KC Hagan took the Law School Admission Test last month in hopes of being accepted to the University of Florida Levin College of Law.
But though more students will apply for a position in the college than last year, Hagan will be competing for one of a diminishing number of spots.
According to Levin data, the law school accepted 3,369 applications and accepted 936 students. This year, though, it is expected that the college will accept only about 700 of its 3,430 applications.
Noemar Castro, director of admissions for the UF Levin College of Law, said that the college hopes to reduce the number of students it enrolls by 25-percent, enrolling only 300 applicants for the fall 2009 semester.
Castro said the law school decreased its admissions in an effort to implement a quality-not-quantity approach for the future.
"It's extremely competitive," she said. "We have definitely seen an increase in applicants for this year."
Castro said people are interested in attending law school because a law degree provides options and also prepares students for the work force.
She predicts an even higher number of applications for fall 2010, she said, because students who finish undergraduate programs will have a tough time finding jobs and look to law school as an option.
According to the Princeton Review Web site, only 36 percent of law school applicants are admitted.
Hagan, a 21-year-old advertising senior, took LSAT prep classes through TestMasters in April to help prepare her for the June 8 test.
Tatiana Prisco, an enrollment counselor at TestMasters, said her company understands the importance of a high LSAT score to the students seeking tutoring help.
"Students who are studying for the LSAT either really want to be lawyers or just want options available to them after they graduate," Prisco said. "Our job is to make studying easier for them regardless of their situation."
The first summer session to prepare UF students interested in preparing for the September LSAT began July 7, and the second summer session begins Monday.
The cost of the TestMasters course is $1,450 for first-time students or $725 for students interested in retaking the prep course.
Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions and the Princeton Review, which also offer local LSAT prep courses, declined to comment.
"Even in hard economic times, we still want our students to feel like we are preparing them to do their best," Prisco said.
Hagan said she feels she did better than she would have without the course.
"With things the way they are," she said, "you have to be competitive."
UF's law school only plans to enroll less than 9-percent of its applicants for the fall 2009 class.
