Cornell Law School Officials Expected More Applications, But Not a 52% Spike
Applications are up at many law schools, but Cornell stands out.
As of Wednesday, Cornell Law School had an unprecedented 52 percent spike in applications, the Cornell Daily Sun reports. Officials attribute the spike to the bad economy and high unemployment, but they are at a loss to explain the extent of the increase.
Dean of admissions Richard Geiger told the Daily Sun that the increase “is probably the result of a number of things working together.”
“What I can’t explain is why it’s 50 percent and not 20 percent,” Geiger told the publication. “We don’t fully understand what this is all about.”
Cornell Law School’s application deadline is Feb. 1.
The number of people who took the Law School Admission Test jumped 20 percent in October, reaching a record high of 60,746. Earlier this month, Maurer School of Law at Indiana University had reported a 54 percent increase in applications, Iowa University College of Law reported a 39 percent jump, and the University of San Francisco School of Law a 35 percent jump. At that time, Cornell had reported a 44 percent increase in applications.
Christine Lee, editor-in-chief of the Cornell Law Review, told the Daily Sun that it’s “an interesting time” to go to law school since the legal market has changed. “I wonder what will happen to all these people trying to go to law school.”
First reference to the Daily Sun corrected at noon CST.
