When we define our students primarily by their numbers, the numbers also define us. The first step in a reevaluation of our admissions processes, and a movement away from over-reliance on the numbers, must be a careful examination of our institutional character. We must, at each law school, ask ourselves who we are and who we wish to become. We need to understand our special institutional mission. We all like to think that our law schools are more than their U.S. News rankings, but we are not always good at defining ourselves, at pointing out the differences that exist among us, and at seeking applicants and students who share our values and goals.
Students contribute an enormous amount to the life and character of a law school.
Our selection of them must be informed by our sense of purpose. Unless our mission statement reads, We seek to be a unidimensional law school whose students have the highest achievable LSAT scores, the numbers cannot help us as much as we might like. Once a law school has established its aspirations, it must revise its admissions practices to ensure that it is attracting and admitting applicants who will advance them. Recruitment materials and messages should reflect this mission, allowing applicants to distinguish among the many law schools competing for their applications and to select those schools that best match their personal goals. Perhaps more importantly, the admissions committee must decide what specific qualities and experiences will most contribute to the school s goals, and seek ways to find evidence of those qualities and experiences in admissions files.