Summary: Two law school organizations are gearing up together to promote law school and a legal education to high school and college students.
In an effort to boost the popularity of gaining a legal education, two organizations are pairing up to get high school and college kids interested in a career as a lawyer. The Law School Admission Council (LSAC) and the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) are creating a path that guides students to law school by getting the information about law school to the students earlier.
The LSAC is responsible for administering the Law School Admission Test and acts as the central clearinghouse for law school applications. The AALS has nearly every American Bar Association-accredited law school as a member. Their partnership will be in the form of a website and social media campaign raising awareness of the industry.
The organizations want to educate prospective students early on in their academic careers about what a possible future with a law degree can be. They will do this by explaining what happens on law school campuses, possible careers with a law degree, and how to apply for law school. They also hope to get pre-law advisers working with them to further spread their efforts in convincing prospective students that law school is not too expensive and there are jobs to be found.
AALS executive director Judith Areen told Law.com, “We want to better communicate to prospective law students and pre-law advisers about what’s going on in law schools today. Some of the criticism comes from people who are a little out of date.”
LSAC president Kellye Testy and Areen want to make it clear that their campaign is not about getting more people to apply to law school. Their goal is to ensure candidates have a greater understanding of what opportunities a legal education can lead to, which will hopefully attract better candidates. They hope that students will start setting their sights on law school as early as high school. The AALS is in the midst of a study to learn when students make the decision to apply to law school or not.
Areen added, “That study has already shown that people make these decisions much earlier than any of us understand. A lot of students reported that they started thinking about law school before college, not just during. That underscored for Kellye and for me the need to have better communication, both a website and using social media, so students – even those in high school – who are curious about it can get better information.”
Some of the information they are putting out there to clarify is that students don’t have to major in pre-law to go to law school.
Law school applications to American Bar Association-accredited law schools were down roughly 30 percent between 2010 and 2016. Law schools are hoping for numbers to increase, but they need better-qualified candidates to be applying. So far, their hopes appear to be coming true. Since January, the number of applicants is already up 12 percent compared to the same time the year before.
The timing of this campaign also comes at a time when the GRE is competing against the LSAT, growing in popularity as an alternative test to the LSAT. The campaign does not discuss the GRE as part of the law school application process.
Do you think law school is something that high schoolers are thinking about? When did you decide to go to law school? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
To learn more about law school application news, read these articles:
- Accreditation Standards Evolving to Reflect Decrease in Law School Application Numbers
- Law Schools with the Most Full-Time Applications
- Law Schools Expect an Increase in Applications
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Source: Law.com