Summary: The LSAT is no longer required at the University of Arizona College of Law as the school opens up applications to students that have only taken the GRE.
Since 1948 there has been a form of the Law School Admission Test in place for law schools to use as a standardized form of assessing applicants beyond GPA. The current form of the exam has been in place since 1991.
Many law school applicants first take a LSAT prep course to help them achieve the best possible results on the exam. These prep classes use practice exams and lessons to pick apart and really understand the test so that they can perform better. The score students get on the LSAT determines what law schools they are able to apply for and have a serious chance of being admitted to.
Just as some colleges and universities are now eliminating the requirement for SAT and ACT test scores, the University of Arizona College of Law is removing the requirement for the LSAT. Removing the factor of LSAT scores will change the application process and who can apply. UA will also allow GRE test scores instead of LSAT scores. For the past few years, around 500,000 people take the GRE compared to only 100,000 that take the LSAT.
Increasing the number of people that can apply for law school will give law schools the application numbers they need to select more students from. There may be a number of students that take the GRE not considering law school but change their minds. Removing this requirement will allow these students to apply when they want instead of having to wait until the LSAT is given.
UA also removed this requirement so that they can make their school more diverse in terms of ethnic backgrounds, socioeconomic backgrounds, and intellectual interests. UA has already taken several other steps to attract students such as lowering tuition rates for residents and non-residents. This move has greatly helped the law school keep their numbers up when other schools were struggling to keep application and enrollment numbers up.
There is a good chance that other law schools will follow UA’s example in order to keep their classes full.
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