Web Exclusive: Increase in law school applications means competitive year for prospective students

  • Print
Listen to this story

Subscriber Benefit

As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
0:00
0:00
Loading audio file, please wait.
  • 0.25
  • 0.50
  • 0.75
  • 1.00
  • 1.25
  • 1.50
  • 1.75
  • 2.00
Indiana University McKinney School of Law in Indianapolis (Photo courtesy of IU McKinney)

Law school applications are up significantly across the country, and Indiana University’s law schools are feeling the rise.

The Law School Admission Council reported in December that law school applications have risen 35% nationally from a year ago, according to statistics reported annually by American Bar Association-accredited schools. 

IU law school admission directors say this could be due to several factors, including changes to the Law School Admission Test and the increased interest in legal careers often sparked during an election year.

The American Bar Association Journal reported that another factor nationally was the delay of the previous year’s application cycle, as many law schools waited to adjust their essay and personal statement sections after the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 decision to bar race as a consideration in higher education admissions.

Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law Assistant Dean of Enrollment Management Tim Luczak said the school is currently looking at a 20% increase in applications compared to the same time a year ago. 

“It’s a good problem to have,” Luczak said. “It just means it’s going to be a very competitive year for applicants.”  

According to the Indianapolis law school, it made 492 offers of admission in 2024, giving it a 62% acceptance rate. 

He said applicants will need to apply sooner going forward since IU McKinney is on a rolling admission and that will maximize scholarships. 

“We might not have enough space to admit more students later down the line in March, April, May,” Luczak said. 

IU McKinney’s class size is typically around 250 students. Luczak said last year’s class size was its largest at almost 270 students. He explained that they are unable to increase the class size further than that due to capacity constraints in the classroom. 

In 2023, IU McKinney started its part-time hybrid program which enabled them to accept more students because they’re in the classroom at a different time than those who are full-time students. 

Luczak said he thinks that it being an election year and that changes to the LSAT could be factors as to why there are more law school applications this cycle. 

IU McKinney opens its application in September and accepts them through May 15. 

At the Indiana University Maurer School of Law in Bloomington, Assistant Dean for Enrollment Management Greg Canada is expecting a double-digit percentage increase in applicants.

He noted that applicants are increasing the amount of law schools they are applying to. Canada said a factor as to why there are more applicants is due to those who took the LSAT before the logic games portion was taken out. 

“I believe there were a lot of people who took the LSAT right before the logic games went away, knowing that they did really well in those logic games, and so they wanted to take the LSAT and get an application in with that test being one that included something that would work to their benefit,” Canada said. 

He is also seeing applicants with very high LSAT scores around 165 and 175. IU Mauer’s average LSAT score is 164 out of 180. 

“Which means that for many schools, they may have their pick of the litter, if you will, when it comes to admitting students with those LSAT scores,” Canada said. “It’s definitely going to be a challenging year for students to get in with this kind of applicant pool and with these scores being what they are.” 

IU Maurer has a 39% acceptance rate according to its annual report. But Canada noted the school is looking to increase its class size to about 180 students, up from the current 140. 

Please enable JavaScript to view this content.

{{ articles_remaining }}
Free {{ article_text }} Remaining
{{ articles_remaining }}
Free {{ article_text }} Remaining Article limit resets on
{{ count_down }}