Do Nontraditional Law School Applicants Have an Admissions Advantage?

Anyone who has been following posts on the PowerScore blog knows that I’m pretty interested in using data to get insights into law school admissions. For example: 

• What factors might affect law school admissions decisions? 
• To what degree do those factors have an impact? 
• How do different facets of an application package affect admissions decisions at different law schools? 

So far, I have explored whether the timing of the application makes a difference, the benefits (or lack thereof) of binding early decision options, which schools are relatively more welcoming of splitter and reverse-splitter candidates, and how an applicant’s ability to claim underrepresented minority status may affect outcomes. In this post, we’ll dive into the data to try to get an idea of whether – and how – nontraditional students (or, in common shorthand, NonTrads) fare any differently in law school admissions outcomes. 

What is a NonTrad? 

“Nontraditional” status as an applicant is not an incredibly well-defined concept, but it kind of reminds me of Justice Potter Stewart’s famous statement in Jacobellis v. Ohio: I know it when I see it. The general idea is that a nontraditional law school applicant is one who hasn’t followed the typical high school-to-college-to-law-school track, and so is a bit older and probably with a little more experience – work and otherwise – than a typical “traditional” law school applicant. 

How much older or more experienced is not an easily answered question. But for our purposes, nontraditional applicants are those in our data who self-identified as nontraditional, and that seems like a reasonable way to handle it. 

Nontraditional Boosts 

Something else that’s a little different about analyzing a potential “nontraditional boost” (that is, an advantage given to nontraditional applicants based solely on their nontraditional status) compared to analyzing the same for, say, URM applicants, is that there’s quite a bit less in the way of theoretical underpinnings of such a boost. 

If it exists, it might be because law schools expect someone who has a little more world experience to perhaps take law school more seriously and thus be more successful. On the other hand, a big gap between undergrad and law school might indicate that the applicant has been away from the academy for so long that re-integrating and succeeding might be difficult. 

Maybe schools, in a quest for diversity, look not only to race, ethnicity, and gender, but also to age diversity? If anyone else has any input into why nontraditional students might receive a boost or, in the alternative, be disadvantaged, by all means use that comments section! 

Quantifying the Boost 

With that said, I plan to look for a potential nontraditional boost much the same way I did a URM-boost. I will first see if we can quantify such a boost by measuring the effects of nontraditional status on admissions outcomes, controlling for a variety of other quantifiable factors. Next, I will present average LSAT and GPA numbers for both nontraditional and traditional admits to those schools in the USNWR top 100 for which we have sufficient user-reported data. 

As a preliminary: this analysis makes use of data reported by law school applicants themselves, and covers the 2009/10 through 2015/16 application cycles. Again, nontraditional status for individual applicants was also self-reported. As a final note: the tables here reflect the USNWR rankings for schools prior to the very recent 2018 release, but based on the 2018 rankings, I now include Top 13 tables instead of Top 14 (since I would argue that the concept of the Top 14 is no longer current since Georgetown dropped out and Texas has not always been there). 

Does a Nontraditional Boost Exist? 

Unlike the URM boost, which existed in nearly every school we covered, the nontraditional boost only seems to exist in a few schools and, in fact, a handful of schools seem to disadvantage nontraditional applicants. Let’s take a look! 

Note: The number given in the table is the % increase in chances of admission for nontraditional applicants compared to traditional applicants, controlling for LSAT, GPA, applicant sex, ED application, URM status, and month the application was sent. 

Schools Where a Nontraditional Status (Seems to) Matter 

Search: 

Rank	School	Increase/Decrease in Chances of Admission for Non-Trads
65	U of Connecticut	337%
72	Loyola Chicago	243%
22	Notre Dame	229%
40	Wake Forest	211%
50	Tulane	193%
28	U Alabama	184%
48	U of Maryland	169%
30	William & Mary	144%
17	UCLA	111%
15	U Texas	102%
2	Harvard	86%
14	Georgetown	76%
78	American	-50%
40	U of Illinois	-54%
40	Washington & Lee	-58%
18	WUSTL	-62%
48	U of Florida	-67%
4	Chicago	-73%

 

Schools Where a NonTrad Status Doesn’t (Seem to) Matter 

Search: 

Rank	School	Rank	School
1	Yale	40	U of Arizona
3	Stanford	40	U of Colorado - Boulder
4	Columbia	45	George Mason
6	NYU	45	Southern Methodist
7	U Penn	45	U of Utah
8	UC Berkeley	50	FSU
8	Michigan	50	Temple
8	UVA	50	UC Hastings
11	Duke	50	U of Houston
12	Northwestern	55	Baylor
13	Cornell	55	Richmond
16	Vanderbilt	57	Case Western
19	USC	57	Georgia State
20	Boston U	60	U of Kentucky
20	Iowa	60	U of Miami
22	Emory	65	Loyola Marymount
22	Minnesota	65	Pepperdine
25	Arizona State	72	University of Denver
25	GW	74	U of San Diego
25	Indiana - Bloomington	74	Cardozo
28	Boston College	78	U of Pittsburgh
30	Ohio State	82	Northeastern
30	UC Davis	86	Chicago-Kent
33	U Georgia	86	Penn State - Dickinson
33	U Washington	86	Syracuse
33	U Wisconsin - Madison	92	Lewis & Clark
37	Fordham	97	Brooklyn Law School
38	UNC	100	Michigan State

 

Analyzing the Charts 

As you can see, only twelve law schools seem, based on the data, to provide any sort of boost to nontraditional applicants, and that boost ranges from 337% at the University of Connecticut to 76% at Georgetown. Half as many schools (six) actually appear to disadvantage nontraditional applicants, with those applicants having their chances cut from between 50% at American to 73% at the University of Chicago, when compared to otherwise identical peers (at least as far as our controls – LSAT, GPA, etc. go). And, of course, you can see that the vast majority of these schools demonstrate no statistically significant effects of an applicant’s nontraditional status. 

Top Law Schools & Average LSAT Scores 

In order to bring the analysis a little closer to a more easily-digested reality, I present a few tables that show the average LSAT and GPA scores for admitted nontraditional students vs. admitted traditional students for the schools in question here. The schools are listed in order of the difference between the average traditional admit’s LSAT and that of the average nontraditional admit. 

Please note that nothing else is controlled for here, and these are just the raw numbers; in other words, these are just descriptive statistics for your viewing pleasure, and these tables alone aren’t indicative of any statistically significant difference in the acceptance rates of applicants based on their nontraditional status. (Due to rounding, the differential score sometimes seems off by 0.1.) 

School	Traditional LSAT	Non-Traditional LSAT	LSAT Differential
Yale	174.4	171.8	2.6
UC Berkeley	170.7	168.8	1.9
Harvard	173.3	171.6	1.8
Michigan	170.4	168.8	1.6
Chicago	171.6	170.1	1.5
Georgetown	170.6	169.1	1.4
Cornell	169.6	168.3	1.2
Fordham	166.9	165.7	1.2
Iowa	164.4	163.1	1.2
U of Arizona	163.1	162.0	1.2
Minnesota	167.5	166.3	1.2
U of Connecticut	162.3	161.2	1.2
Arizona State	163.9	162.7	1.2
Temple	163.0	161.9	1.1
Northwestern	171.0	169.9	1.1
U Texas	169.5	168.5	1.0
Brooklyn	163.0	161.9	1.0
NYU	172.4	171.4	1.0
U Penn	171.1	170.1	1.0
Baylor	163.4	162.5	0.9
American	160.7	159.9	0.9
Michigan State	158.3	157.5	0.8
William & Mary	166.3	165.6	0.8
Hastings	164.1	163.4	0.7
Cardozo	163.9	163.3	0.7
UVA	170.3	169.7	0.7
Duke	171.5	170.9	0.6
U Alabama	165.7	165.2	0.5
Pepperdine	163.3	162.8	0.5
UC Davis	165.2	164.8	0.5
U of Miami	160.7	160.3	0.5
UCLA	169.5	169.1	0.4
U of Utah	162.9	162.6	0.3
WUSTL	167.9	167.6	0.3
U of Colorado - Boulder	165.3	165.0	0.3
Notre Dame	166.5	166.2	0.3
Vanderbilt	169.1	168.9	0.3
Northeastern	162.8	162.6	0.3
Ohio State	163.9	163.6	0.3
USC	168.4	168.2	0.2
Southern Methodist	164.0	163.9	0.1
Tulane	162.7	162.6	0.1
Lewis & Clark	163.1	163.0	0.1
Loyola - Chicago	161.3	161.2	0.1
U of Maryland	162.9	162.8	0.1
U of Illinois	165.6	165.6	0.0
Houston	163.8	163.8	0.0
UNC	164.3	164.3	0.0
Emory	166.9	166.9	0.0
Boston College	166.3	166.4	-0.1
GW	167.1	167.2	-0.1
Washington & Lee	164.9	165.0	-0.1
FSU	162.2	162.4	-0.2
U of Wisconsin - Madison	164.2	164.4	-0.2
U of Kentucky	160.6	160.8	-0.2
Columbia	173.0	173.3	-0.3
Wake Forest	164.0	164.3	-0.3
Richmond	162.0	162.3	-0.3
Stanford	172.4	172.8	-0.4
Loyola Marymount	162.9	163.3	-0.4
Chicago-Kent	161.4	161.9	-0.5
Penn State	161.2	161.7	-0.5
U Washington	166.4	167.0	-0.6
U of San Diego	162.5	163.1	-0.6
Indiana - Bloomington	164.9	165.6	-0.7
U Georgia	165.9	166.6	-0.7
U of Pittsburgh	161.3	162.1	-0.7
Georgia State	165.9	166.6	-0.7
Denver	160.5	161.2	-0.7
Syracuse	156.7	157.5	-0.8
Boston U	166.5	167.5	-1.0
George Mason	163.3	164.3	-1.0
Case Western	161.0	163.1	-2.0
U of Florida	162.8	165.0	-2.2

Showing 1 to 74 of 74 entries 

You’ll note that, for the most part, accepted traditional applicants had higher LSATs than accepted nontraditional applicants, with the number sometimes being pretty substantial (Yale, Berkeley, and Harvard really stand out here). It’s also worth noting that 6 out of the top 10 LSAT differentials are Top 13 schools. 

The Top 13 & LSATs 

And now, for a look at just the Top 13 law schools, isolated. 

School	Traditional LSAT	Nontraditional LSAT	LSAT Differential
Yale	174.4	171.8	2.6
UC Berkeley	170.7	168.8	1.9
Harvard	173.3	171.6	1.8
Michigan	170.4	168.8	1.6
Chicago	171.6	170.1	1.5
Cornell	169.6	168.3	1.2
Northwestern	171.0	169.9	1.1
NYU	172.4	171.4	1.0
U Penn	171.1	170.1	1.0
UVA	170.3	169.7	0.7
Duke	171.5	170.9	0.6
Columbia	173.0	173.3	-0.3
Stanford	172.4	172.8	-0.3

 

There’s honestly not much to say here, and since we’re just looking at raw numbers. It may be worth noting that Columbia and Stanford actually exhibit the opposite tendency, in that nontraditional admits have higher average LSATs, whereas everywhere else traditional admits’ LSAT scores were at least 0.6 higher on average. 

Top Law Schools & Average GPAs 

In the following tables, we repeat the same exercise for GPA: 

School	Traditional GPA	Non-Traditional GPA	GPA Differential
Arizona State	3.58	3.21	0.37
U of Utah	3.55	3.20	0.35
Baylor	3.51	3.19	0.32
U of Alabama	3.55	3.26	0.29
Case Western	3.43	3.16	0.28
Indiana - Bloomington	3.53	3.26	0.27
U of Kentucky	3.45	3.19	0.26
U Georgia	3.52	3.29	0.23
Southern Methodist	3.49	3.26	0.23
Georgia State	3.51	3.28	0.23
Syracuse	3.37	3.14	0.23
U of Pittsburgh	3.45	3.22	0.23
Pepperdine	3.57	3.35	0.21
Notre Dame	3.64	3.44	0.20
Richmond	3.42	3.22	0.20
U Colorado - Boulder	3.55	3.36	0.20
U of Arizona	3.53	3.34	0.20
Washington & Lee	3.53	3.34	0.19
Denver	3.40	3.21	0.18
Iowa	3.61	3.42	0.18
Loyola - Chicago	3.38	3.19	0.18
Wake Forest	3.52	3.34	0.18
U of Maryland	3.40	3.31	0.17
Lewis & Clark	3.44	3.28	0.16
UCLA	3.74	3.59	0.16
U of Illinois	3.51	3.36	0.16
American	3.43	3.28	0.15
GW	3.61	3.46	0.15
William & Mary	3.64	3.50	0.15
Boston College	3.62	3.48	0.14
Emory	3.60	3.46	0.14
Penn State	3.45	3.31	0.14
Loyola Marymount	3.52	3.38	0.14
Minnesota	3.54	3.40	0.14
UC Davis	3.62	3.48	0.13
Georgetown	3.72	3.58	0.13
Tulane	3.47	3.35	0.13
Houston	3.47	3.34	0.13
UVA	3.74	3.61	0.13
Chicago-Kent	3.34	3.21	0.13
Vanderbilt	3.69	3.57	0.13
U of San Diego	3.47	3.35	0.12
Stanford	3.89	3.76	0.12
U of Miami	3.45	3.33	0.12
U Texas	3.71	3.59	0.12
Ohio State	3.62	3.50	0.12
NYU	3.78	3.66	0.11
U of Florida	3.57	3.46	0.11
Columbia	3.78	3.67	0.11
U Washington	3.66	3.55	0.11
U Penn	3.81	3.71	0.10
Temple	3.46	3.36	0.10
Northwestern	3.68	3.59	0.10
Cardozo	3.50	3.40	0.09
Duke	3.79	3.70	0.09
George Mason	3.50	3.41	0.09
Yale	3.91	3.82	0.09
WUSTL	3.54	3.45	0.09
U of Connecticut	3.44	3.35	0.08
USC	3.73	3.65	0.08
Harvard	3.87	3.79	0.08
Boston U	3.66	3.58	0.08
Hastings	3.54	3.47	0.07
Cornell	3.74	3.67	0.07
Fordham	3.61	3.54	0.07
UNC	3.56	3.50	0.06
FSU	3.48	3.43	0.05
Michigan	3.74	3.69	0.05
Chicago	3.83	3.79	0.04
UC Berkeley	3.83	3.79	0.04
Northeastern	3.47	3.45	0.02
Brooklyn	3.47	3.45	0.02
Michigan State	3.47	3.47	-0.01
U Wisconsin - Madison	3.47	3.49	-0.03

Showing 1 to 74 of 74 entries 

Average GPAs for Top Law Schools 

School	Traditional GPA	Nontraditional GPA	GPA Differential
UVA	3.74	3.61	0.13
Stanford	3.89	3.76	0.12
NYU	3.78	3.66	0.11
Columbia	3.78	3.67	0.11
U Penn	3.81	3.71	0.10
Northwestern	3.68	3.59	0.10
Duke	3.79	3.70	0.09
Yale	3.91	3.82	0.09
Harvard	3.87	3.79	0.08
Cornell	3.74	3.67	0.07
Michigan	3.74	3.69	0.05
Chicago	3.83	3.79	0.04
UC Berkeley	3.83	3.79	0.04

 

Summarizing the Data 

Here again, we see a broad range of differentials, this time for the GPA. What really stands out to me is that almost all schools demonstrate at least a somewhat average GPA for traditional students, and that this is true of all Top 13 schools. This may be due to the fact that schools are willing to be a bit more forgiving of lower GPAs for nontraditional students, given that they’ve put some temporal distance between themselves and those GPAs, and have ostensibly matured and gotten more serious in the meantime. 

On the other hand, if you just wrapped up your undergrad GPA before applying to law school (or are, in many cases, still forming it), there’s not much reason to believe you’ll be any different by the time you set foot in your first law class. That’s just conjecture on my part, though. 

So, there you have it. In a nutshell, a quantifiable nontraditional boost does exist for some schools, but about half that many seem to actually disadvantage nontraditional applicants. 

[Further Reading in Flaws in Logical Reasoning: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10]