The Economist: Why Are Law Schools Accepting The GRE?

The Economist, Why Are Law Schools Accepting the GRE?:

[17] law schools [Arizona, Brooklyn, BYU, Cardozo, Columbia, Florida State, George Washington, Georgetown, Harvard, Hawaii, John Marshall, Northwestern, Pace, St. John's, Texas A&M, Wake Forest, and Washington University] have announced that they will allow applicants to submit the GRE as an alternative to the LSAT. The number continues to climb.

Part of the appeal of the GRE is its accessibility. The GRE is offered almost every day of the year at more than 1,000 testing centers across the country. The test is computer-delivered, and students can view their preliminary scores immediately upon completion. By contrast, the paper-based LSAT is offered just four times per year; scores take three to four weeks to arrive.

In other words, the GRE is simply more convenient than the LSAT. It’s also more widely accepted. The GRE is the standard test for graduate school admissions, and most business schools accept it as a GMAT alternative. ...

For many school officials, accepting the GRE is part of a larger mission to broaden the applicant pool. Between 2015 and 2016, 585,677 students took the GRE, whereas 105,883 students took the LSAT. By offering an alternative testing option, admissions officers hope to reach students who might not have previously considered themselves candidates for a law degree. ... Law schools are particularly eager to attract STEM students because of the growing need for technical expertise in the legal field.

(Hat Tip: Nick Allard.) Prior TaxProf Blog coverage:

• Is Wake Forest Law School's Offer To Pay Students To Take The GRE A U.S. News Rankings Ploy? (Jan. 30, 2016)
• Christine Hurt (BYU), Could The GRE Replace The LSAT? (Feb. 6, 2016)
• Arizona Is First Law School To Admit Students Based On GRE Instead Of LSAT (Feb. 11, 2016)
• WSJ: Law Schools Replace LSAT With GRE To Goose Enrollment (Feb. 23, 2016)
• The First Two Law Schools to Drop the LSAT Could Be Just the Beginning (Feb. 25, 2016)
• The Empire Strikes Back: LSAC Threatens To Expel University Of Arizona Over Use Of GRE In Law School Admissions (May 1, 2016)
• 148 Deans Demand LSAC Rescind Threat To Expel University Of Arizona Over Use Of GRE In Law School Admissions (May 5, 2016)
• The Antitrust Implications Of LSAC's Threatened Expulsion Of University Of Arizona Over Use Of GRE In Law School Admissions (May 8, 2016)
• LSAC Backs Down (For Now) On Threat To Expel University Of Arizona For Use Of GRE In Law School Admissions (May 9, 2016)
• Poll: Majority Of Law Schools Are Not Racing To Follow Arizona In Replacing LSAT With GRE (June 6, 2016)
• Taylor: The GRE Is No Law School Diversity Tool (June 16, 2016)
• University Of Arizona Is 'Preying On Low-Information Prospective Law Students' (June 21, 2016)
• Rick Bales (Dean, Ohio Northern),75% Of Law School Deans Support Arizona's Use Of GRE As Substitute For LSAT, Not Its Use Of 'Misleading Employment Stats' (June 23, 2016)
• The Empire Strikes Back, Part II: LSAC Stops Certifying Matriculant Admissions Data In Response To Law Schools' Use Of GRE (Aug. 4, 2016)
• LSAC Rescinds Threat (For One Year) To Stop Certifying Matriculant Admissions Data In Response To Law Schools' Use Of GRE (Sept. 25, 2016)
• Proposed ABA Accreditation Rule Sets Process To Determine Validity Of GRE, Other LSAT Alternatives In Law School Admissions (Feb. 15, 2017)
• Khan Academy Offers Free LSAT Prep; Is Free Bar Exam Prep Next? (Mar. 3, 2017)
• Harvard Is Second Law School To Admit 1Ls Based On GRE Rather Than LSAT (Mar. 9, 2017)
• NY Times, Will Dropping The LSAT Requirement Create More Miserable Lawyers? (Mar. 19, 2017)
• Bill Henderson (Indiana), U.S. News Eliminates The Rankings Advantage Of The GRE, But Harvard Has Started A 'Quant' Arms Race For Diverse Students Who Will Thrive In A Transformed, Tech-Driven, Disrupted Legal Profession (Apr. 11, 2017)
• LSAC Moves Toward Digital LSAT (Ten Years After MCAT), Says It Was Not Due To Growing Use Of GRE In Law School Admissions (Apr. 20, 2017)
• Harvard Law School, The GRE, And Moneyball (Apr. 26, 2017)
• Facing Competition From GRE, LSAC Allows Applicants To Take LSAT An Unlimited Number Of Times (May 20, 2017)
• Chicago Law Schools Consider Accepting GRE As Test Alternative To LSAT (May 31, 2017)
• Northwestern Is Third Law School To Accept GRE For Admissions, Finds It Is Just As Accurate As LSAT In Predicting 1L Grades (Aug. 7, 2017)
• Georgetown Is Fourth Law School To Accept GRE For Admissions, Finds It Is Just As Accurate As LSAT In Predicting 1L Grades; LSAC Disagrees, Says 'The Rest Of The Top 14 Will Go Like Lemmings Off The Cliff' (Aug. 8, 2017)
• The GRE Is Shaking Up Law School Admissions (Aug. 9, 2017)
• More On Using The GRE In Law School Admissions (Aug. 11, 2017)
• Do We Really Want To Make It Easier To Go To Law School? (Aug. 17, 2017)
• 25% Of Law Schools Plan To Accept The GRE (Sept. 19, 2017)
• Washington University Is Sixth Law School To Accept GRE For Admissions (Oct. 4, 2017)
• Columbia Is Seventh Law School To Accept GRE For Admissions (Oct. 17, 2017)
• Arizona Deans: It's Time To Rethink The Law School Entrance Exam Monopoly (Oct. 26, 2017)
• ETS Releases Study Establishing Validity Of GRE In Predicting Law School Success, Using Data On 1L Grades From 21 Law Schools (Nov. 1, 2017)
• ABA Council Clears The Way For All Law Schools To Admit Students Based On The GRE (Or To Ignore Admissions Tests Entirely) (Nov. 4, 2017)
• Texas A&M Is Ninth Law School To Accept GRE For Admissions (Nov. 16, 2017)
• Wake Forest Is Tenth Law School To Accept GRE For Admissions (Nov. 16, 2017)
• BYU Is Eleventh Law School To Accept GRE For Admissions (Nov. 21, 2017)
• Can The GRE Cure What Ails Law Schools? (Nov. 30, 2017)
• WSJ: Law Schools Say: Please Come, No LSAT Required (Dec. 6, 2017)
• Kent Syverud And Dan Rodriguez On The GRE/LSAT Debate (Dec. 13, 2017)
• Nick Allard And David Brennen Continue The GRE/LSAT Debate (Dec. 18, 2017)
• John Marshall Is Fifteenth Law School To Accept GRE For Admissions (Feb. 3, 2018)
• Two More Law Schools Admit 1Ls Based On GRE Rather Than LSAT (Feb. 25, 2018)
• George Washington Discontinues Use Of GRE In Admissions Because It Has Not Done A School-Specific Validation Study (Mar. 18, 2018)