Top Law Schools

I know someone who got into Columbia Law with a 3.52/170 five years ago.
Is this still possible or was law school just way easier to get into back in the day?

Dr. Strangelove wrote:I know someone who got into Columbia Law with a 3.52/170 five years ago.
Is this still possible or was law school just way easier to get into back in the day?

Looking at LSN graphs, I would say that it was easier to get into many schools just a few years ago. More schools are sporting a 164+ median now and more are shooting for that. Retakes and an increase in applicants have probably led to higher medians. I guess one could argue that the ability to retake with impunity (since only a few average) has contributed to higher medians, but since anyone can retake, it may not be objectively harder now.

Looking at LSN graphs, it looks like there is only one non-URM that was able to get in with those numbers in the last 7 cycles. So, no I don't think that someone getting in with those numbers five years ago signifies that it is tougher now. It was an anomaly then.

I don't really see five years ago as being "back in the day," but it does seem that GPA/LSAT medians have risen steadily over the past few years. If I had to guess, one of the biggest differences from only a few years ago has to be the emergence of additional resources (such as TLS) available to applicants.

In addition, LSAT preparation has become a big business (from tutors to test prep companies like Powerscore, Kaplan, etc). FWIW, I know some people who applied nearly a decade ago and they hardly studied for the LSAT - just a couple practice tests and that was it. Now, more applicants study for months with dozens of practice tests. Then, if they miss their "target" score by even 2-3 points, they decide to retake with virtually no penalty since most schools don't average scores any longer.

This site is cool for looking at whether it was "easier"-

http://www.ilrg.com/rankings/law/view.php/21

Median LSAT scores for Columbia have definitely gone up, but not much change in GPA

It might have been easier to get into LS back in the day (not 5 years ago back in the day) but it was much more difficult to get a BA/BS back in the day.

Top GPA's were harder to come by as well. Grade inflation at my alma mater is 0.2 over the last 10 years. That is about average for a state school. It is worse at top schools.

Law school was indeed easier to get into, but the inflation adjusted salaries were also MUCH lower.