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NEWS NOVEMBER 23, 2020 ¦ 5

The body of Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg arrives at the U.S. Supreme Court to lie in repose for two
days, where the casket will remain on view at the top steps of the court’s plaza for the public to pay their respects,

on Sept. 23, 2020. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

up nearly 57%. Thus, not only are more people ap- patterns from previous years, the council projects
plying, but they are also submitting applications at that the total number of law school applicants will
more schools than in the past. Applications are up at be up about 10% for the fall. Visits to the council’s
194 of the 199 American Bar Association-accredited website between July and October were more than
law schools, the data from the Law School Admis- double what they were the entire previous fiscal
sion Council show. year, which would indicate a sustained increase in
“It has become trite, but 2020 is a unique year,” the number of people considering law school, Testy
said Council president Kellye Testy on Tuesday. “We noted. And 31,000 people are already registered for
are seeing a real surge in candidates taking the LSAT the January, February and April LSATs—double the
and applying. There are a lot of factors at work here. number from this time a year ago.
But we hear a lot of about motivation from [Ruth The admissions picture should become a bit clear-
Bader Ginsburg]—the RBG moment. We’re been er by mid-December, but this early surge is already
saying our candidates have ‘really big goals.’ They are straining admissions offices that offer early decision
talking about racism, COVID, economic inequality, deadlines. Fordham University School of Law typically
political polarization, and climate change. They are tries to extend its early action offers by Thanksgiv-
inspired to make a difference.” ing, but will be closer to the Dec. 15 deadline due to a
It’s too soon to know whether these strong num- more than 56% increase in applications thus far, said
bers will be sustained for the remainder of the assistant dean of enrollment Stephen Brown. Brown
admissions cycle, which stretches through spring attributes some of that increase to the fact that appli-
and into the summer at some schools. At this time cants simply have more down time to prepare their
last year, only 24% of would-be lawyers had submit- applications and are submitting earlier in the cycle.
ted their applications. But based on applications
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