Changing the Conversation Around Law School Admissions
At Aspen Publishing, we believe that the more tools and data points, the better! JD-Next is an innovative law school learning program designed to measure what you can do versus what you may already know.
Originally developed in 2019 to help students admitted at law schools develop the fundamental reading and analysis skills they will need to succeed in law school and beyond, JD-Next can now serve as a separate JD admissions exam which dramatically reduces or eliminates admission test score disparities for underrepresented groups compared to legacy admissions tests like the LSAT or GRE.
Three key takeaways from a recent, peer-reviewed study on JD-Next:
- The JD-Next exam is a reliable and valid way to predict success in law school and can provide a significant increase in predictive power over base models.
- The JD-Next exam produces little to no score disparities for under-represented groups.
- Students who participated in the program, regardless of whether they took the final exam, had, on average, .20 points higher on their law school GPA.
Major Goals of JD-Next
- Prepare all populations of students for success in JD programs by giving them foundational knowledge and skills.
- Reduce any potential racial and class disparities in preparation for admissions testing, preparation for law school, and confidence in succeeding in tests and law school.
- Create a valid and reliable predictor of performance in law school.
- Expose undergraduate students to thinking like a lawyer, the kind of materials addressed in law schools, and pathways to the legal profession including instruction on admissions and financing.
What is JD-Next?
JD-Next has two core components: 1) a fully online course that introduces students to fundamental reading and analysis skills, and 2) an examination. JD-Next has been proven to achieve equal or better exam results than other entrance tests with as little as 6 hours per week over two months with no additional preparation required through the powerful combination of our course and examination.
