Are they getting rid of the LSAT?
If you’re here, you may be wondering: are they really getting rid of the LSAT? Here’s what we know so far, plus our take on what this should mean for your study plans.
Currently, law school admission requirements are set by the American Bar Association (the ABA). On April 25th, 2022, the ABA’s Strategic Review Committee recommended that the ABA no longer require applicants to take a standardized test as part of their law school application.
Here’s what the memo says:
”The recommended revisions to Standard 503 eliminate the requirement of a “valid and reliable” admission test for individuals seeking admission as first-year J.D. degree students, thereby making the use of an admission test by law schools optional.”
The next step is for the Council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar to review the proposal on May 20th, 2022. They may accept it outright, reject it outright, or open it up to further comment.
Some schools already offer alternatives to the LSAT, mainly by accepting GRE scores from applicants. However, the LSAT is still the dominant law school admission test, and the recommended test for anybody trying to put together the most successful application possible.
Even if the ABA does accept the proposal and remove the LSAT requirement, that doesn’t mean that the LSAT is going anywhere. The change would simply leave it up to individual law schools to decide whether or not to require the test.
For its part, the Law School Admission Council (LSAC), which administers the LSAT, has put out a statement strongly in favor of the LSAT as an admission tool, saying:
"Whether or not this recommendation is ultimately adopted, the LSAT will continue to provide important benefits to individuals interested in pursuing legal education.
The LSAT is currently the only standardized assessment accepted by all ABA-accredited law schools, and we have heard from a number of schools that they intend to continue using the LSAT because of the valuable insights and information it provides as part of their overall admission process.”
Ultimately, it’s still impossible to definitively predict what will happen to the LSAT, but it’s clear that any potential changes won’t take effect for at least a few years. For now, taking the LSAT is still your best bet.