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16% jump in those retaking LSAT
December 4, 2008
The number of prospective law students retaking the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) jumped more than 16% in the past year, an increase that many anticipated since the American Bar Association began recognizing, in ranking and admission criteria, the highest test score, rather than the average score, of those who take the exam more than once.
The increase in "repeaters" contrasts with an overall decline of nearly 2% of prospective law students who took the LSAT for the first time during the past year, according to the statistics, which are compiled by the Law School Admission Council. The statistics, which normally are not public, were available on Wednesday on the Legal Profession Blog.
William Henderson, associate professor of law at Indiana University School of Law – Bloomington, who posted the blog item, said he anticipated that the ABA's new rule would prompt more prospective students to take the LSAT again. He criticized the rule, which was adopted in 2006, as a "zero sum game" for the legal profession, since increasing LSAT scores across the board results in no significant changes.
He also questioned whether an applicant's highest LSAT score is the most accurate.
"A higher LSAT score is not as good a predictor as the average," he said, noting that outside factors could influence someone's score. Further, prompting prospective law students to take the LSAT multiple times leads to more money for the testing agencies, he said.
Sam Stonefield, associate dean for external affairs and a professor of law at Western New England College School of Law, said the new rule also hurts diversity initiatives at today's law schools because applicants in several minority groups are less likely to incur the cost and time necessary to retake the LSAT.
But Allen Easley, dean of the University of La Verne College of Law, who served as chairman of the questionnaire committee of the ABA's section of legal education and admission to the bar, which adopted the rule, said the change was implemented because law school deans were feeling pressured to reflect high LSAT scores in rankings such as U.S. News & World Report and believed competitors were manipulated their average LSAT scores.
"If we let everybody report the high score, everyone is on the same level playing field and we eliminate that concern," he said.
He said the number of "repeaters" had been increasing before the ABA implemented the rule, although he admitted that the change could have exacerbated the rise. As to the potential impact that the rules could have on diversity at law schools, his committee concluded that the issue was speculative and outweighed by the other concerns, he said.
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