Frequently Asked Questions

How can you gauge my chances based on my numbers alone?

There are two answers to this question: we can, and we can’t.

We can gauge your chances from your LSAT score and GPA because those numbers are highly correlated to admissions outcomes—and no wonder. Schools want to maintain high standards. Most law schools in fact set a target LSAT and GPA median, and some schools sort applicants into “presumptive admit” or “presumptive deny” piles based on numbers.

That said, an applicant’s background, recommendations, essays, and all sorts of other stuff (how many times they took the LSAT; where they went to school and what they majored in, etc.) affect their outcomes. Every school rejects some applicants with high numbers, just as every school accepts some applicants with low numbers. (“High” and “low” here are relative to a school’s medians.)

Thus, while your LSAT score and GPA make it more or less likely that you’ll get into a certain school, they aren’t completely determinative. In general, the closer you are to a school’s medians, the more your recommendations, essays, and other application material tend to matter. (We can help with that.)

How should I use the predictor?

First of all, don’t make any major life decisions based on this table! Use our Admissions Predictor to get a rough idea of your chances at different law schools. We categorize every school based on your odds and recommend that you apply to at least three reach schools, three targets, and three safeties.

How does the Law School Predictor work?

We analyzed thousands of law school outcomes to build a probabilistic model for every law school. To account for possible gaps in our data, we combine the output of our school model with what we call a “group model”—a probabilistic model for similar schools—to output our final estimates.

Where does the data come from?

Our data comes from self-reported outcomes on LSD.Law. We put more weight on more recent cycles.

Is the under-represented minority category still relevant?

In June 2023, the Supreme Court ruled in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard that race-based affirmative action policies are illegal, though schools can still consider an applicant’s individual experiences and background.

We found that in the 2023–2024 admissions cycle, applicants who self-identified as under-represented minorities still tended to receive a significant boost in outcomes—likely because their essays and other application materials conveyed how their experiences and background shaped them.

In short, under-represented applicants may still benefit in the admissions process if they can present their stories in their applications.

Data courtesy of LSD.Law.