Cardozo Law School to Accept GRE as an Alternative to the LSAT
Those applying to the 2018-2019 academic year at Cardozo Law School will be able to be considered for admission having taken the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), instead of the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT). Cardozo Law School is the 14th law school in the country to allow applicants to take the GRE as an alternative to the LSAT.
The decision, announced on December 8, is part of a movement to attract students with a strong background in science and technology to Cardozo’s programs in intellectual property and technology law, according to the Cardozo website. Whereas the LSAT features sections that test students’ logical reasoning, analytical reasoning, and reading comprehension skills, the GRE tests more broadly and has sections that test students’ analytical writing, verbal reasoning, and quantitative reasoning skills.
Cardozo follows Columbia, Brooklyn, and St. John’s to be the fourth law school in New York City to allow either the LSAT or GRE from its applicants. Harvard Law School, ranked the 3rd best law school in the country by U.S. News, announced that it would be accepting the GRE in addition to the LSAT from applicants in the fall of 2017. This change was implemented after a study at Harvard Law school showed that a high score on the GRE was a valid indication of a law school student’s performance in their first year.
A survey conducted in 2017 by Kaplan Test Prep, a company that provides test preparation services, showed that an increasing number of law schools are open to the idea of accepting the GRE as an alternative to the LSAT. According to the survey, this move gives law schools a larger pool of applicants from which to select, perhaps combating the downward trend in law school admissions as of late. In the fall 2017 admissions season, the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC), the body that administers the LSAT, announced that the number of law school applicants decreased by 0.5%.
Cardozo Law School was founded in 1967 by Yeshiva University. According to its website, Cardozo’s is ranked number 14 in the nation for practical training and 1st in New York by The National Jurist. The U.S. News and World Report ranks Cardozo as the 65th best law school in the country.
