The last post linked the shortages of qualified people in the labor force, both now & in the future, to the high percentage of people who can not read @ a basic level by the 8th grade. The post went into detail regarding shortages of doctors, policemen, male public school teachers, engineers, & more that affect our lives negatively.
Conspicuous by its absence in the post was a discussion of lawyers. A charter subscriber to this blog picked this up & wrote "I know a young fellow striving for a law degree, does well in class work, & teachers think he is very capable. His next step is passing the LSATs & money. But most of the questions on the LSATs do not apply to the law, so it comes to comprehension, ability to understand, knowledge, awareness, perception, discernment, & interpretation so if there is a trick he can follow I will relay the information to him. And yes he is working."
The "trick" that our subscriber is looking for may lie in the test that the "young fellow" is studying for. Yes, the LSAT (Law School Admission Test) is used by law schools to help evaluate applicants, but starting in 2016 some law schools started to accept GRE (Graduate Record Exam) scores so that today about half the law schools including Columbia, Harvard, & Georgetown on down accept scores from both tests.
My sister-in-law, a lawyer, told me that "the LSATs do not apply to the law" as our subscriber writes, but are geared to determine how the applicant thinks. The LSAT is taken with pencils & paper & consists of five, 35-minute sections measuring analytical & logical reasoning & reading comprehension. The GRE could be a better fit for a non-traditional law school candidate with an impressive application including a high GPA & extra curricular activities. Such a candidate might be more comfortable because the GRE is taken by computer figuring out definitive answers to questions involving algebra, geometry, trigonometry, & calculus in addition to reading comprehension, vocabulary, & writing. Something like the quizzes I present from time to time. Both tests are difficult.
Although schools started to say in 2016 they were flexible in accepting either test in order to attract students from a wider variety of backgrounds, particularly in STEM fields, it is also true that there had been a falloff in applicants & matriculants from 2010 each year to 2015. You would not be far off to think accepting the GRE was an attempt to stop this downward trend - which did stop in 2016 although it cannot be concluded that accepting the GRE was the reason. See graphic below - source of the next two graphics is the Law Professor Blogs Network (Jerry Organ).
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With the above downward trend in overall applications came a corresponding downward trend from 2010 to 2015 of the best & brightest law school students defined as those with LSAT scores of 165+ (above 90th percentile) that also did not start to turn around until 2016. Such applicants would be competitive @ virtually any law school in the country. Unfortunately, the number of students with scores from 150 to 159 continued the downward trend in 2016 while those @ the bottom of the scale (140 to 149) had a slight increase. LSAT scores range from 120 to 180. See graphic below for the trend of those students with LSATs of 165+.
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Law School enrollment continued to increase after 2016 but has fallen the past two years. Acceptance of the GRE gets some of the credit for the small increase in enrollment after 2016. See graphic below - source LawHub.
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So lawyers join the many other professions highlighted on this blog that have declined in number the past fifteen years. Fairly or not, the reputation of lawyers is low (like that of Congress who is made up of lawyers) so to moan about a shortage of lawyers will not bring much sympathy. Still, a good lawyer can be very valuable when closing on a house, getting a divorce, helping with taxes on a financial plan, or teaching constitutional law correctly.
And the compensation is still very good for those with the 165+ LSAT scores who graduate from a top law school. See graphic below.
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So the "trick" our subscriber may be looking for concerning his friend's problem with the LSATs may be to find a law school that will accept the GRE results. I hope it works for them.
I present below a sample question from both the LSAT & the GRE for the "young fellow" & the entire readership to consider. Send me your comments on the LSAT & the solution to the GRE question. I will post appropriate comments from the LSAT question & all correct answers to the GRE question or alternatively send the correct answer to any one who requests it.
Just think - being able to answer questions like the following in the real world is what making $200,000 per year is all about for someone in their 20s with a first class law degree.
Sample LSAT Question
In trying to reduce the amount of fat in their diet, on average people have decreased their consumption of red meat by one-half in the last two decades. However, on average those who have reduced their consumption of red meat actually consume substantially more fat than those who have not.
Which one of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent discrepancy described above?
A. Many more people have reduced their consumption of red meat over the last two decades than have not.
B. Higher prices over the last two decades have done as much to decrease the consumption of red meat as health concerns have.
C. People who reduce their consumption of red meat tend to consume as much of other foods that are high in fat as do those who have not reduced their consumption of red meat.
D. People who reduce their consumption of red meat tend to replace it with cheese and baked goods, which are richer in fat than red meat.
E. Studies have shown that red meat contains slightly less fat than previously thought.
Which one of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent discrepancy described above?
A. Many more people have reduced their consumption of red meat over the last two decades than have not.
B. Higher prices over the last two decades have done as much to decrease the consumption of red meat as health concerns have.
C. People who reduce their consumption of red meat tend to consume as much of other foods that are high in fat as do those who have not reduced their consumption of red meat.
D. People who reduce their consumption of red meat tend to replace it with cheese and baked goods, which are richer in fat than red meat.
E. Studies have shown that red meat contains slightly less fat than previously thought.
Sample GRE Question
A developer has land that has x feet of lake frontage. The land is to be subdivided into lots, each of which is to have either 80 feet or 100 feet of lake frontage. If 1⁄9 of the lots are to have 80 feet of frontage each and the remaining 40 lots are to have 100 feet of frontage each, what is the value of x?
