With law fairs rolling along accordingly and the Harvest Moon in the air (and not just a Harvest Moon, but a Harvest Blood Super Moon with a twist of “lunar eclipse” on the side!), law school admissions officers are keeping themselves busy.

As we discuss below, we’re now hitting the first BIG events of the year—the LSAC Forums. Afterwards, the travel season schedule will really kick into gear. While the days are going to grow slightly shorter after the 21st, the 2024–2025 law school recruitment cycle is ramping up.

So with the spirit of that combined force of lunar and law school recruitment energy, let’s take our usual lap around the news and headlines from this week in the world of law school admissions.

LSAT Registration Numbers

Checking in on the LSAT Registrants and Test Taker Volumes, numbers are holding remarkably steady:

With the October LSAT just around the corner at the beginning of the month, registrations only fell by 2.5% over the past week. We usually see a greater drop in the t-minus two-week window before an exam. As such, there’s an outside chance that we will see the first 30,000+ LSAT since the November 2018 exam.

Looking ahead to the November test, we’re still a week away from the registration deadline but we’re already seeing the normal pre-deadline surge of sign-ups. Registrations have increased by 25% in just the past week. Meanwhile, the biggest wave of registrations typically happens in the days just before the deadline. All bets are on the November 2024 exam surpassing the numbers for the 2023 edition. This would continue our year-long streak that began back in August 2023 wherein each LSAT administration surpassed the numbers from the previous year’s edition.

We should also point out an important stat from the August 2024 LSAT—the percentage of first-time test takers. While the basic rule of thumb is “LSAT test-taking numbers predict future applications,” we acknowledge some possibility for nuance! For example, LSAT registrations could—theoretically—increase due exclusively to students taking the LSAT a second or third time. In this—theoretical—universe, increases in registration numbers wouldn’t necessarily lead to more applications. It would just be “more LSATs from more students who have taken the LSAT more times.” But we can test that theory by looking at the first-timers percentage. In this case, test takers increased by 35% from the 2023 to the 2024 exam and a higher percentage of the August 2024 group were LSAT Rookies. So in this—realistic!—universe, we’re still predicting that applications will be higher once we start getting updated information on LSAC’s Current Volume Summaries report in early October.

Forum Season

Although last week saw the first law fairs of the season, this week sees the first BIG recruitment events of the season—the LSAC Forums and Chicago and Toronto. If last week was a lone acoustic guitarist playing at a campus’s open mic night, this week is the band with comically large speakers and pyrotechnics playing in a football stadium.

The LSAC Forums are easily the largest law fairs that occur on an annual basis. Visiting applicants have a great chance to chat with admissions reps from a number of schools but they can also attend workshops on topics like the admissions process, financial aid, and the LSAT. These are great resources for any law school applicant to attend!

We wrote extensively about various tips and tricks to attending Forums over the summer and we encourage you to check it out for a quick refresher! The keys we’d like to point out for now:

- Plan ahead of time. Check out the roster of schools that will be in attendance and cross-reference that versus your application list. Note their table numbers so that you know where everyone is located. After that….

- Figure out your top priorities. At the largest Forums (D.C., Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles), it’s not realistic to expect to talk with all your top-choice schools. Who are the “must” visits and who are the “if I have time” conversations?

- Review schools’ applications and websites ahead of time. These can be good sources for questions and conversation with the admissions reps. Rather than ask folks on r/LSA about an application prompt, you can ask the people who made the application!

- Be prepared with what you’d like to say when you chat with an admissions rep. Whether it’s coming by to ask a few questions or to just say hello because you are about to submit your application, just practicing your introduction ahead of time can help you feel more confident.

- Be comfortable and be prepared to wait. Business or business casual attire is totally appropriate … but be sure to wear comfy shoes because you may be standing in some long lines. And speaking of long lines, it’s perfectly acceptable to bring a few things to help pass the time. A small book, a fully charged phone loaded with games (and maybe a small power bank so you don’t worry about using up all your battery!), and/or a notebook for doodling (and taking notes from your conversations!) can all be lifesaving ways of staying sane at events of this nature.

We’ll also include another point that we failed to mention over the summer—follow up on your conversations. When you’re wrapping up your chat with an admissions officer, ask them if they wouldn’t mind providing their email in case you have further questions. A few days after the Forum, send them a brief email thanking them for their time at the law fair, telling them that you appreciate being able to ask a few questions and that you’re looking forward to applying in due course.

While law fairs can be intimidating—especially if you tend to be introverted or dislike spaces with large crowds—it can be a really rewarding experience if you get your prep right! You’ll learn a few things, maybe chat with a law school or two that weren’t initially on your radar ahead of time but could be a good fit for you, and admissions officers do remember these interactions when reviewing applications. Every last little bit of research and networking can help!

Recruitment Events

And on that very note, it’s a busy week of events on the recruitment calendar!

7Sage Events

We’re continuing our series of weekly live classes on different components of the application process. This week’s session turns to interviews and then the following week has another round of “What Does My Score Mean?” classes. Registration is free but required. You can check out our past sessions via our Class Library—just enter “Admissions” into the search bar.

You can also check out our admissions podcast on Amazon, Spotify, Apple, or wherever you stream your podcasts. We dropped a new episode this Monday featuring our latest panel discussion from a few different directors of admission regarding this year’s application process.