美国法学院入学竞争加剧

paisleyUID：64183

可法网  作者:Mary K Pratt   


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Law schools see boom in incoming-student numbers  


Recent Boston College graduate Melissa Calvo isn't taking much time off  
before heading back to the classroom: She'll enter Harvard Law School this  
fall.

Calvo, 21, who graduated with a bachelor's in French on May 20, has had her  
eye on law school for two years now.

Although she's not sure what type of law shell pursue once she earns her  
juris doctor degree, she's confident she won't have trouble landing a job.  
She's not concerned about today's reported layoffs at big firms and static  
starting salaries.

"The major firms are going to keep recruiting regardless of the economy,"  
she said. Calvo's optimism seems to be the norm. Like many other graduate  
programs, law schools are experiencing a boom in applications.

Applicants believe the sour economy, with its limited advancement  
opportunities, presents the perfect chance to pursue advanced degrees.

The bump in applications won't mean more lawyers in three years, however.  
Area colleges arent increasing the size of their first-year classes to  
accommodate the demand. As a result, admissions officers are more selective  
in choosing the next batch of law students, leaving some aspiring  
counselors locked out of their top choices for schools.

The Law School Admissions Council indicates that applications for next year  
are up nationwide about 24 percent.

"One can speculate what the reasons for that are," said Carl Monk,  
executive director for the Association of American Law Schools in  
Washington, D.C. "It's certainly true that, in the past, when the economy  
has not been as strong, applications have generally gone up. And sometimes,  
when the economy is quite strong, applications go down."

The numbers at Northeastern University School of Law are particularly  
telling. The school experienced its highest application jump in six years,  
receiving 2,817 applications for fall 2002 enrollment vs. 1,947  
applications for fall 2001 enrollment - a 45 percent increase.

M.J., Knoll, assistant dean and director of admissions, attributes the jump  
to two factors: "There was a demographic downturn in the '90s of students  
graduating from high school into college and then college into law  
school. ... Now there's more students graduating from college."

The other factor was the economy, he said.

"With a hot economy, people weren't willing to forgo making huge salaries  
to go back to school," he said. "Now a lot of companies aren't hiring young  
college grads right now. That combination has created this group of people  
who thought they might as well keep going."

Other area law schools are also seeing leaps in their application numbers,  
although not quite as dramatic as Northeastern's numbers.

Boston University, for example, received 7,300 applications this year 2,000  
more applications than last year's numbers. Harvard Law School received  
7,000 applicants for fall enrollment, up from 6,000 a year ago and 5,600  
two years ago.

Like many other law schools, Suffolk University, which had a 30 percent  
increase in applications over last year, isn't increasing its class size.

"If anything, we're trying to downsize it a little bit. We want to make  
sure we stay competitive," said Gail Ellis, dean of admissions at Suffolk  
University Law School. The school expects to enroll about 350 day students  
and 170 evening students.

That means there are some people who would have gotten in several years  
ago, when application numbers were down, who probably won't be accepted  
today, Ellis added.

Boston University School of Law reports a similar trend. Joan Horgan,  
director of admissions and financial aid, said the school will admit about  
1,000 students from its 7,300 applicants to get a class size of about 265.  
She expects the median LSAT scores to rise as a result of the increased  
competition.

"I anticipate that the quality of the incoming class in terms of their life  
experience, their community service and their grades from their  
undergraduate work will also be enhanced this year, so we're obviously very  
excited about that," she said.

Even with most students taking on tens of thousands of dollars in debt to  
finance law school, admissions officials said students don't seem  
discouraged by the current economy and its impact on firms.

That's not to suggest, however, that the economy hasn't affected law  
students. The economy, and current events as a whole, seem to influence  
which careers students want to pursue, with some schools reporting an  
increased interest in specialties, notably intellectual property, that are  
particularly hot even in this down economy.

"I do think people respond to what's going on in the world," said Joyce  
Curll, Harvard Law School's assistant dean for admissions and financial  
aid. "There is an increased interest in biotech and IP. ... There's also an  
increase in public service. That's due in part to post-Sept. 11, because  
people want to make their careers meaningful."

But not everyone sees law students being swayed by today's events.

"My sense is that people are going to pursue (careers) according to their  
interests," Horgan said. And, she said, even those worrying about today's  
slow economy are optimistic that three years is enough time for a  
turnaround.

"The legal job market is softening with the rest of the economy," Horgan  
said. "But people are hopeful that the legal job market will pick up."