Georgetown Law’s Office of Admissions now accepts the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) in addition to or in place of the Law School Admission Test (LSAT).

You would like to apply to law school, but for whatever reason, the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) process is not serving you well. Maybe the LSAT test dates — four dates per year — aren’t ideal. Maybe the problem is financial. You’d also like to take the Graduate Record Exam (GRE), and the cost of prep classes and fees for multiple standardized tests, on top of applications and other expenses, is a burden. Or maybe you feel that the LSAT does not reflect your skills, in a competitive law school admissions process, as well as the GRE. For some, the dream of Georgetown Law and its peer schools may appear, perhaps unfairly, out of reach.

Or is it? Georgetown Law hopefuls facing this dilemma may see some relief, since the Law Center will now consider GRE scores — in addition to the LSAT or in place of the LSAT — if applicants wish to submit them.

“We did a correlation study, which tells us that the GRE is an equally reliable indicator of academic success, if not more predictive than the LSAT,” said Georgetown Law Dean of Admissions Andy Cornblatt. “We are hopeful that this will be the first step to opening law schools — and the legal profession — to highly motivated students who have previously shied away from pursuing a career in the law.”

The new GRE policy arrives in time for the 2017-2018 admissions cycle for the Fall 2018 entering class.

While the LSAT remains an important admissions tool, Cornblatt said, “we also believe that it is well past time that the legal profession opens wide the doors to an even more diverse population that will better reflect American society as a whole. We think that allowing the use of the GRE will help us to accomplish that goal.”