A Big Week for Big Numbers

BY Jacob Baska

Now that the autumnal equinox has passed and admissions officers continue to debate whether their maps app or the directions provided by the local pre-law society are the correct directions to their next law fair

Michael listens to the GPS instead of Dwight

we find ourselves on the verge of having real clarity on how the 2025‒2026 law school applicant pool will shape up.

Over the course of the next week, we’ll:

  • Get final numbers for the September LSAT,
  • Pass the registration deadline for the November LSAT,
  • Get the preliminary numbers for the October LSAT once the test dates pass.

So keep those chins up, everyone! It’ll be a busy two weeks, but at least we’ll know how big the mission at hand is afterwards! And in the meantime, let’s check in on the news and headlines from the world of law school admissions.


National LSAT Numbers

OK, first things first, everyone take a deep breath

Deep breath

because the numbers on LSAC’s LSAT Registrants and Test Taker Volumes report are still a bit scary.

LSAT Numbers

Two weeks ago, October LSAT registrations declined 0.6%. Last week, it was a 2.1% decline. This week—right on the doorstep of the exam—it’s just a 4.4% decline.

To offer some context, it’s not odd to see LSAT registrations decline by as much as 10‒15% in the week or two before the test. For example, the June LSAT shrank by 16% in the two weeks right before that test. Right now, the October numbers are just not moving substantially. There’s a reasonable chance that 30,000+ people will take the October LSAT. If that happens, it would represent a 33% increase over last year’s October LSAT and would be the largest October LSAT in 10 years.

“But that’s just one piece of data,” you may say. “In fact, it’s actually ‘datum’ and doesn’t even qualify as ‘data.’” And while we’d applaud your in-depth knowledge of Latin singular/plural structures, we’d also point you to:

  • The August 2025 LSAT seeing an 18% increase in test takers over August 2024,
  • September 2025 having a 30% increase in registrants over September 2024 (and FYI, we’ll get the final number on September 2025 test takers by the time we write next week’s blog),
  • And…

And, actually, we’ll break out the last point off of that list since it has the potential to be the largest issue looming on the horizon—the November LSAT.

The biggest surge in registrations for any LSAT administration happens in the days just before the registration deadline. We sometimes see surges of as much as 30‒40% during this window. If it hits those numbers—after the increased numbers we saw in August and September—then all bets are off as to the potential increase we could see for the national applicant pool this year.

Which is all another way of saying, “We gently encourage you to start working on your application materials!”


National Recruitment Events

And while applicants are busy taking the LSAT like it’s the latest new trend, it’s another full week of law fairs everywhere across America, with the circuit even making its annual guest appearance north of the border!


7Sage Events

Our next Admissions AMA will be on September 24th. Stop on by and ask whatever law school admissions questions are on your mind!

With the results of the September LSAT coming back this week, we’ll have another round of “What Does My Score Mean?” classes on Wednesday, September 24th, at 12 PM and 4 PM Eastern and then again on Monday, September 29th, at 2 PM Eastern.

Our most recent law school admissions podcast dropped on Monday and is a recording of a mock admissions committee meeting from earlier in September. What are the things that admissions officers notice when reviewing applications? How do they talk to each other to decide which applicants are admitted, offered a spot on the waitlist, or denied admission? Members of our 7Sage team break down a few mock applications so that you—our audience—can hopefully file away a few useful nuggets such as “make sure your résumé is clean and easy to review.” Be sure to check it out on Amazon, Spotify, Apple, or wherever you stream your podcasts!


Thanks for reading! You can learn more about 7Sage Admissions Consulting’s services here, and if you’d like help deciding which service is right for you, you can book a free consultation here.

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