Just in case this somehow didn't make it into the avalanche of facts we are learning about Pat Robertson's subversive attempts to supplant our democracy with his theocracy, I felt the need to highlight it.
Regenty University's bar passage rate for 2005 was 61%. That is the sign of a poor law school. Barely more than half of its graduates can pass the bar exam on the first attempt.
You can cheat your way into a job you don't deserve with the help of your fellow ideologue zealots.
You can cheat justice by abusing the law as a partisan political weapon.
But you can't cheat the Bar Examiners.
(Or at least they haven't figured out how to yet.)
And 2005 was a banner year for Regent University*:
Pass rates for the prior years:
2004 - 52.5%
2002 - 48.4%
2001- 43.9%
(For some reason the 2003 numbers were not available from the ILRG website.)
43.9%??!!!
For comparison, the bar pass rates for all applicants in the state of Virginia*:
2005 - 74%%
2004 - 72%
2002 - 73%
2001 - 73%
*(bar passage rate for each designated year reflects the average among first-time test takers during the immediately preceding summer and winter administrations of the bar exam)
So Monica Goodling, THE senior advisor to the ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, graduated from a law school where about half of the students can't even pass the bar exam.
I will bet you dollars to donuts Regent has some sort of super-intensive free-of-charge (top-secret) bar review cramming class to try to squeak that pass rate up. I'll bet they have a raft of current practitioners who share their freakish obsession with destroying democracy come in and personally coach these little whiny weak-minded brainwashed brats. Because that pass rate is just atrocious and they have to do something.
What caliber of students does Regent accept? Let's look at their LSAT scores:
2005 - 153
2004 - 153
2002 - 152
2001 - 149
The LSAT is scored on a scale of 120-180. The average score is about 150, but you should score well over 160 to get into one of the top 25 law schools. LINK
Average. Regent accepts those who managed to achieve an average score on the LSAT. Not exactly the stellar academic performance you want to see from those who will hold the elite positions in our government in a highly technical area like law.
Why is the LSAT critical in admissions?
It probably sounds absurd that your LSAT score could be more important than your four-year GPA. Why would something as important as law school admissions be determined by a multiple-choice standardized test that is only a mediocre predictor of law school performance? To explain this situation, consider the weakness of other admissions factors:
...
References may not be objective. It is difficult to differentiate hundreds of applicants whose professors claim all their students are "excellent." Professors are often encouraged by school administrators to do anything they can to help their students get into top schools.
The application essays are not necessarily reflective of academic ability or even personality. Many admissions consulting programswill help students write their essays. In addition, admissions departments do not have enough staff to read all the application essays. If your LSAT score and GPA are far below the norm, your application essay may never even be read. LINK
So what does Regent rely on to make its admissions decisions?
An extremely important factor in the application review process is the applicant's performance on the LSAT. The committee carefully weighs each applicant's LSAT score in light of the many other parts of the applicant's admissions file in conjunction with the overall profile for the incoming class. Applicants scoring below 149 on the LSAT should plan to retest. The committee relies most heavily upon the highest score when an applicant has taken the LSAT more than once, but all scores will be reviewed.
The admissions committee also places significant importance on the applicant's responses to the Regent-specific topics in the Personal Statement section of the admissions application. Such responses can provide the committee with insights into the applicant's motivation for studying law, his or her commitment to receiving a legal education that integrates Christian principles and ethics and knowledge of special skills and abilities developed through employment experiences. Additionally, the committee relies upon comments contained in the Clergy/Spiritual Life Recommendation Form to consider the applicant's mission in harmony with Regent University's mission.
Ethics!? Really? That's a factor? The ethical partisan abuse of the Department of Justice to let guilty Republicans walk free and to persecute innocent Democrats to create a one-party totalitarian theocratic regime?
I want to vomit.