The formula for becoming a lawyer has mostly been to score high on the LSATs, get admitted into law school and eventually pass the bar. According to new reports though, that age-old process is probably going to change soon. The Wall Street Journal American reported that a panel associated with the American Bar Association (ABA) that’s responsible for accrediting U.S. law schools has voted to drop the LSAT as an admission requirement.
The panel, which is comprised of lawyers, professors and administrators, voted 15-1 to eliminate “valid and reliable admission test” for prospective law students.
This decision comes at an interesting time, considering just a few weeks ago a survey revealed that more than 80% of U.S. bachelor-degree granting institutions will opt to do away ACT or SAT standardized exams when considering admittance for college hopefuls.
As Forbes points out, a number of schools leaned into test-optional admission models due to Covid-19, the pendulum hasn’t yet swung back the other way.
Nearly 2,000 U.S. colleges and universities now employ either ACT/SAT-optional or test-blind/score-free policies, as detailed by National Center for Fair & Open Testing (FairTest).
Everyone close to the matter isn’t a proponent. Some reps think the new policy will be negatively impact the legal education process.
“This proposal will be highly disruptive,” John White, chair of LSAC’s board of trustees, told the council as reported by Wall Street Journal. “The change won’t be worth it, and we won’t get the diversity we are looking for.”
In a written comment to the Wall Street Journal, Fariha Amin, a law school hopeful shared her LSAT scores are a constant challenge standing between her dream.
“I would hate to give up on my dream of becoming a family lawyer, just due to not being able to successfully handle this test,” Ms. Amin wrote.