Law Schools
Want to get into a top-tier law school? Prepare for a tough fight
Getting into a top-tier law school can be especially tough as acceptance rates go down and application rates go up. (Image from Shutterstock)
Getting into a top-tier law school can be especially tough as acceptance rates go down and application rates go up.
Based on 2025 Standard 509 Information Reports submitted to the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar released Monday, Yale Law School’s acceptance rate was 4.06% for the 2024-2025 academic year—its lowest since at least 2016—while Stanford Law School’s acceptance rate of 6.10% for the 2024-2025 academic year was lowest in five years, Law.com reports.
Yale and Stanford law schools are tied for the top ranking in the 2025 U.S. News & World Report Best Law Schools rankings.
“This is looking to be a brutal year for applicants and admissions outcomes,” because schools “have more high-quality applicants,” and in the last several years, “medians for both LSAT and GPA have risen at almost all schools,” Dave Killoran, a prelaw expert and a former CEO of test preparation company PowerScore, told Law.com, noting that medians for LSAT and GPA have risen at almost all schools, making admissions increasingly tough.
Still, the ABA report shows that first-year enrollees at ABA-accredited law schools increased by 13% in the past two years, as many law schools admit more students.
For next year’s admission cycle, the numbers of U.S. law school applicants and applications continue to climb, with applications up 21.8% over a year ago and 62.6% from two years ago, according to data from the Law School Admission Council as of Dec. 18, while applicants are up 20.5% over a year ago and 51.3% from two years ago.
See also:
Applying to law school? The competition is steep
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