Following up on Monday's post, 14% Of The Way Through The Fall 2023 Law School Admissions Cycle: Applicants Are Down -14%, With Biggest Decline (-25%) Among The Top 160-180 LSAT Band:  Law.com, 2022-23 Law School Admission Cycle Starts Out With a Whisper:

Last year’s law school admission cycle started out with a bang but petered out to a whimper by the end. So far, this cycle is starting with a whisper. …

It’s approximately 15% into the fall 2023 admission cycle, so it’s a bit early to be making too many predictions.

It’s so early, in fact, that the LSAC posts a “warning” on its website: “It is too early in the 2023 admission cycle to reach conclusions about applicant volume. Early volumes can be highly volatile, and thus are not always reflective of application cycle trends.”

So far, numbers in most categories are down with 142 of the 197 law schools experiencing a decrease in applications with some being down 30% or more at 43 law schools, Paul Caron wrote in his Oct. 10 TaxProf blog.

There are 41,910 applications (a 17.5% decrease compared with a year ago and a 5.3% decrease compared with two years ago) submitted by 8,472 applicants (a 12.1% decrease from a year ago and a 3.2% decreased compared with two years ago), according to Oct. 12 LSAC’s U.S. volume comparison data. …

Caron pointed out that the biggest declines are seen among the top 160-180 LSAT band, which is down 25%. … 

Regionally, the biggest decreases in applicants so far are seen in the Northwest (-30.4%), New England (-24.1%), and the Midsouth (-24.1%), while other regions, such as the Midwest (+7.8%), showed increases, according to Caron’s Oct. 10 blog.

Reuters, Law Schools See Applications Dip as 2023 Cycle Gets Off to Slow Start

“I do think this cycle will be down,” said University of Michigan senior assistant dean Sarah Zearfoss, noting that the past two years have seen high volumes of applicants and this year will likely represent a return to historical norms.

Zearfoss predicted that Michigan Law will receive between 5,000 and 5,500 applications this cycle, compared to applicant pools of more than 6,000 and 7,000 the previous two years. …

[Llaw school admissions consultant Mike Spivey] said "My best guess is that [the applicant pool] will end up down around 1% to 5%. The pendulum is swinging back toward normalcy. It’s going to be a lot different than the last two cycles — better for applicants and more competitive for law schools.”