GRE vs LSAT

Chipster Study

So, I finally got around to broaching the subject to an admissions dean that I know socially about the GRE vs. LSAT issue. Their school is not taking GRE right now and they said even if they do take it down the road, for the foreseeable future they are really unofficially gonna want to see a high LSAT score and it will "count more" than a high GRE. The GMAT vs GRE example was mentioned. Unofficially, the attitude seems to be to consider why the applicant couldn't or wouldn't do what is needed to do well on the LSAT.

Seeking Perfection

They will follow US News in the end. If it means a fall in the rankings not to treat the GRE as the equal of the LSAT, then law schools will fall in line and treat them the same. If taking the GRE hurts schools in the rankings, then they will prioritize the LSAT.

We ought to be careful to avoid anthropomorphizing law school admissions offices by assuming that they are making decisions on a human level just because the admissions officers are people. The admissions offices function as rational maximizers of their US News ranking and admission officers don't have the freedom necessary for any wondering about why it is that an applicant couldn't do well on the LSAT to make an actual impact on their admissions decisions. They get fired if they select a class on the basis of trying to select better applicants rather than maximizing ranking.

Chipster Study

Yes, I agree that it is a rankings thing. My contact said they felt it was going to be easier to get lots of high GRE scores because it is an easier test, so the chase for the high LSAT applicant will be continuing as that will still be an accepted test by the schools and collected by USNWR

Alex

@"Chipster Study" said:
So, I finally got around to broaching the subject to an admissions dean that I know socially about the GRE vs. LSAT issue. Their school is not taking GRE right now and they said even if they do take it down the road, for the foreseeable future they are really unofficially gonna want to see a high LSAT score and it will "count more" than a high GRE. The GMAT vs GRE example was mentioned. Unofficially, the attitude seems to be to consider why the applicant couldn't or wouldn't do what is needed to do well on the LSAT.

Yeah, totally agree with this. It's going to very similar to the GMAT vs. GRE for b-school. B-schools know the GRE is easier than the GMAT and I'm sure they take that into consideration when evaluating candidates. I'm hopeful law schools will continue to do the same.

OlamHafuch

Since scores are relative to other test takers, who cares whether the test is easier. Unless you are saying that the pool of GRE test takers are weaker to begin with?

OlamHafuch

I actually take Georgetown's Dean of Admissions at his word, that he believes that the GRE is just as good of an indicator as LSAT (meaning, they're both equally lousy indicators). I get the impression from what I've read that many admission officers are exasperated with the LSAT and welcome the possibility of using other metrics and not being held hostage to LSAC's whims and purported expertise.