Toepfer Reveals Admission Policy For Law School

Top college marks and high Admission Test scores were cited as the two most important requirements for admission to the Law School in an article by Louis A. Toepfer, Secretary and Director of Admissions of the Law School in the April issue of the Harvard Alumni Bulletin.

Defining the relative importance of Test scores and college records, Toepfer wrote, "It is the Test Score which decides who gets the nod," but the college record puts applicants in a ranked category "where the nods are few or frequent."

The Office of Admissions, however, has recently been making statistical studies which will, "when validated by experience," partly modify the category system, added the author. A series of prediction index charts has been constructed for each college sending large numbers of students to the Law School, based on correlation studies between the three variables, college grades, Test scores, and Law School marks. Toepfer stressed the importance of a "closer liaison with college deans and pre-law advisers" for opening a "storehouse of information," about each applicant.

The Lower Half

The Admissions Committee first admits the really intellectually gifted men who also command the character necessary to get top mrks. In the more difficult problem of selecting the lower half of the class, the Committee judges the applicant's promise greatly on subjective qualities of character, evaluating his future usefulness to his community.

Toepfer said that experience has taught him that qualities of "well-roundedness" and adjustment are not necessarily those that will guarantee high achievement. The Admissions Office does not lower its academic requirements for campus leaders, who often lack the "purpose and toughness of mind ... needed for success in law and life."

The Director of Admissions expressed his lack of faith in interviews and letter recommendations--neither of which are required--for furnishing much information about the applicant.