Will the ABA Drop the LSAT Requirement? 
Will the ABA Drop the LSAT Requirement?
Recently Inside Higher Ed reported that the ABA is considering ending a rule that law schools require the LSAT in order to receive ABA accreditation. Right now this is just an idea being kicked around by an ABA panel charged with reviewing the accreditation rules, but if the panel recommends the change American Bar Association approval might not be that behind.
Why the proposed change? Many schools claim that the LSAT requirement takes away flexibility in the admissions process, because they have no choice but to report those scores to the magazines that that publish annual rankings. Since each school needs to keep up with the Joneses and keep their mean LSAT scores high (lest they risk dropping in those hated rankings), they end up turning away some students they really want.
According to Inside Higher Ed:
Donald J. Polden, dean of the law school at Santa Clara University and chair of the ABA committee studying the standards, said that in two preliminary discussions of the issue, a “substantial majority” of committee members indicated that they would like to drop the LSAT requirement. (He confirmed a report on the likely shift in requirements, first published by The National Law Journal.)
Polden said via e-mail that there are “good arguments” for dropping the LSAT as an accreditation requirement. He said such a move would provide “greater flexibility for schools to achieve diversity goals in their admitted classes, permitting schools to experiment with admission programs that benefit the school without being penalized by U.S. News ranking changes attributable to those programs, following some of the thinking of undergraduate institutions on optional standardized entrance exams.” An ABA report last year was highly critical of the way many law schools are obsessed with high LSAT averages, which lead to higher rankings from U.S. News & World Report, and said that the link between test scores and rankings was discouraging efforts to promote diversity among law students.
We’re not sure how many law schools will drop the LSAT requirement if the requirement goes away, although one school, the Massachusetts School of Law, has notably fought the ABA’s LSAT requirement for years. It is hard to imagine many top law schools following suit, but it’s not out of the question that they could end up looking at a combination of other quantified factors to get at the same thing.
If the change does happen, though, one can’t help but feel like it is a case of the tail wagging the dog: “The rankings are driving some less-than-ideal behavior because they report on LSAT scores. I know… Let’s not require the LSAT anymore! That will fix it.” If that were to happen, then surely U.S. News and other publications will simply add more emphasis on other quantifiable measures, such as undergraduate GPA.
While we agree that too much emphasis is put on rankings, and the rankings themselves may put too much emphasis on standardized test scores, it really seems like the ABA is missing the point. If the LSAT works for admissions officers (and most still say that they do), then figure out another way to solve the rankings problem, rather than stopping what works simply because it creates an indirect downstream problem somewhere else. Dropping the LSAT requirement is an easy change to make, and it may seem like it mitigates the problem, but we guarantee that problem will simply reappear in another form.
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I agree. Do people make money
I agree. Do people make money off of the LSAT? That is, is it the brainchild of a private company?
I'm not sure, but they were
I'm not sure, but they were looking for a uniform test for law school applicants and this is what they came up with. Honestly, any time I see "uniform" and "test" together, I know some idiot in the education system was bored and lit up a blunt in the office.
Hope this never happens, the
Hope this never happens, the LSAT is what many of us prospectives are banking on to get us into the better law schools. I know my GPA's good but it isn't Harvard good, but if I can get a massive score on the LSAT I might just have a chance. I'm sure it's the same with others as well.
Point blank... as long as you
Point blank... as long as you can monetize a system of education (LSATs + Prep Courses + Reliance on a fallible test + Sheer amount of Law Schools that produce students), you will have a cartel to maintain their interests. And no, dropping the LSAT will only create a new slew of problems regarding admissions, as you will still need ways to compare you to your peers instead of having a truly subjective bias applied to the admissions selection. That's the Education Cartel for ya.
Standardized tests are of no
Standardized tests are of no value except to a statician's job security, corporate and political bureaucrats. I took the LSAT, achieved a good score, was admitted to most law schools but (and there is sometimes a "but") could not secure the financing I needed to fullfill my aspirations. I went to MSL which was unaccredited and championed by Dean Velvel who was viewed as the legal education reformer (aka David) against Goliath the ABA. I was skeptical, but it was affordable. I was impressed with their real practice approach to the law profession. In addition, I passed the bar 1st shot, whilst sitting next to other grads from Northeastern, Suffolk, Columbia etc., who were already on their second, third or sixth time ! I practice today, have an excellent record, and am watching this law school rise from the ranks because of its concept--affordability. In summary, the LSAT did nothing for me. Nor did it do anything for many students who atended MSL and went onto be successful in life in many different career avenues. So, if your thinking as you probably have been for a while I am here to boost this school then go ahead and think it. In the end- your test score has no value when someone is trying to beat you with street strategy, old school experience, or tenacity. MSL or Harvard, high or no LSAT--it will not matter and law school can not hold your hand. Bottom line -- the LSAT is not a good gauge of ones social utility to society therefore it should be dropped as well as many other retarded tests out there as a mandatory regulated, and exclusionary requirement.
I agree and disagree anon. I
I agree and disagree anon. I think they give you a decent way to compare all candidates using the same formula, but it shouldn't be used as heavily as it is.
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