Paul L. Caron
Dean





Tuesday, October 18, 2022

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:

Reddit

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%

https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2022/10/law-school-admissions-us-news-rankings-and-splitters.html

Law School Rankings, Legal Ed Rankings, Legal Education | Permalink