HLS traditionally admits about 10 percent of applicants overall.

Curll says a 50 percent admission rate of Harvard applicants seems high to her.

“It could be as much as a third at some points,” Curll says. “I think [Harvard graduates] probably have somewhat of an advantage, but that’s really hard to say.”

At other top law schools, the effect of increased applicants also seems marginal.

“It’s going to be a bit more competitive, there’s no question about that,” says Dennis J. Shields, associate dean for admissions and financial aid at Duke Law School. “We’re planning to be a bit more cautious. We’ll probably make fewer offers initially...take a bit stronger LSAT, a bit stronger academic record. But I don’t necessarily think they’ll be a dramatic difference in who we’ll admit.”

Many admissions officers are quick to note that even with a surge in applications, the increase in top applicants was much smaller.

“The schools at the top will not change because the number of people at the top 1 percent of the distribution will not grow nearly as much as the people at the 25 percent mark,” Curll says.

Deans also point out that if the current situation mirrors the recession of the early 1990s, the number of applicants would return to normal levels relatively soon.

“I think it’ll level out if the economy turns around fairly quickly,” Shields says. “I don’t think the overall volume is going to go up much more after this year. After 20 years in this, that’s my guess.”

But for now pre-law advisors say they cannot speculate on when the climate will change.

“It’s like the stock market, whatever goes up has to go down,” Nowrojee says. “But when? That’s the question.”

—Staff writer Elliott N. Neal can be reached at neal@fas.harvard.edu.