Big Step Toward Test Optional in Law School Admissions

Inside Higher Ed

Scott Jaschik

November 21, 2022

A council of the American Bar Association voted Friday to lift the requirement that law schools use a test in the admissions process.

The Council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar voted to lift the testing requirement starting in the fall of 2025. Currently the ABA permits the law schools it accredits to use either the Law School Admissions Test or the Graduate Record Examination.

The proposed revision, which could be a significant change in law school admissions, now goes to the ABA House of Delegates for approval. The next meeting of the House of Delegates is in February.

The council’s Strategic Review Committee studied the issue and released a report on all the comments received about the plan.

“Comments expressed concern that the revisions would jeopardize the benefits that the LSAT provides as an objective admissions indicator to ‘level the playing field’ for all applicants,” the committee, known as the SRC, said. “The SRC believes that these comments fail to appreciate how the LSAT and other admission tests are currently used. Law schools are not required to ascribe any particular weight to an admission test, and in fact schools consider the LSAT or other admission tests in various ways, including (in some cases) admitting students despite a relatively low test score. Because law schools vary in how they use the LSAT, there is not currently a ‘level playing field’ as suggested by these comments.”

Continue Reading