Fall 2020 Law School Applicants Down 1%, But Surge 11% In The Highest LSAT Bands (165+) As 2019 Draws To A Close

As we close the books on 2019, we are 41% of the way through the Fall 2020 law school admissions season. Law school applicants are down 1.0%, and applications are up 1.6%:

There is an 11% surge in LSAT scores in the highest three bands (165-180), and steep declines in the middle three bands (150-164): -4.4% and lowest three bands (<140-149): -12.7%:

LSAT	Last Year	Current Year	Change
< 140	962	747	-22.3%
140-144	1,398	1,373	-1.8%
145-149	2,875	2,448	-14.9%
150-154	4,165	3,890	-6.6%
155-159	4,783	4,569	-4.5%
160-164	4,555	4,450	-2.3%
165-169	3,453	3,903	13.0%
170-174	1,864	1,990	6.8%
175-180	474	536	13.1%

Update:  Scott Boone (John Marshall-Atlanta) notes that the dispersal of scores was affected by LSAC's decision to allow July test-takers (the first to use the new digital format) to cancel their scores after getting them. Roughly 50% of the July test-takers cancelled their scores. See more here.

Here is the application breakdown by region:

Region	Last Year	Current Year	Change
Mountain West	4,981	5,378	8.0%
New England	14,855	15,565	4.8%
Far West	21,608	22,538	4.3%
South Central	10,312	10,642	3.2%
Southeast	10,971	11,304	3.0%
Northeast	29,453	30,097	2.2%
Midsouth	30,862	30,741	-0.4%
Great Lakes	22,889	22,657	-1.0%
Northwest	2,690	2,507	-6.8%
Midwest	4,893	4,508	-7.9%

Pepperdine is one of the four law schools with application increases in excess of 40%: