Law School Admissions, U.S. News Rankings, And 'Splitters'

One of the perverse incentives in the U.S. News law school rankings involves "splitters." In a non-U.S. News world, a hypothetical law school with an admissions goal of 164 LSAT|3.85 UGPA medians (which has a 227 index score (based on a hypothetical 60% LSAT|40% UGPA weighting)) would jump at the chance to admit and scholarship an applicant from MIT with a 163|3.84 (226 index) over a "splitter" applicant from a far less selective college with a 164|3.25 (220 index) or a "reverse splitter" applicant from a far less selective college with a 158|3.85 (220 index).

The ABA does not collect this data, but a Reddit user posted an interesting chart on the use of splitters by some top law schools, based on applicant data from LSD.Law for the Fall 2022 admissions season:

Here are the Yale and Wash U data:

	Yale	Wash U
At or Above Both Medians	43.4%	13.2%
Splitter (LSAT at/Above, UGPA Below)	18.3%	56.5%
Reverse Splitter (LSAT Below, UGPA at/Above)	20.0%	26.2%
Below Both	18.3%	4.1%