Do Law Schools "Buy" Students with High LSAT Scores?

You bet they do.

This point is powerfully demonstrated yet again by the bold, creative, aggressive advertising of third-tier Quinnipiac University School of Law (Hamden, Connecticut) in recent issues of the Wall Street Journal. (See the 9/7/06 edition of the WSJ for a copy of the ad.)

Quinnipiac announced the availability of "2007 Dean's Fellows Scholarships." If one has an LSAT of at least 160 (an 82nd-percentile score) and an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.5, Quinnipiac might offer such a student a "full-tuition award." (Note that the advertisement did not specify whether such a full-tuition award covers only the first year, or all three years, and what other qualifying or disqualifying terms might be.)

Why is Quinnipiac doing this? Because their current public numbers are a 25th percentile score of 155 and a 75th percentile of 159, with 25th percentile and 75th percentile GPAs of 3.08 and 3.53, respectively. (In the ad, they claim even higher more recent numbers, 157 and 160, but they may not be using the USN&WR methodology in calculating these numbers.) They want to move their numbers up, via the 2007 Dean's Fellows (and their innovative Wall Street Journal advertising), and they are willing to pay, by offering a significant tuition discount.

The lesson here for present or future law school applicants is that you can use an above-75th percentile LSAT score (as reported by your target law school) to not only interest that law school in you, but to get them to reduce their price, sometimes enormously. Thus an investment in LSAT preparation is strongly recommended. Consider this advice in dealing with the LSAT: Top 15 LSAT Tips. For other information helpful to law school applicants, please see my website www.PrelawAdvisor.com.