We here at Blueprint LSAT Prep are shocked (SHOCKED!) to find that, yet again, the number of LSAT test-takers is down. Way down: 11% since last year, and 45% since the high of 2009. According to Law.com (and this handy chart provided by LSAC), this makes it 13 straight administrations with a decline in LSAT test-takers.

To put some numbers on it (and not just percents), 60,746 people took the 2009 October LSAT. That’s more than twice as many students as there were legal positions available (2.28 times as many, to be exact). This year, that number is down to 33,673 – or only 1.4 times as many LSAT test-takers as available legal positions! We call that progress, readers.

But what does it mean?

Well, first off, fewer people are taking the LSAT. But that’s not a helpful answer.

The implications of fewer LSAT test-takers this time are the same as every other time – there will be fewer people applying for law school. Admissions will be slightly less competitive than last year, and schools will be forced to either let their GPA/LSAT numbers drop further (see our article on Above the Law; also, bookmark the main site for when you get into law school and want to procrastinate) or decrease their class size. Expect more of the former than the latter, however. That one won’t cost them money, and it also won’t hurt them if everyone is doing it.

In the end, this is a good thing for everyone. Students will have an easier time gaining admission to law school. Law schools will see a higher percentage of their students gainfully employed. And the legal profession will, hopefully, return to a level where going to law school and working hard guarantees employment.

As long as law schools accept the new reality and adjust their admissions standards accordingly.

So, you know, let’s hope for that.