.

However, even with this extra time, he didn't do particularly well on the LSAT the two times he's taken it. Despite lots of studying, he scored only 150 on the December 2010 LSAT and 151 on the February 2012 LSAT.

Will Some Law Schools Close? | Video

Former law school dean and current law professor Nancy Rapoport, an expert on bankruptcy and ethics, was recently interviewed by Bloomberg News. She discussed whether Congress will make student debt dischargeable, as well as the impact of debt on law students and schools.

LSAC Responds to LSAT Fee Hike Criticism

LSAT Blog LSAC Responds LSAT Fee Hike Criticism

I've recently posted about how the LSAT fee increase will affect law schools. You may have also read Professor Brian Tamanaha's criticisms of the Law School Admission Council for raising the fee.

Well, LSAC recently issued a response to his criticisms. I've posted LSAC's response below (via TaxProf Blog).

After reading it, you may also be interested in reading Professor Tamanaha's comments on LSAC's response.

How Will Law Schools Be Affected By The LSAT Fee Increase?


LSAT Blog Law Schools LSAT Fee Increase
Last week, I wrote that the Law School Admission Council significantly increased the LSAT registration fee, as well as other application-related fees, in response to the declining number of test-takers and applicants.

I was puzzled by this reaction, given that it will lead to a further decline in demand for LSAC's services.

Of course, LSAC has a monopoly on the processing of law school applications and the administration of the LSAT, so it can raise its fees as it pleases. If you've decided that law school is for you, but don't qualify for a fee waiver, you'll manage to come up with the $160 LSAT registration fee, $155 Credential Assembly Service (CAS) fee, and $21 fee per CAS law school report.

Law School Applicant Numbers Continue Decline

LSAT Blog Law School Applicant Numbers Continue Decline
The Law School Admission Council's latest update indicates that the decline in the number of law school applicants is lessening little, if at all, compared to LSAC's last update.

LSAC's newest data indicates that the number of applicants to ABA law schools has declined 15%, and that the number of ABA applications is down 12.9% from the same time last cycle (through 4/13/12).

(LSAC states, "Last year at this time, we had 93% of the preliminary final applicant count.")

Based on this information, we can project that this cycle will have a total about 67,022 applicants.

Law School Class of 2010 ABA Employment Data Released


LSAT Blog Law School Class 2010 ABA Employment Data Released
If you've been following the law school news over the past several months, you've likely read that some law schools have attempted to inflate their employment statistics by hiring their own graduates.

In an attempt to cut down on the shenanigans, the ABA has required law schools to report the number of graduates they employ nine months after graduation.

The ABA's 2011 Placement Survey was just released this week in spreadsheet format. It provides some interesting findings, as you can see in the graph to the top-right.

So, which law schools have more than 15% of their graduates in school-funded positions?

LSAT Test Registration Fee Increase: Why?


LSAT Blog LSAT Test Registation Fee Increase GMAT Test Registration Fee Why
The Law School Admission Council has jacked up the LSAT test registration fee from $139 to $160 for the 2012-2013 admission cycle.

And, strangely enough, LSAC has acknowledged that the increase is in direct response to the recent drop in law school applicants and LSATs administered.

Law School Admission Cycle: Who Applies First?


LSAT Blog % of 2011 Applicants Counted by 1/6/11 vs. 3/30/11, by Highest LSAT Score
An LSAT Blog reader recently asked whether law school applicants with relatively higher LSAT scores apply earlier in the admission cycle than others.

I've always believed this to be the case, but not until recently did we have the information necessary to determine whether this is actually true.

Data from the Law School Admission Council indicates that high scorers tend to apply much earlier in the admission cycle than do low scorers.

How *Much* Easier to Gain Admission to Top-14 Law Schools?


LSAT Blog Drop Number Applicants Scoring 165+ LSAT 2010 2011 2012 Cycle
I've talked a lot recently about the fact that law schools will have to lower their admission standards and reduce class sizes.

This is due to the shrinking applicant pool and the fact that the largest percentage decrease within that applicant pool comes from applicants scoring in the 170-174 range.

The graph to the top-right displays the projected number of law school applicants by LSAT score for the admission cycle ending in 2012, compared to applicants in the previous cycle (specifically for those scoring 165+).

A graph at the end of this post shows the projected number of applicants whose highest LSAT scores are below 165.

Will Law Schools Have To Admit Almost Every Applicant?



LSAT Blog Law School Applicants vs. Applicants Admitted
For updates, see my series of posts on recent trends in law school admissions.



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Will law schools soon have to admit almost everyone who applies?

As the number of law school applicants has sharply decreased over the past 10 years, law schools have been forced to admit an increasing percentage of applicants.

Here's the data from the Law School Admission Council demonstrating the increasing percentage of law school applicants admitted to at least one law school (shown in the graph to the top-right).

The second graph shows that the projected number of law school applicants for the 2011-2012 admission cycle (those applying to begin law school in 2012) is coming perilously close to the number of applicants admitted by law schools in previous years. (Projection for 2012 is based on this LSAC data.)


Will Law Schools' Scramble for Applicants / Rankings Turn Even Uglier?


LSAT Blog Law Schools Applicants Rankings Scramble

For updates, see my series of posts on recent trends in law school admissions.


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To what new lows will law schools have to sink in order to attract top-scoring applicants?

While the Law School Admission Council's newest numbers indicate that law school applicant numbers are in steep decline, they also indicate that the declines are not equal across the board.

In particular, we're seeing a huge drop-off in top LSAT scorers applying this cycle. The decline in the number of law school applicants has come disproportionately from the top end of the spectrum.

Law School Applicant Numbers / Applications in Steep Decline


LSAT Blog Steep Decline in Law School Applicant Numbers, Applications

For updates, see my series of posts on recent trends in law school admissions.

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The Law School Admission Council's latest numbers indicate that law school applicants and applications for this past cycle have dropped precipitously compared to the previous cycle.

Applicant numbers are down 15.6%, and applications submitted are down 13.6%, according to data submitted through 3/30/12.

True Life: I'm in the Baylor Law Email

You may remember that, last week, Baylor Law's Director of Admissions accidentally emailed a spreadsheet containing individual names, LSAT scores, and GPAs, as well as race and scholarship information, to over 400 admitted students.

While we've heard a lot about the information in that spreadsheet, we haven't heard much from the students to whom that information belonged. What do they think?

I recently interviewed one of the affected students (a former LSAT Blog reader). Since her info's already been a little too public lately, we'll call her "Kelly."