DO LAW SCHOOLS CONSIDER APPLICANTS “HOLISTICALLY?” No. “I really don’t know how Dorf and his co-authors can claim this. It’s common knowledge that law school admissions at the vast majority of law schools comes down almost entirely to GPA and LSATs, with allowances for affirmative action preferences, relatives of generous alumni, and, at state universities, for politically connected applicants. This was largely true even when I went to law school over twenty years ago, but concern over U.S. News rankings, which heavily weight GPA and LSAT, have made it even more so. . . . In any event, the AALS brief describes an idealized law school admissions process that exists at few if any law schools (Yale, I think, has so many hyper-qualified applicants to choose from for its small class, and such an idiosyncratic process with significant faculty input, that it may come close). Not surprisingly, the brief fails to cite any studies or data showing that law schools do, in fact, consider ‘each applicant’s record holistically,’ and I’m surprised that the AALS would put forth this idealized process as it were standard practice.”