Two More Law Schools Accept GRE

What was once an anomaly is now a trend: two more law schools are accepting the Graduate Record Examination for admissions.

Georgetown Law and Northwestern's Pritzker School of Law will accept the alternate test or the traditional Law School Admission Test for the entering class of 2018. The schools made the announcement the same day, bringing the count up to four nationwide.

The University of Arizona's Rogers College of Law led the way last year, followed by Harvard Law School this year. Despite a slow start, the movement is gaining speed.

Slow Start

Arizona rocked the establishment when it dropped the LSAT as a required test and allowed students to submit the GRE. The Law School Admissions Council, which administers the LSAT, then threatened to drop Arizona from its membership.

But nearly 150 law schools reportedly sided with Arizona, before Harvard broke the mold among the elite schools. It has taken more than a year, but law school admissions testing is changing significantly. Georgetown is the largest law school in the country.

"While the LSAT remains an important admissions tool, we also believe that it is well past time that the legal profession open wide the doors to an even more diverse population that better reflects American society as a whole," said Andy Cornblatt, Georgetown's dean of admissions.

Daniel Rodriguez, law dean at Northwestern, said the GRE will give more options to students. He said the GRE is broadly accepted by thousands of graduate and professional degree programs, from from biochemistry to public policy to philosophy.

Quicker Results

According to a recent report from Kaplan Test Prep, law schools are putting pressure on the American Bar Association to say whether they should accept the GRE.

Jeff Thomas, Kaplan's executive director of pre-law programs, said students still need to take the LSAT for law schools that have not accepted the GRE. He also noted that if they take the LSAT and the GRE, the law schools will receive both results.

Bill Henderson, who teaches at the Maurer School of Law at Indiana University, has written extensively about legal education and rankings. He said the move to accept GRE scores is better for students and schools.

"I can't imagine other top law schools not following suit," he told the Washington Post.

Related Resources:

• LSAC Says It Won't Continue Certifying LSAT Scores for the ABA (ABA Journal)
• Will DeVos Save Charlotte Law School? (FindLaw's Greedy Associates)
• Law Grad Wins $65,000 Moot Court Prize (FindLaw's Greedy Associates)