7Sage Blog

The Looming November LSAT

BY Jacob Baska

With the calendar flipping over to November, the schedule of law fairs is about to fall off the table faster than a child’s blood sugar at about 9 p.m. on Halloween night.

Sleepy Baby

But while that action will soon be tailing off, we’re already starting to see a few legitimate “admissions waves” coming from various law schools. Maybe they used their extra hour on Daylight Savings Day to read a few applications!

So as our AdComm friends make the full transition from Travel Season to Reading Season, let’s do our usual weekly round of the news and headlines from the world of law school admissions.

National LSAT Numbers

The big news from our weekly check on LSAC’s LSAT Registrants and Test Taker Volumes report is that we have final test-taking numbers from October, and we’re still tracking the November registrations … which don’t seem to be moving as much as one typically sees just before an LSAT administration.

LSAT Registrations

Regarding October, scores came out on Friday and the test-taking numbers are finally locked in. With 26,838 takers, the October 2025 test represents a 19.5% increase over the October 2024 edition. Rather than seeing LSAT registrations go down, we’re seeing things continue at a crisp pace—August was an 18.3% increase over August 2024, and September 2025 was a 25.4% increase from the previous year.

Which brings us to the November LSAT.

Come on do something

As we’ve mentioned for several weeks now, it’s very typical to see LSAT registrations surge right at a test’s registration deadline, dwindle slowly in the first few weeks after the registration deadline, and then drop by as much as 10% in the week or two leading up to the exam. For example, here’s what happened for the October 2025 LSAT:

  • August 27, right after the registration deadline, 38,826 registrants
  • September 3, 4.5% decline to 37,074 registrants
  • September 10, 0.6% decline to 36,846 registrants
  • September 17, 2.1% decline to 36,059 registrants
  • September 24, 4.4% decline to 34,464 registrants
  • October 1, 8.6% decline to 31,478 registrants
  • October 10 (after the test date passed), 9.2% decline to 28,576 registrants

That’s a normal cycle.

Meanwhile, here’s where we’re at a week before the November LSAT:

  • October 1, right after the registration deadline, 47,681 registrants
  • October 10, 0.6% decline to 47,390 registrants
  • October 17, 0.9% decline to 46,954 registrants
  • October 24, 2.5% decline to 45,753 registrants
  • October 31, 5.6% decline to 43,178 registrants

Or here’s another way of looking at things:

  • From “post-registration deadline” to “week before the test” (August 27‒October 1), registrations for the October LSAT declined by 18.9%.
  • During that same period (post-registration deadline on October 1 through “week before the test” on October 31), registrations for the November LSAT have declined by just 9.4%.

Dear readers—we assure you that this is crazy.

We have to assume that registrations will drop by at least 10% this week because we remain confident in the foundational aspects of our dimension—things like “gravity” and the “sun rising in the east.” That would bring us down to 39,000 registrations … which would represent the biggest LSAT since December 2017, when 39,927 people took the LSAT. That was back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth and LSAC only offered the LSAT four times a year.

Apropos of that and the potential size of the November LSAT, here’s a GIF of Godzilla emerging from the ocean.

Godzilla

Current Volume Summaries Report

We move from one set of absurd numbers to the next—this week’s check of LSAC’s Current Volume Summaries report:

LSAT Registrations

While those numbers are still “November LSAT”-levels of frightening, we should note that they have at least slowed down a little each of the past two weeks—from +27.8% two weeks ago to +26.9% in apps last week. But the fact remains that the wave of applications that we thought would hit us based on increased LSAT test-taking numbers is here, and it’s not going away.

But at least one sign of respite for applicants is that the increase has been spread out through all LSAT test bands. Further down the Current Volume Summaries report is this particular statistical nugget:

Apps by LSAT Band

Among the various absurd stats from last year’s applicant pool was that the increase in applications was most drastically concentrated among the highest LSAT score bands. So not only were there more applicants, but there were also disproportionately more competitive applicants. But this year’s distribution makes a bit more sense—the greatest increases are among some of the lower test bands, but all bands are pretty well represented. So at least we all have that going for us!

National Decision Trends

And meanwhile, we’re also starting to see some regular waves of admit offers coming out from schools via lawschooldata.org’s “Recent Decisions” page:

LSD Decisions

As we can see, both Arizona State and Georgetown appear to be up and running with their admissions processes, admitting students on a weekly basis. With admissions officers coming off the road and returning to their offices, expect to see a few more schools join the fun when we check in next week.

National Recruitment Events

And now that it’s November, not only are law fairs starting to dwindle, but they’re also turning heavily toward regions of the country that would have been a bit less comfortable for AdComms to visit in full suits and carrying boxes of brochures:

7Sage Events

Our next Admissions AMA will be on November 5. Stop on by and ask whatever law school admissions questions are on your mind!

The latest episode of our admissions podcast dropped last week, and it’s a loooooooooong recap of all the news and info that has happened in the past few weeks. What are the trends, topics, and news-you-can-use as you put forth your best effort in this year’s admissions cycle? We’re here to help! Be sure to check it out on Amazon, Spotify, Apple, or wherever you stream your podcasts! Our next episode will be coming on Monday and will feature a recording from our October Admissions Deans’ Roundtable.

Thanks for reading! You can learn more about 7Sage Admissions Consulting’s services here, and if you’d like help deciding which service is right for you, you can book a free consultation here.

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