According to test preparation company Kaplan, Inc., the volume of law school applications has dropped by ten percent compared to this time last year.
Thus far, 60,397 applications have been received in 2006. 95,760 were received in 2005 and 100,604 were received in 2004.
Tufts falls in line with these trends.
In 2005, 246 Tufts seniors and alumni applied to law school, a drop from 2004 and 2003, which saw 271 and 270 Tufts law school applicants, respectively.
"Certainly a lot of elite [law] schools are seeing a decline," said Jeff Olson, Research Director at Kaplan.
According to Olson, the national drop in applications can be attributed to an improved job market.
"It's easier to find a job coming out of college today," he said.
After a few years of work, however, interested college graduates may opt for law school. "The people who aren't applying now may do so later," Olson said. "We might see an upturn in a few years' time."
Olson said that the cyclical nature of application volume is normal. "Law schools are used to this fluctuation," he said. "This is something that goes up and down."
No law school exists at Tufts, but Dean Jeanne Dillon, Tufts' Pre-Law Advisor, maintains statistics on how many seniors and alumni apply to law schools each year. These statistics are then presented during the April Open House held by Admissions for prospective students.
"The small drop over time probably has to do with the economy coming back from some poorer times," Dillon said. "That's what's happened in the past."
Dillon characterized Tufts as relatively passive in encouraging students to pursue a law degree.
"Tufts does not try to recruit students and alumni to become lawyers," she said. "I do not know if there is a professor out there on the Hill who influences students to think about law, to be frank."
According to Olson, the lower number of applicants may help those who do apply, at least for now. "Now is a time when [one] can get into a slightly better school," he said. "It's about time to think about a stretch school.
"It's a stable career that has such a good income," Olson said of being a lawyer, explaining why there will probably be a future rise in applications.
"The profession more than pays for itself," he said.
Tufts seniors and alumni generally do well with law school admissions. In 2005, 77 percent of Tufts applicants were admitted to one or more law schools, compared to 58 percent nationally.
Similarly, Tufts' average LSAT score over the past three years has been 158 (out of a possible 180), better than the national average of 150.
