As part of its continuing effort to make law school more accessible, Texas A&M Law announced today that it will accept the GRE in addition to the LSAT as part of its application process for the Fall 2018 entering class. While Texas A&M is the first law school in Texas to accept the GRE, several schools across the nation are now doing so, including Harvard, Columbia, and Northwestern. 

“Our decision to accept the GRE will make it easier and cheaper for Texans to gain access to law school,” said Interim Dean Thomas W. Mitchell. “It will also make law school more attractive to highly qualified students who have diverse educational backgrounds and interests, including students from fields such as engineering and science.”

To comply with American Bar Association standards, the Law School participated in a validity study involving current and past Texas A&M students. The study found that the GRE is a strong predictor of success in the first year at Texas A&M.

Accepting the GRE will broaden and diversify the pool of applicants who consider Texas A&M Law.  The GRE is offered more frequently than the LSAT, and unlike the LSAT, the GRE is accepted by numerous graduate and professional degree programs. “Besides the practical benefits of saving our applicants the time and expense of taking another test, this decision opens doors for those who might have considered law school but for whom the LSAT was a deterrent,” said Terence L. Cook, Texas A&M Law’s Assistant Dean for Admissions. “The decision also reflects our increasingly interdisciplinary approach to training lawyers.”