Recession Spurs Interest in Graduate, Law Schools

Graduate School Law School
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<p>No suprise with the increase in applications. It is going to be a very competitive cycle.</p>

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It took longer than some experts expected, but the recession and the resulting shortage of good jobs have spurred a jump in applications to law schools and a growing interest in graduate programs.</p>

<p>The number of people taking the Law School Admissions Test, for example, rose 20 percent in October, compared with October 2008, reaching an all-time high of 60,746.

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Officials at many law schools reported substantial increases in applications over last year. Washington University in St. Louis has had a 19 percent year-to-date increase in applications to its college of law.</p>

<p>At the University of San Francisco School of Law, applications are up 35 percent over last year, and at the University of Iowa’s College of Law, applications are up 39 percent.</p>

<p>Some increases are more explicable than others.** Applications to the Maurer School of Law at Indiana University have risen 54 percent this year, which may be related to its rise in the U.S. News & World Report rankings to 23 in 2009, from 36 the year before.**</p>

<p>But at Cornell University’s Law School, whose ranking has remained relatively stable, applications are up 44 percent, and no one is quite sure of the reason for such a large increase. </p>

<p>Recession</a> Pushes Up Law School Applications and Interest in Graduate Studies - NYTimes.com</p>

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<p>Cornell adcoms have to be scratching their heads…but note, a lot more applicants doesn’t necessarily mean more “competitive.” Those applicants would also have to have high test scores. For example, it makes little difference if Big Red receives 1,000 more apps from applicants with scores <16xx. Unless they bring a hook, they’ll just be rejected.</p>

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<p>Agreed. Increase in applications does not necessarily mean increase in competitiveness at top law schools. That would make the assumption that the increase an applicants would be normally distributed, which is a shaky assumption at best.</p>

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<p>Well, some of those applicants might be older professionals who lost their jobs. They would be experienced that might give them an edge.</p>

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<p>That is the statistical point: we haven’t the foggiest notion of who these new testers are…they could be a bunch of 4.0 lit majors who can’t find jobs in education, or 3.0 marketing majors or…</p>

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<p>They could be Irish potato farmers, or former members of the Khmer Rouge, or retired prison guards, or convicted pedophiles, or ex-basketball coaches, or volunteer firefighters, or discharged Marines, or ice-cream men, or ballerinas, or plus-sized models, or Italian sous-chefs, or even radio personalities. </p>

<p>This is truly horrifying. Anyone could be going to law school / graduate school. That public defender sitting next to you, getting ready to cross-examine the police officer in your 3rd DUI case (the one that triggers an automatic life sentence), could be an Italian sous-chef!</p>

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<p>Sounds like excellent work experience to me. :D</p>