With the calendar rolling over to February, groundhogs everywhere giving us some hope for an early spring, and Boston College Law sending out their first wave of decisions, we’re starting to sense that winter—although resolute and foreboding—can’t last forever. Spring and admitted student days must surely be on the horizon if both Punxsutawney Phil and the BC Law admissions team deem it to be so! So let’s check our mirrors, remember not to drive angry, and take a quick lap through the weekly news from around the world of law school admissions.

National App Figures and LSAT Registrations

As we’ve long predicted, the January LSAT test takers have provided one last boost to the national admissions pool. 2023–24 applications have trailed behind 2022–23 ever since the first numbers were posted in October. But we can all see a nice number in this week’s check-in on LSAC’s Current Volume Summaries report:

As of February 5, we are now trailing by just 56 applications from last year (or as LSAC puts it, the seemingly mathematically impossible number of “-0.0%”). Meanwhile, applicants were up 4.1% in last week’s check but are now at +4.6%. These numbers will likely go up a little more as those January LSAT test takers rush to complete their apps in the next week or two.

Speaking of the January LSAT test takers, it looks like everything went rather smoothly for them based on the numbers of reportable scores we’re seeing in LSAC’s LSAT Registrant and Test Taker Volumes report:

A 64% conversion rate of reportable scores out of test takers is a pretty solid percentage to see one week after scores go live. This number will likely go up in the next week as students with Score Preview opt to accept their score and the (relatively small) group of first-time test takers finally finish up their required writing section.

But when we check in on individual score bands, we still see a little bit of a gap in the T14 range both in the aggregate:

as well as individual score reports:

This sets up nicely for the schools in the T20-40 range who may be hoping to boost their LSAT by a point from a 167 to a 168 or from a 168 to a 169. This is a little less promising for any school that already has a 170+ median that wants to boost their own median this year. It looks increasingly likely that those schools will have to stand pat. Of course, you can usually raise your stats either because your applications increase or because you’re more aggressive with scholarship, which brings us to…

Fin Aid Packages Coming … Kind Of

Mid-February is a common time for schools in the T14 and T30 ranges to begin offering merit scholarships. While some schools like Michigan have been offering awards for a bit of time, this is an outlier. Most schools in this range prefer to wait just a bit longer before offering merit awards. This allows them to be sure of a few things:

  • How both the national pool and their own app pool have developed. About 60-65% of national apps are in by this point. All the big LSAT administrations are done. While schools know that more apps will be arriving, they can start moving past projecting what the pool will look like and can start confidently stating what the pool is like.
  • This also allows them to see what their admitted group looks like. Since “merit” is an inherently subjective measure, AdComms need to have some sort of measuring stick.
  • The timing of releasing awards around this time of year helps to encourage admitted students to come visit campus in March and April.
  • By holding on to awards a little bit later, it can also usually allow a school to sync up their merit awards with any matters that require the FAFSA (i.e., need-based aid and federal student loans).

That last point is where the “Kind Of” in the title of this section comes into play. Feel free to go do an online search for “FAFSA News” and read the headlines—woof! This mirrors the feedback we’re receiving from our AdComm friends. While schools have had significant problems receiving information from the Department of Education, this likely won’t horribly affect most law students. This is because most law school financial aid is merit-based. The FAFSA is a document to help determine financial need. So having issues receiving the FAFSA doesn’t slow down the bulk of work done by law school offices of admission and financial aid (as opposed to the undergrad level where more aid is need-based).

However, the FAFSA is important for law students because that’s the required application for entrée to the federal student loan system—the system by which the vast majority of law students pay for their education. To put that in more relatable terms:

Incoming law students should be able to qualify for the Direct and Grad PLUS loans unless they have negative credit history … but we also understand that “should” is not the same as “did.” Lawyers (and law students!) tend to like to see things in writing. There may just be a little bit of a delay this year in receiving official notification for eligibility for those loans.

7Sage Events

This is a quiet week for the admissions team over at 7Sage HQ—no events! Use your free time to prep your last-minute Valentine’s cards!