" … Standards aren’t just falling at lower-tier schools—Emory University, ranked among the top 20 U.S. law schools by U.S. News and World Report, had the single largest drop in LSAT scores for this group, enrolling bottom-tier students who’d scored nine points worse than three years earlier—a 5 percent drop. In fact, 20 of the 22 U.S. News top-20 schools—there was a three-way tie for 20th place—were enrolling students with lower test scores. Across all schools, LSAT scores for the 25th percentile dropped an average of three points." …
Half that article appears to be missing. I see the “numbers are down” part but not the “this is a bad thing” part.
They quickly glossed over the “that’s not good” part, but it was that the plummeting LSAT score ranges that had them worried about these students passing the bar once they graduate…
First year law school enrollment at four decade low.
It’s about time.
With the exception of Northwestern University (NW) and Georgetown, that list of law schools comprise mostly of 2nd tier and below schools. Most people outside the southeastern part of the country do not think of Emory as a powerhouse law school in the same breath as Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Columbia, Cornell, Penn, Michigan, Chicago, UC Berkeley’s Boalt, etc., or even NW. NW is a top 5 to 15 ranked law school depending on which ranking you are reviewing. Their LSAT scores are already one of the highest and so a 5 point drop is not significant. Top tier law schools, especially the top 10 or maybe even the next 5, are still very competitive to get into now just as it was a couple of decades ago.
But the question is do those states care because states in the Southeast are predominantly the states that are currently experiencing robust economic growth compared to states like NJ, NY, CA, etc.
I wouldn’t think that many people, even in the Southeast, would know or care that Emory’s 25% scores dropped. The students who get in with lower scores would likely have much lower grades than their classmates, but it shouldn’t affect anyone else. Emory is still a very well-regarded school.
That’s good. Maybe they will shut down all the law schools outside of the Top 14 or start regulating more heavily if bar passage rates tank. Most law schools are just scam for profit schools leeching off naive students willing to pay $300,000 for a degree and half the law grads can’t even find a job that requires a JD.
As for Emory, I think their recent job prospects are awful (like most schools outside of, well, now, the Top 13 schools since Georgetown hasn’t been looking so good lately).
Yea, I didn’t do too hot. Two schools emailed me stating “we’ll take any score” or alternative programs. I was shocked…and decided maybe the JD isn’t as strong as it used to be. Also the price tag was outrageous. Not worth it in my opinion haha.