The law school application surge is real. Data released on April 22, 2021 by the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC) shows that applicants for the 2021-2022 school year are up 20.0 percent compared to the same date last year, and up 15.8 percent compared to two years ago. The data also shows that applicants, likely in response to uncertain conditions, are applying to more schools, as the number of submitted applications is up 31.6 percent compared to last year, and up 27.9 percent compared to two years ago.
When early figures emerged showing a jump in applications for the upcoming school year, some speculated that applicants submitted their materials early due to COVID-19 lockdowns. However, at this point in the admissions cycle, the number of applicants for the 2021 school year, which still has weeks remaining for some schools, already exceeds the total number of 2020 applicants. Additionally, as of April 21st, there are well over 10, 000 more applicants in 2021 than there were at the same time in 2020. According to law.com, if these trends continue, this is likely to be the largest applicant pool since 2011.
The quality of this year’s applicants is also proving formidable. The number of students receiving top scores on the LSAT increased significantly compared to last year; applicants reporting scores between 175 to 180 on the LSAT doubled, jumping from 721 to 1,442. The number who scored between 170 to 174 also increased by 54.1 percent, and 28 percent more applicants reported scores in the bands 160 to 164 and 165 to 169.
Also worthy of note is that the increase in applications is consistent across most racial groups. The number of Black/African American, White, and Hispanic/Latino applicants all increased by about 20 percent this year compared to last (22.3 percent, 20.8 percent, and 20.6 percent respectively). The largest spike, 57.2 percent, comes from Puerto Rican applicants followed by Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islanders at 31.7 percent. The number of Asian applicants increased, but by a smaller percentage than average at 13.7 percent. A prepared statement put forth by LSAC described these increases with optimism, “We are seeing strength across all demographic groups and locations. This year looks good in terms of having a robust and diverse legal education pipeline of candidates eager to use the law to create a better world. That’s good for our society.”
Admissions officers have struggled over how to react to the influx of highly qualified candidates this cycle. Many schools expanded their wait lists and made fewer outright acceptances. Notre Dame Law School, despite making fewer admissions offers, made headlines over its decision to offer admitted students seats in its class on a “first come, first served” basis to avoid over-enrollment. On April 6, 2021, Notre Dame’s admissions officers told admitted students that the incoming class was 67 percent full and that students would need to reserve their seat with a deposit or risk losing it. Just a few hours later, the admissions team informed students that the class was at 80 percent capacity and, by the end of the day, announced that all seats had been filled and the remaining students who had been admitted would be moved to a “continued interest” list.
While there are likely many reasons behind the jump in applications, law.com notes that admissions officers and consultants are pointing to both political and economic events of the past years, including: police killings of African Americans and the resulting national focus on racial inequalities, Trump’s presidency, national discourse on immigration policy, as well as the economic impact of coronavirus and the difficulty of finding strong entry-level employment. The article also notes the added convenience of registering and taking the LSAT-flex.
Most likely, the highly competitive nature of this admissions cycle will carry over into next year as many competitive applicants unable to find a seat among their top-choice schools, will reapply in the fall. According to law.com, over 28,000 have already registered to take the June LSAT with weeks left in the registration period.