If you're applying to law school in 2025 or 2026, you're entering a testing landscape that looks nothing like it did a decade ago. The LSAT, that longstanding gatekeeper to legal education, has undergone its most significant structural change in over forty years. And the GRE, once relegated to PhD programs and business schools, is now accepted at more than 120 ABA-accredited law schools, including every member of the elite T14. Yet something curious is happening: despite this apparent expansion of choice, fewer than 2% of law school enrollees submitted a GRE score in the most recent admissions cycle.

The official line from admissions offices—that both tests are evaluated equally—doesn't quite explain why the overwhelming majority of applicants still choose the LSAT, or why some schools have policies that make submitting a GRE score practically impossible for certain candidates. Understanding the real dynamics at play requires looking beyond the marketing materials and into the structural incentives, policy quirks, and strategic considerations that shape how law schools actually evaluate applicants.

The decision between the LSAT and GRE isn't simply about which test you'll perform better on—it's about understanding a system in transition and positioning yourself within it.

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The New LSAT: What Changed in August 2024

In August 2024, the Law School Admission Council eliminated the Analytical Reasoning section—better known as logic games—from the LSAT. The section had been a fixture since 1982, requiring test-takers to solve intricate puzzles about ordering, grouping, and conditional relationships. For many, it was the most intimidating part of the exam; for others, particularly those with strong spatial reasoning skills, it was an opportunity to gain a competitive edge.

The change came as the result of a 2019 legal settlement with two blind test-takers who argued that the section's reliance on diagramming put visually impaired candidates at an unfair disadvantage. After years of research into alternatives, LSAC decided to replace logic games with a second Logical Reasoning section rather than introduce a new question type entirely.

The post-August 2024 LSAT now consists of two scored Logical Reasoning sections, one scored Reading Comprehension section, and one unscored experimental section that could be either type. The score scale remains 120 to 180, and LSAC's own research found that substituting a second Logical Reasoning section for logic games had virtually no impact on overall scores—a mean difference of just one-hundredth of a point across more than 200,000 test sessions.

For test-takers, the practical implications are significant. The elimination of logic games removes what was often considered the most "learnable" section of the exam. Students who previously saw dramatic score improvements after mastering diagramming techniques may find the new format harder to optimize. Logical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension, while certainly improvable, tend to show more modest gains with preparation, and the skills they test—critical reading, argument evaluation, inference—are developed over years rather than weeks.

The format change also affects how candidates assess their own performance. Logic games provided immediate feedback: if you couldn't finish a game or your diagram fell apart, you knew something had gone wrong. The new format offers no such clarity, leaving many test-takers uncertain how they performed until scores are released.

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How Top Law Schools Actually Handle GRE vs. LSAT

All T14 law schools now officially accept the GRE, but their policies vary in ways that matter significantly for applicants. Understanding these nuances can determine whether the GRE is even a viable option for your application.

Yale Law School represents the most restrictive approach. While the school accepts both tests and claims no preference between them, applicants can only submit scores from one standardized test. More importantly, Yale's policy states that if you have a reportable LSAT score, you may not submit a GRE score for consideration. This means that taking the LSAT—even once, even if you cancel your score using Score Preview—effectively closes the GRE door at Yale. For applicants who performed poorly on the LSAT and hoped to pivot to the GRE, Yale is off the table.

Stanford's policy is similar in structure but with an important twist. Applicants may submit either the LSAT or GRE, but if you have valid LSAT scores, they must be reported as part of your application. The school will also consider GRE scores if submitted, but here's the catch: if you're admitted with a GRE score and subsequently take the LSAT, Stanford's admissions committee will consider the new score and may reevaluate your offer of admission. This creates an unusual incentive structure where admitted GRE applicants face potential jeopardy if they later decide to sit for the LSAT.

Columbia Law School takes a more flexible approach, allowing applicants to choose between the LSAT and GRE. However, candidates using the GRE as their basis for admission must submit all GRE scores from the past five years—no ScoreSelect option is available. Importantly, applicants may submit LSAT scores as their sole standardized test even if they've taken the GRE, giving LSAT-takers the option to exclude GRE results entirely.

Harvard, Northwestern, Penn, and most other T14 schools fall somewhere on this spectrum, generally accepting both tests without formal preference but with varying policies about score reporting, multiple attempts, and the relationship between GRE and LSAT scores when both exist. The common thread is that LSAT scores, once earned, become part of your permanent record and will be automatically reported to law schools through LSAC's Credential Assembly Service, while GRE scores give you somewhat more control over what schools see.

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What the Data Actually Shows

The gap between official policy and actual behavior is striking. According to data released by the American Bar Association in December 2024, of the nearly 39,700 students who enrolled in JD programs for Fall 2024, approximately 38,700 submitted LSAT scores. Just 701 submitted GRE scores—roughly 1.8% of enrollees.

The pattern held in the most recent data: for Fall 2025, only 531 students enrolled with GRE scores out of more than 42,800 first-year students, representing about 1.2% of the entering class. These numbers represent a decline, not an increase, in GRE usage despite the growing number of schools that accept the test.

Four years after the ABA voted to allow all law schools to accept the GRE, the LSAT remains the overwhelmingly dominant force in law school admissions.

What explains this disparity? Part of the answer lies in the structural differences between the tests and how schools must report statistics. Law school rankings, particularly the influential U.S. News rankings, weight median LSAT and GRE scores in their methodology. Schools are incentivized to optimize their entering class profiles, and decades of experience with LSAT scores make those predictions more reliable. A 173 LSAT signals something clear to admissions committees; a set of GRE scores requires conversion and comparison that introduces uncertainty.

Harvard's data provides some insight into actual admission rates. At a 2019 panel discussion, a Harvard Law admissions official noted that the acceptance rate for GRE-only applicants mirrored the overall acceptance rate, suggesting no inherent disadvantage. Brooklyn Law School reported similar findings, with GRE applicants actually showing a slightly higher acceptance rate—though the dean attributed this to the strength of the GRE applicant pool rather than any preference. Still, the faculty skepticism that some admissions consultants have observed is real. Law school admissions committees often include faculty members who have years of experience correlating LSAT scores with academic performance. The GRE, despite ETS studies showing its validity as a predictor of first-year law school grades, remains less familiar territory.

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Score Cancellation and the Strategic Calculus

The policies around score cancellation reveal one of the GRE's genuine advantages—and one of the LSAT's most anxiety-inducing features.

When you take the LSAT, you have six calendar days after your test date to decide whether to cancel your score. If you don't purchase LSAT Score Preview (an additional $45 before the test or $80 after), you must make this decision blind, without knowing what you scored. With Score Preview, you see your score before deciding, but either way, the cancellation itself becomes part of your record. Law schools will see that you sat for the test on that date and chose to cancel.

While most schools claim not to hold a single cancellation against applicants, a pattern of multiple cancellations can raise questions about your ability to perform under pressure—a concern given that law school consists largely of high-stakes examinations.

The GRE operates differently. ETS allows test-takers to cancel scores at the testing center immediately after viewing them, and crucially, canceled GRE scores don't appear on your score report at all. The test simply vanishes as if you never took it. Additionally, ETS's ScoreSelect feature lets you choose which scores to send to schools, giving you control over your testing history that LSAT-takers don't have.

This difference creates an interesting strategic consideration. If you're uncertain about your ability to perform well on a given test day, the GRE carries less risk. A bad day disappears; with the LSAT, it becomes part of your permanent record.

However, this flexibility has limits at certain schools. As noted, Yale's policy that prevents GRE submission if you have any reportable LSAT score means the protective value of GRE cancellation only works if you commit to the GRE entirely. Taking the LSAT first, canceling, and then trying to submit GRE scores won't work at Yale—your canceled LSAT still counts as a "reportable" score for purposes of their policy.

For retakes, both tests impose limits. The LSAT can be taken up to five times within a five-year period and seven times over a lifetime, with canceled scores counting against these limits. The GRE can be taken once every 21 days, up to five times within a 12-month period, but with greater flexibility about which scores schools ultimately see.

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Are GRE Applicants Really Disadvantaged?

The question of whether GRE applicants face an inherent disadvantage generates strong opinions but limited conclusive data. Law schools uniformly claim to evaluate both tests equally, yet the lopsided submission rates suggest that applicants themselves aren't convinced.

Several factors may explain the persistent preference for the LSAT beyond any actual bias in admissions decisions. First, the LSAT is accepted everywhere. Taking the LSAT keeps all options open; taking only the GRE limits you to the roughly 120 schools that accept it. For applicants who haven't finalized their school list or who might add safety schools later in the cycle, the LSAT provides flexibility.

Second, the LSAT preparation ecosystem is vastly more developed. Decades of test administration have produced extensive prep materials, tutoring programs, and data about what scores are needed at various schools. GRE preparation for law school purposes is comparatively new, and law-school-specific guidance is less readily available.

Third, there's the signaling question. Taking the LSAT demonstrates specific commitment to law school; it's a test designed for and used exclusively by legal education. The GRE is a generalist exam that could signal you're keeping options open for other graduate programs—potentially raising questions about your dedication to a legal career.

That said, the GRE may offer genuine advantages for certain applicants. Those with strong quantitative backgrounds, particularly STEM majors, may find the GRE's math section easier to navigate than the LSAT's purely verbal and logical format. The GRE's emphasis on vocabulary and reading comprehension, while still challenging, may feel more familiar to those who excelled on the verbal sections of the SAT or ACT. And for applicants already planning to take the GRE for another program—a dual JD/MBA, for instance—submitting the same scores to law schools avoids duplicative preparation.

The most honest assessment is that the GRE isn't disadvantaged in theory, but the practical realities of an LSAT-dominated system mean that GRE applicants are navigating less familiar territory. Whether that matters depends on your specific circumstances, target schools, and how well your skills align with each test's demands.

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Making the Decision: A Framework

The choice between the LSAT and GRE should be driven by honest self-assessment rather than assumptions about which test is "easier." Here's a practical framework for deciding.

Start by taking practice tests for both exams under realistic conditions. The LSAT and GRE test overlapping but distinct skill sets, and many applicants have a clear natural advantage on one or the other. Pay particular attention to how you perform on the GRE's verbal section (which is most comparable to law school demands) and whether the LSAT's logical reasoning questions feel intuitive or frustrating.

Consider your school list carefully. If your target schools include Yale and you haven't yet taken either test, the stakes of your first LSAT attempt are higher than you might realize. A disappointing score doesn't just affect your Yale application directly—it closes off the GRE option entirely. For applicants targeting Yale specifically, committing fully to the GRE might make strategic sense.

Think about your preparation timeline. The new LSAT format, without logic games, reduces the opportunity for dramatic score improvements through technique mastery. If you're working with a short preparation window and your baseline skills are strong, that may be fine. If you were counting on "cracking" logic games to boost your score, the calculus has changed.

Factor in your test-taking psychology. Some people perform better with the pressure of a high-stakes, limited-opportunity exam; others need the psychological safety of knowing a bad day won't haunt their applications. The GRE's more forgiving cancellation policy provides a safety net the LSAT doesn't offer.

Finally, if you've already taken one test, understand that your options may be constrained. LSAT scores are automatically reported to any school you apply to through LSAC. You can't hide them by submitting GRE scores instead—most schools will see both, and some will weight the LSAT more heavily regardless of which you prefer. Taking the GRE after a disappointing LSAT may help at some schools, but it won't erase your LSAT history.

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What to Watch Going Forward

The testing landscape for law school admissions continues to evolve. The LSAT's format change is now a year old, and data from the 2024-2025 admissions cycle will provide the first real evidence of how the elimination of logic games affects score distributions and applicant behavior. Some test prep experts predict that the new format will narrow the score range at the top, making it harder to achieve the 175+ scores that elite schools expect, while others suggest that strong readers and critical thinkers will benefit from the increased emphasis on those skills.

Meanwhile, the GRE's position in law school admissions remains uncertain. Despite years of expansion in acceptance policies, actual usage has plateaued at remarkably low levels. Whether this reflects applicant caution, structural incentives that favor the LSAT, or genuine (if unstated) preferences within admissions committees is unclear. What is clear is that the GRE hasn't displaced the LSAT as many predicted when Harvard first accepted it in 2017.

For applicants navigating this system, the most important thing is to make a deliberate choice rather than following assumptions. Understand the specific policies at your target schools. Assess your own skills honestly. And recognize that while the testing decision matters, it's ultimately just one component of applications that are evaluated holistically. The goal isn't to pick the "right" test in some abstract sense—it's to position yourself to achieve the best possible score on whichever test you take, and to ensure that score reaches the schools where you want to study law.

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