Tag Archives: law school admissions

Sharp drop in #LSAT test takers suggests time to consider #lawschool

The above tweet references an interesting article from the Wall Street Journal law blog. The article is dated October 31, 2013. It includes:

The figures are the latest sign that the law-school bubble hasn’t stopped deflating. Law Blog reported in August that law-school applicants are down 12.3% and applications are down 17.9% compared to a year ago.

The number of test takers peaked four years ago and has been on the decline ever since. The total for June and October is down 38% from four years ago. And the October total alone is 45% below the 2009 peak.

Okay, but what I find most interesting is the fact that (at this moment) the article has attracted only 25 comments. A small number of comments does not suggest interest in this issue. Furthermore, a most of the comments seem to be for the purpose of venting about “evil lawyers”. Few comments attempt to address the reason for the decline. One comment that might as well be a “composite” for those that do address the question is:

The public is FINALLY beginning to understand that law school is a complete and utter rip-off for the vast majority of graduates. Many (if not most) grads make $40-60,000 salaries when they find jobs, which can take up to a year or more, and have debt levels ranging from $100-250,000. For the top 10% that get BigLaw jobs, the math works out but for the 90% not in the top 10%, they’re financially destroyed. Just by searching Google you can find hundreds, perhaps thousands, of stories about law school graduates who owe $200,000 in non-dischargeable debt, have very low paying jobs, and live at home with their parents.

Law degrees are not in demand. You’re a fool and a gambler if you’re going to law school and finance your legal education with debt.

Okay, that’s a legitimate consideration. The following tweet references one of my post popular posts – How much do lawyers earn?

 

My thoughts:

Education is an investment in your future. The most important rule in investing is:

Buy low and sell how.

The demand for a legal education is currently lower than it has been.

And by the way, the practise of law can be a very interesting career!

 

 

 

Why the decline in administered LSATs is irrelevant to law school applicants

When my ship came in, I was at the airport.

https://twitter.com/#!/lsatpreparation/status/185713089189122049

Last week the New York Times featured a story focusing on a drop in the number of LSATs administered. The article noted that:

The Law School Admission Council reported that the LSAT was given 129,925 times in the 2011-12 academic year. That was well off the 155,050 of the year before and far from the peak of 171,514 in the year before that. In all, the number of test takers has fallen by nearly 25 percent in the last two years. Continue reading →