Law School Admissions
Title
Less Talk, More Action: How Law Schools Can Counteract Racial Bias of LSAT Scores in the Admissions Process
Document Type
Law Review Article
Publication Date
1-2019
Keywords
admission criteria, incoming indicators, law school diversity, standardized test scores, LSAT
Abstract
Racial bias exists within the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) and can be viewed through racial and ethnic score gaps. The racial score gap was initially discovered five decades ago and continues to be true today. White test-takers consistently and overwhelmingly score higher than minority test-takers. This article is a call to action for the law school community to officially acknowledge the racial bias of the LSAT – a standardized test for law school acceptance – against minority applicants. This article encourages law school admission committees to deemphasize reliance on LSAT scores and develop new methods to justly assess the skills of every law school applicant. Consequently, by decreasing the weight of LSAT scores in the admissions process, entities such as U.S. News and World Report will need to restructure their methodology for ranking best law schools. By making procedural adjustments, law schools can bring equity to the admissions process, which would lead to a more diverse legal profession.
