Yes, HLS will continue to accept the GRE this year.

Hi everyone,

Hope your August is off to a great start.  We’ve received a few questions this week about the GRE from those who have been following the active discussions at the ABA House of Delegates meeting about the role of standardized testing in admissions.  The decision of the ABA’s Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to hold off on any changes to Sections 501 and 503 leaves the current accreditation standards in place.  Section 503 requires law schools to accept either the LSAT or a test that is demonstrably valid and reliable as a predictor of law school performance.

In March 2017, HLS announced that it would accept either the LSAT or the GRE on a pilot basis, as part of our larger strategy to expand access to legal education for all students.  That decision was supported by a validity study analyzing the GRE scores of current and former HLS students, concluding that the GRE is a valid predictor of first-year academic performance at Harvard Law.

But what does this mean for you, prospective applicant?  We’ll continue to accept either the GRE or the LSAT during the coming admissions cycle.  Please visit our Admissions FAQs for more information about the deadline to sit for each test, score reporting, and much more.  You might also be interested in one of our recent blog posts, which shared some of our reflections on our first year of the GRE pilot.

Looking forward to reading your applications this year – whichever test you choose.

Kristi (and the J.D. Admissions team)