IU School of Law applications up despite national decline

Though the number of law school applications nationwide are on the decline this year, applications to the IU School of Law are up dramatically.\nAcross the country, applications have fallen to 60,397, down from 66,000 at this point last year, a decrease of 8.5 percent, according to a Feb. 9 article in The New York Times.\nLast year, the number of applicants nationwide dropped 4.5 percent.\nBut at IU, the law school office has received 2,450 applications so far this year, up from 2,200 total last year -- an increase of about 11 percent. Assistant Dean for Admissions Dennis Long said he anticipates another 200 applications to the law school by July.\n"This year we've had a considerable increase in applications from out of state," Long said of a possible reason for the higher number.\nLong said he has spent more time at other universities promoting the IU law school this year.\nAnother possible explanation is the law school's jump in rankings in U.S. News and World Report from 40th to 36th, but Long is the first to admit there is no one clear reason.\n"Everybody is asking the same question, but I haven't heard anything really defensible," he said.\nAnother theory is that the number of people interested in entering law school is \ncyclical.\n"The general consensus among pre-law professionals is that law school applications go in cycles," James Calvi, professor at West Texas A&M University and chairman of the Pre-Law Advisors National Council said in an e-mail. "What causes the cycle no one knows for sure, but one factor seems to be the general health of the economy. When the economy is down, many students see law school and graduate school as a way of postponing entry to the job market."\nA significant increase in medical school applications is another possibility for the national decline in applications.\n"The decrease in law school applications and the increase in med school applications may be related," Calvi said. "Both professions attract bright students and so the decline in law school applications may mean the brighter students are trying to get in to medical school."\nA downturn in the Indiana economy could also draw more Hoosier students to the IU law school, Calvi said.\n"It may also be that a local economy in the vicinity of your local law school may not be as good as the national economy," he said. "That would explain why your law school is seeing an increase in applications while nationally they are down"