There's a crowded field of applicants trying to get into law school this year.
Application numbers have boomed, up 20.5% compared with last year. The United States has nearly 200 law schools with some universities seeing the largest number of applicants ever. Georgetown University Law Center said they have received around 14,000 applications to fill just 650 spots.
Steve Schwartz, founder and CEO of LSAT Unplugged, said there are a handful of reasons for the recent surge in law school applications. One involves a change to the Law School Admission Test.
"We have the removal of the logic games section of the test which was notoriously intimidating for a lot of students," Schwartz said. "The removal of the section has removed a barrier in terms of the stress of taking this exam."
Another big factor was the unusually contentious presidential election cycle last year. The so-called "Trump bump" meant more law school applications, something we also saw in 2016 and 2020.
There are also concerns among people about the future of the economy, leading to a third potential factor for the boost in applications. Schwartz said it's not uncommon that students would look to going down a more difficult educational route that also would likely result in a higher starting salary, well above six figures.
"When there's financial uncertainty, a lot of folks will look to pursue higher graduation, graduate-level education, to kind of wait out the job market, hoping that three or four years from now they'll come out the other end with a more valuable degree and more earning power versus the opportunity cost of being wherever they’re at right now," Schwartz explained.
According to Schwartz, there isn't a great need for more lawyers in the U.S., but that doesn't mean every area of the country is being well served.
"I don't know if we need a surge in lawyers necessarily, but there's always a need for more legal support, especially in lower-served areas—more rural areas perhaps, not maybe as much in the major urban centers," he said. "But for those who want to pursue public interest, there’s definitely a need there."
Law school is tough and it all starts with the LSAT. However, the LSAT is not pass/fail. Instead, it’s scored on a range of 120 to 180, with approximately 151 being the median. In order to make into one of those top 14 prestigious law schools like Harvard, Yale or Stanford, you’re going to want to have an LSAT score of 170 or above. That'll put you in the top 3-4%.
Then, there's the bar exam which is pass/fail. It varies state by state with each state having its own bar exam.
Schwartz calls this admissions cycle "uniquely competitive." He suggests to those that are considering law school to get serious about the LSAT score and the application strategy sooner rather than later.