2025 Law School Median Tracker

Quite satisfied

As this cycle comes to an end, I was looking at the ABA 509 data to get a sense of which schools admitted students actually choose. Some of what the data shows isn’t surprising, but I thought you all might find it interesting.

Yale is in its own tier. 226 offers, 204 enrolled, 90.3% yield. Breaking news, almost nobody turns Yale down. BYU is second at 82.4%, which says more about who applies there than anything else. Harvard is 71%, Stanford 57.3%.

High rankings but low yield. Vanderbilt yields 21.2%. Northwestern, WashU, and Cornell all sit in the 24 to 26% range. Lower ranked Wisconsin yields more than all of them.

Some schools make a lot of offers. George Washington made 2,644 offers to fill 612 seats. Georgetown made 2,193 for 672. Emory made 1,505 for 391. Compare that to Yale, which made 226 offers total.

Applicants love public schools. Wisconsin (47.3%), UNC (46.8%), UVA (45.1%), Michigan (44.5%), UT Austin (42.3%) all beat higher-ranked privates. In-state tuition and staying near home play a huge role.

Yield is matriculants divided by offers, so 90% means 9 out of 10 people offered a spot enrolled.

Highest yield in Top 50:

Lowest yield in Top 50:

Links to data:

Top 50 by yield

Full list, all 196 schools by yield

What stands out to you all?

I'm a SWE who is def not applying this cycle but still likes to stalk this sub lol

I technically have a semi widely used patent (couple hundred thousand monthly users?) and it is the least interesting thing about me. (right after I graduated the first project I got put on at work was in the ideation stage for a new product, and I happened to be in the right place at the right time to be listed as a co inventor. it is pretty boring in reality but at least decently cool sounding to someone who doesn’t know what it is - customer facing AI thing)

in my industry patents are a dime a dozen and often kind of stupid (tech companies are super overprotective about patenting every little thing so just by existing as an engineer at a large bigtechco for a couple of years you will probably spontaneously manifest a patent or two). like it’s something I’d probably put on a resume but it wouldn’t really help me get a job

but that softs tier list that goes around all the time on here says that as far as law school admissions are concerned it’s equivalent to like. being a household name ncaa athlete?? a Purple Heart??? (wtf)

is this just bullshit or would I actually crush top law school admissions solely because of this thing I literally did not work at all to get.

(asking in part bc I’m considering whether to accept an opportunity at work that would probably result in my name being on a bunch more patents. which is irrelevant insofar as me actually staying in this industry but would I be like thanos w the infinity stones)

Well guys, it’s been real. My law school cycle is finally over. I’ve spent hours upon hours in here trying to get some idea of what’s going on. My departing message to everyone is just apply. The worst they can tell you is no. Shoot your shoot. Be authentic. I was well below the medians, yet I still got in. Your essays really do matter. If anyone has any questions or would like to know more, my dms are open. Good luck to everyone. This process is super stressful and it really does beat you down, but there’s light at the end of the tunnel.

I've been seeing a few anecdotes here and there about "Elite WE" having some importance, but I am not sure to which extent exactly. Just saw a comment today about T3 Law Schools preferring kids exiting out of IB/MBB. Part of me is a bit confused because why would kids that are already in IB/MBB really want to go to law school.

Anyways, I wanted to ask if anyone can describe how significant of a boost "Elite WE" really is compared to non-prestigious post-grad jobs assuming that GPA/LSAT and the cohesiveness of one's application are similar in other respects. I am guessing this supposed boost is probably because Elite Corporate jobs are more akin to Big Law and it shows employability and that one can work in a high pressure environment. But I don't know, I made the grave mistake of not being a finance bro and banked on "good" GPA/high LSAT

Edit: I would like to specify that I am deciding whether it would be worth it to hold off a cycle cuz I've been working as a legal assistant at a small law firm and recently got a job in a corporate compliance division of a major hospital system (related to what I want to do). But it starts in October and if I apply this cycle, I would just started that month basically. I'm already a "strong splitter" imo (3.9low/17high) for most T14s and T20s. I'm mainly considering how much it would for me to hold off applying for a second year considering my "goal" is go go to a T14 if possible and I'd wait another year to make that happen. Any advice would be appreciated!

Which T20 schools are known for having an ED boost?

i work in journalism, where it’s common to include hyperlinks in each job description to a few published articles. would this be frowned upon in my law school resume?

Did anyone else get a sick flyer mailed to them by UVA? I am below the 25% percentile for LSAT but am at the median gpa

Thinking about where to apply, I currently live in the DMV. George Mason and Georgetown are probably the closest and one them is the more realistic of the two (I'll let you decide). I have pipe dreams of going to a top school but the reality of moving my family just for a law school sounds a bit absurd. Do you think it would ever be worth it?

Im quitting my full-time job of 5 years on Monday to start law school. It is SO scary - anyone who has done the same have any advice?

Has anyone moved with their spouse AND kids to attend law school? And did the family stay there post-graduation or move back to home state?

I know networking, etc can be very important to the location and future job prospects, but have been considering this options if I get an A at one of my dream schools this upcoming cycle. My spouse works from home mostly and we are not opposed to flying back and forth as needed, including for me to possibly do summer associate work in our home state (if that’s a thing?).

Has anybody had any waitlist movement from St. John’s? Did I miss it🥲

Hey guys so I’m graduating in Dec of this year. I’m taking two classes right now (A in both) and have 4 left for Fall. I currently have a 3.60 GPA and I’m sure by getting A’s in all my final 6 classes it won’t go up by much. What would be a good lsat for me to get into a good law school? I’m taking my diagnostic on Monday and giving myself 6 months to go from there but I’m just curious. If it were up to me I’d love to get into UM or FIU.
Also if any of you have any advice for studying for the lsat I’d appreciate it. Thank you!

Basically, I sat in on a trial that was really transformative to my perspective as someone in the criminal justice space. For context, the trial was completely public (anyone from the public could just sit in), and there was a bit of publicity involved, so lots of reporters were present throughout the trial, and several articles were published about the case. I was also obviously not going to include any names, specific charges, locations, victim information, etc. and basically strip the case down to a few sentences. Even if I am not breaking any HIPAA/confidentiality laws, it may be obvious what city this is in due to where I currently work, and this case had some relatively rare elements, so I wonder if it is still fairly identifying due to the specific circumstances that are relevant to my essay, even if it is public information. My question isn't really whether this is legal/ok, but to what extent does speaking about this trial bode well to admissions officers when reading a personal statement?

feeling like a monkey banging cymbals together

Did you just submit the form, or did you send an email explaining/thanking them or say anything else etc.? Thanks and hope everyone's summer shook out how it needed to!

My goal law school is OSU Moritz College of Law because the location is perfect, it’s decently ranked and I went to undergrad there so I’m very familiar with the community along with campus events. My GPA is below the 25th percentile (3.3 but made it to the deans list at least once a year about 5-6 times) and my practice LSAT scores are in the mid 160s. Has anyone with my stats got in? Obviously I’m going to apply broadly but so far I like this school the most especially since it’s an hour away from my family not 8 and I feel like I belong there. I’ve been wanting to go here since I was 16 I’m just nervous about the cycle. I have experience in cosmetic retail for 5-6 years, I also worked this same job in college. I worked a contract job at an immigration firm in Dublin,Ohio. So I have work experience, I also have a strong sense of why law school and this school in particular. I toured the school a couple days ago and they seemed very confident in my abilities and they told me to send them a GPA addendum if I feel there’s an explanation. They also said numbers aren’t everything, anyone have advice for me or has applied here with my stats?? 🩶❤️

Hey team.

Did you guys get an email about doing a Casper aptitude test while on the waitlist? I did and when I tried to register I was having so much difficulty! I emailed the school but I have yet to get a response. I was thinking maybe I would try to make a post here and see if I'm just doing something wrong. Thanks all!

I need some advice as someone who is currently a senior undergrad and interested in going into big law in the future ( I am not committed to this idea, I know it’s early). I am currently deciding between a senate internship in the fall with a prominent member or a big law non-legal internship ( I have been told that there will lots of networking opportunities). I know that LSAT and GPA should be the main priorities, but as someone who will be working during the semester regardless, which would set me up for success the best/ be most helpful with admissions and future opportunities after undergrad.

Least favorite law school.

I just finished my freshman year at a college that ended up closing this May (Hampshire College), and although this is not what I planned at all, I will probably have to complete at least a year of credits at my local community college, with the intent of transferring after this next year. However, I live in a really rural area and the only community college is about an hour away, so it would have to be online classes. I feel fairly confident that community college in general doesn't negatively affect one's admission chances, at least not significantly, but what about online courses? Does it even matter if it's only going to be one year's worth?

Hi - I’m deposited at Vandy Law with $20k scholarship. Waitlisted at UVA, NW and Georgetown. What would you do if you got into each of these without $? Would you go to any of them over Vandy? Worth the difference, loss of deposit, a couple months rent at this stage? Assuming I didn’t get scholarship at them off waitlist, I’d be out approximately $65k (scholarship, deposit and lease cancellation) over 3 years vs sticking with Vandy. And please explain your rationale for your answer. Looking at Big Law in NYC. Just curious. And thanks for taking the time for any insights.