“There were a number of disappointed students this year,” Onie says. “There were quite a few students who really expected to get into Harvard Law School but didn’t.”

Perhaps even more maddening for seniors applying to schools was the length of time schools have taken to reply this year.

Freeman says while students in past years have typically heard back from law schools by March or April, a significant number of students will graduate today still without hearing one way or another on their applications.

“It puts students in a terrible position,” Freeman says.

While tutors may have experienced differing patterns in applications, they agree on the reasons why law schools are seen as an attractive option in a slow economy.

“People have the sense that law school is ultimate security,” Onie says. “It’s the ultimate option for risk-averse Harvard students.”

And if seniors are not convinced of the security provided by law schools, parents are often quick to remind them.

Jobless senior Pereira says that even though he has little desire to go to law school—“on a list of 10 options, it would be after number seven”—his parents insisted that he apply in order to ensure a backup plan.

Now that he has been accepted to a law school but yet to find a job, he says his parents are becoming even more insistent that he enroll in the fall.

But tutors say such a tendency to see law school as a safety net can mean that students are going for the wrong reasons.

“The more people that apply, the more people that aren’t interested in being a practicing lawyer,” Friedman says. “As a general rule, I think that’s a really bad idea. If you don’t love [the law]...you’re going to be miserable in law school.”

Looking on the Bright Side

While the economic downturn has closed some doors to graduates this year, the change had positive aspects.

Several masters note the existence of unfortunate pressure for seniors to enter a small set of high-flying jobs during the boom of the 1990s.

“The default was that Harvard grads did consulting, I-banking, or dot-coms and if you didn’t do those things, you had failed,” Judith Palfrey says. “I don’t see that anymore—that’s good.”