Reuters, College Students With These Majors Crush the LSAT. End of Logic Games May Change That.:
Georgetown Law admissions dean Andy Cornblatt loves getting applications from undergraduates with so-called STEM majors.
Law students with a background in science, tech, engineering and math tend to have strong Law School Admission Test scores and are in short supply compared with the thousands of applicants coming out of humanities and social science majors, Cornblatt said.
But STEM majors looking to become attorneys could lose some of their competitive edge with the August removal of the “logic games” portion of the LSAT—the puzzle-like section that requires test takers to apply a series of complex rules to a fictitious scenario, such as establishing a dinner party seating chart or devising a schedule for a film festival, said LSAT tutors and admissions consultants. (Here are some examples of the mind-bending questions, which are appearing on the LSAT for the last time this week after a 42-year run.)
An LSAT without logic games may be daunting enough to certain STEM majors that they simply don't take the test or pursue legal careers, some admissions officials fear. That could compound the challenges law schools already face in recruiting STEM majors, whom they view as highly employable and enriching to classroom discourse.
Fewer than 5,000 STEM majors applied to law school in 2023—just 6.6% of the national applicant pool, according to data from the Law School Admission Council. More than 50,000 arts and humanities or social sciences majors applied. There were more than twice as many political science majors in the national applicant pool as all STEM majors combined. …
Seven of the 10 majors with the highest median LSAT scores in the fall 2023 applicant pool were STEM, according to council data. Statistics majors had the highest median LSAT at 168 out of a possible 180, followed by math majors at 167. Biophysics and computer science majors tied for No. 3 with median scores of 165 with biomedical majors not far behind.
Meanwhile, popular pre-law majors such as English and political science had median LSAT scores of 157 and 156, the data shows.
The council added that it’s “too early” to speculate on how the new format will impact LSAT scores by major, adding that its internal research shows the change will have “virtually no effect” on the LSAT ability to predict first-year law school grades.
Prior TaxProf Blog coverage:
- Orin Kerr (UC-Berkeley), LSAC To Drop 'Logic Games' From LSAT Starting In August (Oct. 19, 2023)
- ABA Journal, Intense Demand For LSAT Before Removal Of Logic Games Forces Additional Test Date (Apr. 28, 2024)
- Tim Rosenberger (Manhattan Institute), The New LSAT Is Bad For America (May 3, 2024)
- Michael Nieswiadomy (North Texas), Physics/Math, Economics Majors Ace the LSAT; Criminal Justice, Prelaw Majors Bomb the Test (Sept. 1, 2009)
- Derek Muller (Pepperdine), College Majors That Produce the Highest (and Lowest) LSATs and UGPAs (April 8, 2014)
- Derek Muller (Pepperdine), Law School Matriculants by Major, LSAT, & UGPA (April 13, 2014)
- Derek Muller (Pepperdine), Which Undergraduate Majors Are the Best Law Students? Featuring Interactive Visualizations (May 4, 2015)
- Derek Muller (Pepperdine), LSAT Scores and GPAs of Law School Matriculants, Sorted By Undergraduate Major, 2013-2014 (May 4, 2015)
- Alexia Brunet Marks (Colorado) & Scott Moss (Colorado), LSAT Is Poor Predictor Of Law School Grades: 6 LSAT Points = 0.1 LGPA (July 14, 2015)
- Michael Simkovic (Seton Hall) & Frank McIntyre (Rutgers), The Value Of A Law Degree By College Major: $29k/Year For STEM Majors, $45k/Year For Humanities Majors (Mar. 6, 2016)
- Jeffrey Kinsler (Belmont), UGPA And College Reputation Are Better Than LSAT In Predicting Law School Success (June 20, 2016)
- Tiffane Cochran & India Heckstall (Access Group Center for Research & Policy Analysis), Using College Completion Data To Assess The Law School Pipeline (Feb. 1, 2017)
- Robert Anderson (Pepperdine), College Majors That Produce The Highest (And Lowest) LSATs And UGPAs (July 18, 2017)
- Thomas Metcalf (Spring Hill College), Why Do Religion And Philosophy Majors Score Higher On The LSAT Than Other Majors? (July 20, 2021)
