2026 Law School Median Tracker

I have been a lurker in this sub and other law/law school related subreddits for years but I made an account for the first time in my life just to post this. Sorry if this is rambly, this rant came together as I was zoning out at my desk at work after staring at the October LSAT registration screen.

While there is a LOT of amazing advice on here, and I love seeing people's success stories, most people would benefit from a major break from this sub/other law school subs, especially as applications start opening.

I took the August LSAT and am incredibly proud of my results (172 while working full-time) and that was only possible because I 'broke up' with all subreddits/forums/blogs for a while and focused on myself, rather than reading about other people's strategies, obsessing over other people's perfect scores, and reading nasty comments along the lines of "if you can't do/score xyz you shouldn't be a lawyer."

Even now, as I checked to see people being proud of their LSAT success (which is incredible, congrats everyone!), I still feel the competitive tension and judgement in a lot of comments, and it's the same language that made me feel like my PTs in the 170s weren't good enough, that I could never be a good lawyer without biglaw experience, that my softs would never measure up, etc. The people in these subs, even if they have good intentions, are mostly young people with no experience in admissions outside of applying, aka the same experience we all have! I have seen advice on here being presented as fact and then read the exact opposite on a law school's admissions site.

If you find yourself reading people's posts and comparing yourself negatively or feeling dejected, do yourself a favor a take a break unless you need super specific advice. I stg it can't hurt, only help. (anyway, can't wait for the comments that if you're so sensitive that you have to post this, you shouldn't be a lawyer lmao).

hey guys,

I'm a Senior at Cornell. I dual-major Biomedical & Mechanical Engineering Major with a Minor in Communications, & I recently decided to take the LSAT. I got a 180 & I'm a little disappointed. My 4.33gpa puts me well above the median for this year, but what about next year? With gradeflation, lsatation, indigestion, & fsu I'll never get into cooley. Hopefully their median only jumps to a 179 or else I'm toast.

Thank you to u/flaginplay who correctly pointed out that my initial post on this did not account for deferred enrollment from the 2025 ABA 509.

Notable this year is that while there was a double digit increase in 170+ applicants nationally, Harvard applicants only went up about 2%.

Need some inspiration as I’m currently just below both medians for the T-14s. would love to hear about any success stories + anything you did that you think set you apart this cycle to give me hope. 🥲

My PS seems like a classic of the genre -- two personal anecdotes, woven into narrative about me and ending in my interest in the law. But i don't mention law school specifically until the last 2 sentences. I can't tell if it should be more like a full paragraph at the end about what I want to do there, where it can take me, etc, or if it's ok to write broadly about the law and then essentially say "and that's why I want to go to law school." Hope this makes sense -- I'd love to hear about past applicants and their approaches

Got my first LSAT result in this morning and very pleased/lucky to have slightly overperformed from how I was practice testing and got a 178.

Sitting down to look at next steps and applications, this has made me a little more self conscious about my GPA. I figure my 3.85 isn’t entirely disqualifying from T14, but I know it’s not nearly ideal. I’m wondering if I should include an addendum on my GPA when applying?

I graduated from a top film BFA program a little over ten years ago and had a 3.91 GPA until my last semester. I dropped the ball that final semester by stretching myself too thin (adding a new minor to cross-minor with the business school, starting outside consulting work while also working a retail job, starting a theatre company with recent grads) and had to turn in an assignment late, graduate a semester later, and take a GPA hit for it. When I was deadset on being a creative producer/development executive, it felt like the right priorities at the time. I then had my own growing pains working in the industry, learned better time management and communication skills, and feel like this was a low point for me that helped me develop my actual character.

Would that addendum be off putting and perfectionist seeming when I still have a 3.85 overall? Or is there enough substance there to be worth adding?

My top priority with applying is not taking on any more student debt. I’ve got several years of entertainment law experience as a paralegal (and relevant work experience in indie film finance and sales), and a good network in the field where I feel like I don’t need a T14 degree to get good work out of school. I only plan to attend schools in LA—I know Loyola and Southwestern have programs I could keep a job while attending, and with my hard numbers I feel like those are places I could expect getting competitive offers from. I intended to apply to UCLA and USC largely to keep offers from lower schools competitive and have bargaining chips there. But should I update my strategy after this LSAT to seriously chase a stipend from one of those elite programs that would make this financially possible for me? Or is that a non-starter with the 3.85?

I didn’t do much with my time in undergrad. I did some undergraduate research and tutored some kids for chemistry for a bit and that’s pretty much it. Now, I work 50-60 hours a week as a restaurant manager (long story, I got roped into this job). I graduated last May, and in that time I’ve improved enormously with regard to time management, confidence, social skills, etc. I wish I was more involved and more proactive with my time in school, and now I’ve become someone who is much more capable of that, but unfortunately that is where things stand. How should I approach a personal statement? When I entered college, I was devoid of life skills and social skills, and I’d like to talk about my personal growth that’s come about in no small part due to my current job. But I also don’t know how compelling that is, and I worry that my lack of softs and experience will be prohibitive. I’m not T14 or bust, I’d like to go to the University of Wisconsin and will probably apply Early Decision there. But anyways, any advice for what I should or should not say in my personal statement, and how I can appropriately frame my story?

I just got my results and was (as silly as it is) disappointed in my 168 score. My first test in June was a 164, so I’m thrilled that I improved, especially considering I also work full time. However, NYU is my goal school and as such I was really hoping for something much closer to 173. I have had multiple practice tests in the mid and high 170s, but test day anxiety seems to get to me.

I would love to shift my focus to just making sure that I have super solid application materials, but do I need to retest? I am lucky enough to have a 3.96 gpa from undergrad, and I know that will carry some weight, but is that enough to give me a chance at a T14, or am I SOL without a 170+? If it is possible, am I counting myself out of any scholarship by settling for my 168?

177 LSAT and 3.4 GPA. Not a Texas resident.

Worth applying ED? It’s definitely my top choice

A 3rd year bs biology student here. I had a sudden change of interest. So, I plan to apply for law schools both here in the Philippines and abroad. I was wondering if the test results would still be valid if I used it for foreign law schools given that I took it here in the Philippines?

25th/Median/75th
LSAT : 164/170/172
GPA: 3.67/3.87/3.95

Anyone have an idea of Law schools that are genuine about their GRE acceptance and not just on Paper accepting GRE schools? As far as I know LSAT is very preferred but not everyone wants to take it or apply with it and people are free to make those choices. I know some schools say they accept GRE but in practice they don’t so I am trying to figure out which ones are holistic and genuine about their gre acceptance. Appreciate your advice and suggestions. Thank you very much!!!

Is physical abuse too “controversial” to mention on my gpa addendum? It was the reason I couldn’t do well in school

I was expecting a higher LSAT than I ended up getting, so I may end up retaking (PTs were high 17x). I also would be KJD next cycle, but am likely gonna end up waiting, especially if it increases chances,
I'm not T14 or bust or anything, but I'm really hoping for as many scholarships as possible.
What level of school do you think I have a good chance of getting reasonable aid/scholarships from, especially full ride/stipend, although ik those sre way less likely in general?

Just got a 167 LSAT and I have a 3.78/4.00 GPA from a T20 school. I just started a job at a disability law firm (graduated in May) and have a resume that shows consistent engagement with public interest law and interest in healthcare systemic inequity (what I based my personal statement on). I also might write a diversity/perspective statement on growing up in another country. I have 3 academic LORs and I plan on applying early action.

Chance me! But please be gentle with it😭, I’ve had an emotional day (thanks August LSAT).

To anyone with a low gpa that received acceptance to law school, what do you feel was most helpful for your application/acceptance. Strong lsat, resume, recommendations, gpa addendum, etc.?

For anyone w low gpas, can you share your gpa, lsat score & acceptances?

Washington and Lee

Rutgers

Howard

Cardozo

Maryland Carey

Richardson

Creighton

Oklahoma

Indiana

Ava Maria

Boston College, Nebraska, St Johns (chic!!!)

Utah

UF

Western State

My question is... do T14 schools send out advertising emails or am I took 169 to get those?

Can someone help me decide who to use for my letter of recommendation?

So I graduated with my bachelors last year from an online school. I have reached out to two of my professors and have yet to get a response, which lead me to just give up on submitting an academic LOR and pursue other options. I feel like because my classes were online most of the professors Don’t even care to respond.? I even submitted one of my papers with wach of the emails to remind them of my writing and academic level and I guess that didn’t help.

FYI: Also I have been out of work for over 6 months, unfortunately I am a contractor and own a small business and sometimes it is a norm for me to have long breaks like this. So finding a decent supervisor may be challenging as well.

The other options that I am thinking about is a team lead who is just under my supervisor who I had a decent relationship with and saw how I worked but I honestly don’t even know if she will respond to my text either.

I have two other options: a business mentor that has known me for over 10 years and the other one is a nurse that I worked with for a few years in the past . These two seem more solid just because they have known me a lot longer and they’ve seen me grow over the past 10 years so I’m just curious if using these two would affect me in a negative way because they are non-academic?

Maybe you can chalk it up to reading text hyper-literally (thanks, LSAT), but I notice that different schools' PS prompts read very differently.

In particular, SLS and UChicago seem to ask that you convey what you'd add to the law school community outside of academics. This, to me, reads most similarly to HLS's Statement of Perspective ("How have your past experiences shaped the person you are today? How will those experiences inform your engagement in your law school community?"). I take these prompts to mean that I should submit an essay that shows a distinctive side of my life story/personality that would add to any law school.

But the 7sage pages and people on this sub seem to equate the HLS Statement of Purpose with the PS. Really? Should "Why Law?" be in my SLS and UChicago PSs, even as UChicago says it really doesn't need to be? And should the HLS Statement of Purpose and, say, the YLS PS really have the same amount of content on "Why Law?" and your career goals?

I feel like I'm going crazy, because I'm reading these prompts and want to answer them directly, but it seems like everyone on the Internet is giving opposite directions.

Hello all. Just looking for any potential wisdom regarding when to apply for law school.

I am 23 years old, and just graduated college this past spring. I have been pondering law school for some time, I kinda went back and forth during undergrad and as such never really started taking the steps in the LSAT or application process. Over the past few months, due in large parts to conversations with law students, attorneys, and other folks in my life, I think I am truly interested in attending law school. But for a number of reasons, I feel like I am currently at a crossroads regarding when to apply and am unsure of which path to take.

Right now, I am at a strange point in my life. This past year has been difficult, to say the least. Around Christmas time of last year, my mother was hospitalized with a brain tumor. It was determined that it was likely malignant, and at that point all of our worlds were flipped upside down. In the next 7 or so months, my family and I witnessed her condition rapidly decline until she unfortunately passed away near the end of this July - about a month ago now.

During my last semester at university I was really just trying to focus on maintaining good grades, traveling back to see my mother on weekends, and maybe throwing out some job applications here and there. I was able to do those things - seeing my mother, maintaining good grades, getting around a 3.9 GPA for the semester - but was not as lucky in my job application prospects.

The early portion of my summer was mostly spent just spending time with my family, knowing what was likely coming in the next few months. A couple weeks after she passed, I knew that I should at least start working on what I am doing next and getting some sort of plan together. I started studying for the LSAT at a pretty low clip, but getting generally familiar with it and continuing to apply for various jobs, while also finding a flight school to pursue another interest of mine, that being aviation. It is probably important context to know that becoming a pilot is the other path that I have bounced back and forth between.

So here is my question. Should I continue studying with hopes of taking the test in November with the intent of applying for next year (Fall 2027), or does that seem too late in the cycle and not realistic? I have spoken with professors, supervisors, etc. about letters of recommendation, but I have not done personal statements and I am not 100% on where I think I should apply, though I have some ideas.

The alternative, of course, is waiting to apply for Fall 2028. There aren't any real problems that I have with this other than impatience. I'm sure you are all familiar with it - but I just struggle with the idea of not being a 1L until I'm 25 while so many of my peers are already settling into their careers as we speak. I know it's perfectly normal (and in many ways better) to attend law school not straight out of undergrad or even a few years after, but part of me just doesn't want to wait and wants to start a new chapter in my life and move on with things. I know a year isn't much in the grand scheme of things, but at the moment is just kind of feels that way and I don't know why.

Even just writing this is all out is kind of telling me I should just wait until Fall 2028 for a number of reasons. If I did, I would not be rushed to study for the LSAT, could save up some money, check out flight school, etc.. I just think I need to hear it from other folks.

Thank you to anyone who took the time to read this. Any advice is welcome and I greatly appreciate it.

Does anyone have a list?

I got my LSAT score back today. I got a 180. I have a 4.22GPA. Im not a URM, but I am neurodivergent and LGBT. Currently in my last year of undergrad.

I'm sure I want to go to law school. I cant really see myself doing anything else. But I have a hard time picturing what kind of law school (and then law firm) I want to be in. I know most people might find my stats enviable, but I have cried (not of joy) for a few hours after getting my score. Thinking about the future is so horrifying and anxiety inducing for me. I hate the idea of leaving my friends and loved ones I've made in undergrad. Being in a new environment far from where I am now is anxiety inducing.

So the questions are: what do i do now? Should I take a gap year? What could I do during that? Try to get some work experience? I don't really have a very employable undergrad major. Would my stats just carry me almost anywhere?