By Stephanie Schorow
innovation
Every year, Suffolk Law strives to bring in a strong, diverse group of new students. The admissions process, however, can easily overlook students who have the potential for great success but who are rejected because of a low LSAT score.
Two years ago, the Law School decided to address the issue by launching the Legal Education Alternate Admission Program (LEAAP). The idea is to identify promising students whose applications are strong in every way except their LSAT scores. These applicants are invited to take an intensive three-day seminar, followed by a quiz that, in effect, gives them a second chance to be accepted to the Law School.
In the last two years, LEAAP has offered the intensive seminar to some 30 students; about half have then been invited to attend Suffolk Law and have enrolled.
“Suffolk, like a lot of schools, is trying to dig deeper into the data and admissions applications, and say, ‘Is there something that we can do to better identify students who are going to perform well?’” says Professor Herbert Ramy, director of academic support. “We’ve seen students with relatively low scores over time do very well at Suffolk—they may even end up in our honors programs, and on Law Review.”
While the overall success of LEAAP will be evaluated over the next few years, Ramy says the response from students asked to participate has been positive. “These students know more than most about the inequities involved in standardized testing and LSATs,” he says, “and have continued to excel in their lives despite what the standardized testing would often say.”
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winter 2023