(U-WIRE) Davis, Calif. — The phrase “There’s always law school” is in full effect for students now more than ever. The result is that admittance to law school may be harder to come by in the future.

As a type of school that does not require specific undergraduate courses or majors for students acceptance, law schools have become havens for students who want to expand their professional options. However, law schools must consider whether applicants are merely postponing the inevitability of the job-hunting in an economically unstable era.

While companies suffer financial setbacks and lay off employees, many are realizing that one way to avoid unemployment is to pursue higher education.

“I have talked to several alumni who want to change careers into law,” said pre-law advisor Susan Meyer. “A lot of dot-com businesses went under and a lot of people lost their jobs. Those people are going back [to school] to get law degrees to make themselves more marketable.”

In the past several years, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of LSAT tests administered and law school applicants.

According to the Law School Admission Council website, there was a 23.1 percent increases in LSAT tests administered in 2002 with 25,221 more test takers than in 2001. Applications in fall 2002 have also increased 17.6 percent compared to the year before.

The LSAC also said that the amount of female applicants (50.1 percent) exceeded that of males (49.6 percent). “There are a lot of students who are trying to bolster their skills by getting additional degrees,” said Sharon Pinkney, admissions director of the University of California — Davis School of Law.

Offering a flexible degree, the legal profession can present a myriad of opportunities to students majoring in either science or liberal arts. The American Bar Association describes law as “too multifaceted, and the human mind too adaptable” to have course requirements.

Information from Pinkney indicated that there has been a steady increase in applications to King Hall, UC — Davis’ law school, over the last six years, and she expects this year’s final count will contribute to that upward trend.

In 2002, 468 UC — Davis seniors and alumni applied to an average of 6.62 schools each. Of the 468, 335 were accepted to one or more schools. These numbers noticeably exceed UCD statistics in 2000, where the total number of applicants alone increased by 117. Meyer said that considering grade point average and LSAT scores alone fails to narrow the applicant field to a desired size.

As a result, many schools are increasing their letters of recommendation and personal statement requirements.

Meyer also said that due to the increasing volume of applicants, she expects the median GPA and LSAT scores to increase and that schools can be more selective.

In the past, many students preferred to have at least one year of work experience before they enter law school, but due to the slow economy and increasing unemployment rate, fewer undergraduates are being recruited to work directly out of college.

Yet some law students said they were not certain why exactly they were attending law school.

Some are unsure of whether or not they will become lawyers after graduation, like first-year UC — Davis law student Peter Leung.

But, Leung said, he is considering becoming a public defender. Leung majored in history at UC — San Diego, but chose not to pursue a Ph.D. in that field. Instead, he worked as an administrative assistant for one year and decided to enter law school because of the “poor economy,” even though he said he would have preferred more than one year of work experience.