Meet Some of the Nation's First GRE Admits to Law School

Oct. 11, 2016

National Law Journal
"Without LSAT Requirement, U. of Arizona Trains Nontraditional Law Students" (subscription required)
Oct. 10, 2016 

In February 2016, University of Arizona Law announced it would become the first law school in the country to accept either an LSAT or GRE score from JD applicants. This fall, the college welcomed its first cohort of students who were admitted with a GRE. The National Law Journal featured several of the students and spoke to Arizona Law leadership about the future of the GRE admissions program:

Garett Holm spent two decades working in education policy and health care accreditation before deciding to pursue a law degree when his contract position ended in the spring. It was too late in the admissions cycle to take the LSAT, but he was comfortable with the GRE, having taken it previously to gain admission to the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Holm spent one week studying, then took the test.

“Being my age, of course you’re mindful of how old you’ll be at the end of this,” said Holm, 42. “If I had the opportunity to not wait another year [to apply], I should take it.”

The article also outlined the application and acceptance rates of LSAT and GRE students for the incoming fall class:

Of the 1,392 people who applied for a spot in the current first-year class, just 72—or 5 percent—had GRE scores. Of those, the school accepted 16, and 12 enrolled. The 22 percent acceptance rate among the GRE applicants was lower than the overall acceptance rate of 35 percent. But the accepted GRE takers enrolled at a significantly higher rate.
 

Asked about what comes next, Dean Marc Miller said the college will continue evaluating the success of students admitted with a GRE score.

“The test is over time,” he said. “How do they do on the bar? How do they do as professionals? I think it’s going to take some serious time and reflection to ultimately judge and assess what we’ve done.”
 

Read the full story here (subscription required).

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