The Numbers You Need To Get Into A Top Law School
The good news: It’s often easier to get into law school than ever.
The bad news: It’s also way more expensive.
Well, let’s take an optimistic view first. According to a December paper from the National Conference of Bar Examiners, bottom 25th percentile LSAT scores dropped from five to nine points at elite programs like Northwestern, Georgetown, and Emory. What’s more, top schools are raising their acceptance rates to curb declining enrollments. Look no further than the University of California-Berkeley, whose rate has nearly doubled from 11.6% to 20.2% in just three years.
While many law schools are softening their standards, don’t assume you can skate through undergrad or skimp on LSAT study. As staff writer Jeff Schmitt writes for TippingTheScales.com, numbers matter at law school – now more than ever. Scholarships are still heavily based on LSAT scores (and class rank determines who keeps their funding). Even though New York University, for example, accepts nearly a third of applicants, you still won’t get in with a 154 LSAT (even if you pay the full sticker price).
‘They either have the brainpower or they don’t.’ That’s how adcoms regard applications. As an applicant, your approach can be more nuanced. Let’s say you aspire to practice law in North Carolina, knowing the local law schools’ alumni networks are often concentrated in their own state. If you score a 166 on your LSAT, you’ll certainly qualify for Duke Law, where the range is 166-170 between the 25th and 75th percentiles. But why not consider the University of North Carolina? Let’s face it: No one cares where you earned your degree once you start practicing. And Chapel Hill’s tuition is $33,000 a year less for in-state residents (and $16,000 less for out-of-state residents) than Duke. Plus, your 166 score is well above North Carolina’s LSAT range (157-163), giving you leverage for a beefier aid package.
And that’s because numbers also drive law school rankings. Higher LSATs and GPAs equal greater perceived intellectual horsepower. And lower acceptance rates mean higher prestige. And that translates into money. The better your school’s reputation, the more they can charge for tuition. Higher rankings draw better faculty and students. This boosts a degree’s value, increasing alumni engagement and gifts. And that, in turn, fuels additional resources and scholarships for students. If you’re a stellar candidate, schools may need you as much as you need them.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. First, there is that little matter of getting accepted. If your heart is set on the Ivy League,the best place to start is Cornell, which maintains a 30.3% acceptance rate. NYU is another gem, with a 30.1% acceptance rate. Numerically, it is easier to get accepted into these schools than it is at Baylor (29.9%) or Georgia State (28.4%), which tied for 56th overall.
Generally, the top programs are the most selective. Not surprisingly, Yale maintains the lowest acceptance rate at 8.9%. Last year, just 255 of 2,589 applicants were accepted by the school. They were followed by Stanford (9.1%), Harvard (15.4%), the University of Pennsylvania (16.4%), and the University of Virginia (18.1%). What does it take to get into Yale? Over the past three years, the numbers have remained relatively consistent: an LSAT between 170-176 and an average GPA between 3.82-3.97 (which has relaxed from its 3.84-3.98 high three years ago).
However, you’ll find exceptions. Take 30th-ranked University of California-Irvine, for example. It holds a 22% acceptance rate, higher than Northwestern, Michigan, and Texas. And the University of Tulsa, ranked 82nd, is technically more stringent at 32.5% than Vanderbilt, Emory, and Notre Dame.
So where is your best shot to get into law school? Among top 100 program, that distinction belongs to 94th-ranked University of Louisville, where 424 out of 608 applicants got the thumbs up (69.7%). That said, the program ranked among the lowest in the top 100 for GMAT (150-157) and undergrad GPA (3.17-3.62). Still, the program only costs $36,538 a year. And its outcomes – an 80.5% nine month placement rate and a 80.2% first-time bar passage rate – are higher than some top 50 programs.
To get the lowdown on what numbers you need to get into the best law schools, check out TippingTheScales.com:
Master of Arts (M.A.) at Atlantic International University
9 年Institutionally In a world of academia, lawyers are not liars, aren't they? And given their sophistry, they are cleverly "trained to win - either by hook or by crook" - traditionally. But history has evidently spoken against their sophistry and skepticism: Abraham Lincoln never graduated with a College degree from a conventional law school; but he passed his law exams on becoming a barrister; Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg have never graduated with a College degree, but what could outsmart their entrepreneurial genius. Each year Forbes keeps updating their billionaire-ranking profile. However, my rebuttal challenge to the Law fraternal is this: change or alter the conceptualized format of LSAT tailored to suit today's setting with innovation and creativity - without lowering its standard. Even with diversed culture, language and ethnicity, the rest of the world can never be Americanized nor Britianized at all times - perhaps at some stage. Thus, what's the fuss all about "Law School 101: The Numbers You Need To Get Accepted" in a world of academia?
Marketer, Communicator,Public Relations Professional,Independent Change Management Strategy Consultant ,Poet
9 年Have you ever thought about the following: 1- Laws are very theoretical and never been based upon case studies, indepth interviews or any qualitative research technique or designs we ever learned in conducting a scientific research and despite of this , we take them for granted and apply them without a question. 2- The laws are written by people to be imposed on another people regardless of validity or reliability tests like scientific researches. 3- No one case is like the other in the whole world and still one law is enforced in all cases. 4- People do not have licensee infront of judges to defend themselves but lawyers do for themselves and for others , so they are privileged than normal people. 5- If one judge refuses a consent or a judgement and another accepts , who is correct and who is not , what is the measurement model or even tools? 6- How immigrants, residents and double nationality holders be treated according to the diplomatic laws, international laws or different countries local laws? , if they conflict together which will have the power of enforcement?
Writer | Editor | Fundraiser | Advocate for Shelter Animals | Music Lover | Yankees Fan
9 年Law school? Seriously? Not a wise move for most in the current economic and employment environment.
Retired Attorney
9 年While going to law school now is like a totally different world than when I went to law school (1969-1972)....... Good luck to all those currently in law school or in the future. Bear down, as they say, and you can become a success, for sure.
Wild Card - draw me for a winning hand | Creative Problem Solver in Many Roles | Manual Software QA | Project Management | Business Analysis | Auditing | Accounting |
9 年There are "Third Tier Toilet Schools" (TTT) who are cheap and are at the bottom of the list. You can easily get in, and you won't pay much, some as low as $7k/year. But the reputation of the schools are very low. You won't have much student loan debt but you can still do "coding" at $20/hour. If you want to go to law school, always go for the T14 (top 14 schools) and get the top 10% of your class. Then you stand a chance of actually getting into a good paying job. Nothing is guaranteed, but if you go to a TTT school, your chances are lower of getting a good paying job.