GRE 10% & 85th Percentile Rule for Standard 503 Forum

[lawschool99]

I know that there is a subsection in Standard 503 that says law schools cannot admit more than 10% of their class without LSAT scores and GRE scores should be above 85th percentile.

1) Does this subsection also apply to law schools that are now formally accepting the GRE? I was slightly confused because for the schools that are currently accepting the GRE, they would have determined the test was "valid and reliable". In that case, would these schools also need to follow the 10% and 85th percentile rule?

I was initially under the assumption that this subsection was primarily for dual degree candidates or current undergraduates applying to the same law school as their undergrad but wanted to confirmed, as I read conflicting statements on multiple forums.

2) Just out of curiosity, how is the overall percentile of the GRE determined? Does the average of verbal/quant/writing have to be over 85th percentile or does each section need to be over 85th percentile?

[john_david100]

1) Pretty sure that only applies to schools that have not administered an independent study confirming the GRE is a valid predictor of law school performance. In essence, every school you know of that "takes the GRE" is not bound by this law.

You can find people on this very forum that got into T14 schools with substandard (much lower than 85%) GREs because they were impressive in other areas.

2) Nobody really knows. ETS doesn't release the combined percentile scores. Nobody knows how admissions offices are going to look at the section scores. That said, it can be informative to use ETS's GRE to LSAT conversion tool, or look at the GRE medians for any school with a concomitant B-school. For example, the median GRE at HBS is a 328 (164 V / 164 Q).

[lawschool99]

Thanks for your responses! Out of curiosity, are law schools currently not required to report GRE scores?