More people took the Law School Admission Test in February than during the same month last year—4.4 percent more, to be exact. That represented the single largest increase in test takers since December 2009 and followed a nearly 1 percent boost in the number of December test takers.

But people who track admission trends warned not to read too much into those numbers. Traditionally, fewer candidates sit for the test during February, and the increase represents just 859 additional test takers nationally.

Moreover, the total number of test takers during the 2014-15 cycle was down by nearly 4,000—3.6 percent—according to the Law School Admission Council, which administers the test. The total number of test takers has declined in each of the past five years.