The number of applicants to the Georgetown University Law Center fell slightly from last year, leading the admissions office to extend the application deadline more than a month.

This year, the number of applications to the Law Center fell more than 2 percent, from 10,750 to 10,508, while applications to U.S. law schools overall rose 2.2 percent, according to Georgetown University Law Center’s director of admissions Sophia Sim. Last year, the number of Law Center applications fell 4 percent.

The admissions office extended the Feb. 1 application deadline through March this year in order to attract more applicants. Sim said that the admissions council “will most likely keep accepting for another week or so.”

“Due to varying circumstances, we will continue accepting applications – obviously, the earlier one applied, the better one’s chances,” she said.

Despite the overall dip in applications, the law school experienced an approximately 3 percent rise from last year in “top-tier” applicants, according to Andy Cornblatt, associate vice president of graduate admissions and enrollment at the Law Center. This increase falls short of last year’s 10 percent increase.

“The single most important trend is that, while applications are down, the number of top applicants, based on GPA, LSAT scores and several other factors, has increased,” he said.

The Law Center traditionally receives the most law school applications in the country, and despite the drop in the number of applicants, this trend may continue because of the extended deadline, according to both Cornblatt and Sim.

Cornblatt attributed the Law Center’s attractiveness and wide appeal to its unique location, reputation and opportunity.

“We think that the combination of a rich and varied curriculum, terrific campus facilities and being such an integral part of this important city all work together to make this the law school that receives the most applications in the country,” he said.

In addition, the steady climb in the number of applications to the Law Center over the past decade has translated into increased selectivity because it has not significantly increased its class size, Cornblatt said.

The Law Center offers several application options, including both a binding early decision program and a non-binding early action program in addition to a regular decision option.

The early assurance option allows Georgetown undergraduates to apply in March of their junior year without having to submit LSAT scores. The purpose of this option, Cornblatt said, is to allow these applicants to bypass a source of stress during their senior year while helping to retain some of Georgetown’s strongest students.

“So far, 64 [early assurance] applications have been received [for fall 2009],” Sim said.

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