More Law Schools Begin Accepting GRE Test Results
Georgetown said that it found “GRE scores were at least as strong a predictor of academic success at Georgetown Law as LSAT scores.”
Northwestern’s law school dean, Daniel B. Rodriguez, said its study found
that the exam was “a strong predictor of first-year performance at Northwestern.” Northwestern’s study was conducted with the Educational Testing Service, the administrator of the GRE, which is used for most graduate school programs.
Two top-ranked schools — Georgetown University Law Center
and Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law — this week joined Harvard Law’s recent move to make it simpler to apply.
Applicants can submit the results of the more widely available Graduate Record Exam, the GRE, instead of those from
the Law School Admissions Test, which long has been entrenched as the numeric gauge of law school success.
“We believe this change will make the admissions process more accessible to students who have great potential to make a mark here at Georgetown Law and in successful legal careers
but who might find the LSAT to be a barrier for whatever reason,” said William M. Treanor, the school’s dean.
With the two this week, there are now four law schools, including the University
of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, that admit students with GRE scores.
Georgetown Law will begin accepting GRE scores in addition to LSAT scores for applicants to its 2018 entering class.
Arizona was the first law school to defy the decades-old wisdom that the LSAT was the only reliable numerical predictor for how students would fare.
