The other shoe has officially dropped.

After teasing a move to accepting the GRE in the local paper of record, Northwestern is joining Harvard and Arizona in accepting the GRE in the admissions process. Applicants for the 2019 school year will be able to take either the LSAT or the GRE.

This move comes after Northwestern’s internal review — conducted in conjunction with ETS, the folks behind the GRE — demonstrated that the GRE performed as well as the LSAT in predicting first-year law school success. That’s all the ABA requires out of an entrance exam. For now.

Is it time for the LSAC, the entity that’s held a monopoly on law school admissions testing for years, to start freaking out yet? The answer, of course, is yes.

The LSAT monopoly over law school admissions was, like most monopolies, fraught with inefficiencies. There aren’t enough testing centers? Who cares, we’re a monopoly! There aren’t enough administrations throughout the year? Who cares, we’re a monopoly! The games section is merely an exercise in memorizing a few simplistic tricks that ultimately offers no insight into student competence? Yeah, still a monopoly.

But along came the GRE and schools are starting to wake up to the fact that it’s not — no matter what some critics here at Above the Law might think — a test written in crayon. It offers more testing locations, more administrations, and if a law school wanted a fair test of someone’s analytical reasoning, the GRE offers this thing called “mathematics” that does the trick.

The mere presence of a challenger is already reaping benefits for the consumer. The LSAT has dropped its limit of tests an applicant can take in a year and there may be some additional testing dates in the future. Baby steps. On the other hand, the ABA is toying with banning schools from using the GRE at all, which could put a stop to this innovation right quick. Monopolies always try to consolidate their power through legislation.

Even though these administrative issues offer big advantages to adding the GRE to the mix, in an email to students, Dean Rodriguez focuses on the other cited argument for accepting the GRE, opening the door to science and math majors who may already be taking the GRE but eschew law school rather than take yet another test.

The GRE is a holistic exam that comprehensively evaluates qualitative and quantitative skills and is broadly accepted by thousands of graduate and professional degree programs, from biochemistry to public policy to philosophy. Gaining access to GRE test-takers, many of whom are engineers, scientists, and mathematicians, could benefit Northwestern Law and the legal profession at large by diversifying the applicant pool. Additionally, the GRE is offered a number of times throughout the year and in locations worldwide, making it easily accessible for prospective students.

A cynic might say this is just another reach to throw more warm bodies into law school seats. As enrollment declines and schools lower their standards to find more souls to power their tuition machine, the GRE opens up a whole new world. After all, until now law schools were limited by prospective students willing to take the LSAT. Now they can market the virtues of law school to a base of students who may just be on the fence about grad school.

Alas, this is a dumb argument. Undergraduates aren’t sheep only planning on going to grad school because they haven’t seen the killer recruiting leaflet from Northwestern Law yet. Any science geek who ends up in law school because the GRE is an option was already thinking about a legal career on some level. Until now, having to take a specialized exam and put all their eggs in the law school basket may just have been enough to deter them from going any further. Now they can fully evaluate their future plans by taking one test.

Assuming their vision of “full choice” is limited to Harvard, Northwestern, and Arizona.

But that list should grow soon.

UPDATE (12:25 p.m.): Sooner than even we expected! See Georgetown Joins The List Of Law Schools Accepting The GRE.

Northwestern Is Latest Law School to Accept GRE for Admissions [Law.com]

Earlier: Another Elite Law School Eyes Accepting The GRE

Harvard’s Accepting The GRE — How Much Should You Freak Out?

The LSAT Tries To Be More Competitive With The GRE

Joe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.