So Far, Public Comments Largely Support ABA Proposal To Make Law School Admission Tests Optional

Following up on my previous posts (links below):  Law.com, So Far, Public Comments Largely Support ABA Proposal to Make Law School Admission Tests Optional:

Thus far, at least, there seems to be support for doing away with the standardized testing requirement for ABA-accredited law schools.

The Council of the American Bar Association’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar voted in May to send out proposed amendments to Standard 503 for public comment. Of the eight comments that have been posted so far, seven are in favor of the proposed changes.

The changes include making admission tests for law school, such as the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), optional instead of mandatory.

“I encourage the ABA to support and press for an end to an archaic and frankly obsolete metric of law school admission,” Sophie Loeb wrote.

Loeb said she graduated “UC Berkeley in 2018 … with a 3.89 GPA, two minors, and with an honors thesis. … My academic aptitude for undergraduate studies as well as for future law school admission is much more based on academic diligence, perseverance, dedication to the field, and other ‘soft’ factors.” ...

Only one commenter has written in opposition of the proposed changes. “The LSAT is definitely not a perfect test, nor a good sole measure of one’s ability to perform in law school,” Chun Lee wrote. “However, it is the only factor in the Law School Admissions process that is open and fair to everyone.”

Prior TaxProf Blog coverage:

• Inside Higher Ed, The ABA Proposes Eliminating Standardized Tests For Law School Admissions (June 16, 2022)
• Newsweek, In Defense Of The LSAT (May 28, 2022)
• Wall Street Journal, ABA Council Votes 20-1 To Advance Proposal Permitting Law Schools To Go Test Optional. What Are The Implications Of Admitting Students Who Don't Take The LSAT Or GRE? (May 23, 2022)
• New York Times, ABA May Eliminate Standardized Tests For Law School Admissions (May 7, 2022)
• Inside Higher Ed, Do Law Schools Use The LSAT To Limit Black Enrollment? (Apr. 17, 2019)