Law school application rates have dropped significantly in the past few years. This is arguably due in part to the recent boost in the economy. As a result, many young people are starting their careers upon graduation rather than continuing with schooling.
Leslie Goldstein, political science and international relations professor, said she blames the decline in applicants on the economy.
"When the job market is lousy, schools flourish," she said. "When it gets better, fewer people apply to grad schools. It's a repeated pattern we've seen over the past 30 years."
Other possible reasons for the decline include the high cost and intense time commitment of law school.
Senior Lyn Sweetman said sometimes people are scared off by the difficulty of law school. Sweetman has already devoted a lot of her time to law school and she is only in the application process.
"I studied all summer for the LSAT - like 20 hours a week," she said. "We're talking part-time job here."
After applying to nine law schools in the Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia areas, Sweetman said she is excited about the decline in applications.
"I feel good about it because the people who have applied to schools have a better chance of getting in now," she said.
Although some of the competitive edge has been taken off applying, getting into law school is still no cakewalk. Goldstein said that even now many hopeful students are not accepted.
"Nationwide, roughly 58 percent of law school applicants got in somewhere and at Delaware 64 percent of our students who applied got in the year before last," she said. "But that means there are still 36 percent of kids that didn't."
The university currently does not have a law school or a pre-law major, however students from all areas of study are active in the Pre-law Student Association and Phi Alpha Delta, a coed pre-law fraternity. Students in these organizations attend lectures by guest speakers, visit law schools and participate in LSAT practice workshops.
Senior Jen Dickman said participating in these groups allows her to experience aspects of a pre-law curriculum she cannot receive in her classes.
"Being a chemistry major my course options are kind of limited, so I didn't really have time in my schedule to take law classes," she said.
Dickman said most pre-law students also prepare for the LSAT by taking pricey prep courses.
"I don't really think it helped me," Dickman said. "The course got me more nervous than I should have been for the test."
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