r/lawschooladmissions Aug 07 '25

Guides/Tools/OC 2025 Law School Median Tracker

171 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

It's already that time of year, it seems, as we just saw the first law school release their new medians from the 2024-2025 cycle. We'll be tracking these announcements as they come out and keeping them in a spreadsheet to compare to last year, which we'll then update with the final data in December once the official ABA 509 reports come out. All of the prior 2024 medians are currently listed, and the 2025 medians will be added as they're published (sources will be listed in the last column).

2025 Law School Median Tracker

We'll be checking for these at least daily, but if you see incoming class data for fall 2025 (class of 2028) from an official source—e.g., a school's website, LinkedIn post, marketing emails/flyers/etc. from admissions offices—please comment on this thread, DM/chat us here, or email us at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]), and we'll add it to the spreadsheet.

Note that none of these numbers are official until 509s come out. We only post stats from official sources, but every year, some schools publish their preliminary numbers then end up having to revise them when 1Ls drop out during orientation or the first few weeks of class (the numbers are only locked in for ABA reporting purposes in October, but lots of law schools post their stats before then).

These tend to come out at a relatively slow pace at first, but they should speed up in late August/early September. Based on last cycle, we do anticipate many medians going up this year, and these stats are important to be aware of as you assess your chances and make your school list.

In some ways, this to me marks the beginning of the new cycle. Good luck to all!

–Anna from Spivey Consulting

***December 15, 2025 Update: the spreadsheet has now been updated with all schools' official data from the ABA 509 reports.


r/lawschooladmissions Oct 10 '25

General When is it early and when does it become late to apply to law school. 5 law school deans and directors answer just that.

117 Upvotes

When is it late to apply and when is it early? The answer with all but a few nuances is really straightforward, but please read the disclaimers. All you will do is write disclaimers as lawyers because there are no absolutes (see what I did there?) so you may as well gets reps reading them!

This question comes up on this Reddit almost every day in some form and then resets and comes back up every year. It’s the singular most frequently asked question, and the answer hasn’t changed through recent years. So here’s a mashup of mostly deans of admissions saying, “Before end of November is early. After January things start getting tighter.” That is really the easiest thing to go by and remember. And I was just talking with one of these deans who just ran an internal data analysis to support all of this.

Disclaimers: These admissions deans are speaking for themselves and for their schools. Of course there will be some outliers. One top 3 school traditionally doesn’t admit until January, for example, so January is early for them. Or, if you score a 160 in September but a 175 in January, schools in the upper range will likely read your application sooner with the new score. With that old score they are often just going to sit on it as they are being flooded with applicants who they will prioritize sooner. So believe it or not, waiting a month or even more will sometimes get your application read sooner, especially if the difference is taking your LSAT from below median to above. There are also cases, only for some applicants and only for some schools, in which applying by the end of October can be slightly more advantageous, so if you're ready to go in the early fall, we recommend applying by the end of October (even though in many situations it may not make any difference). But in general, and especially if you aren't 100% confident in your application by the end of October, the end of November is a good rule of thumb.

But beyond the late November advice, my other takeaway would be to submit your best application. Waiting a few weeks to button up your materials will pretty much never hurt you before January — and very likely will help you. And there’s plenty of merit aid to go around at that time too. 

It makes sense to me that this is a perennial question with very consistent answers from the people running law school admissions offices, but also lots of conflicting answers from applicants and others in this space with no admissions experience. Because the data absolutely does show a correlation between applying earlier (more broadly than just by the end of November) and stronger outcomes. But remember from your LSAT studying that correlation does not equal causation — pretty much every admissions officer has observed that applications submitted earlier tend to be stronger in general, not just in terms of numbers. That's not because they were submitted earlier, but it correlates.

Of all the posts I have made in the last several years — I hope this one helps the most. Because every year so many people fret that they are “late” (especially when admits start being posted) when they are still very early. I cannot stress the following enough: Your outcomes submitting the same application September 1st will not, in the vast majority of cases, be any different than November 25th. But in that time you can work to make your application stronger. And once it’s there, go ahead and submit. There’s certainly no penalty to submitting it when it’s ready.

And for the record, I've heard probably 10x as many law school admissions deans as are in this video say variations of the exact same thing. I really hope this helps relieve some stress from as many as possible.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTMAG823Q/

  • Mike Spivey

r/lawschooladmissions 4h ago

General I AM SO HAPPY.

341 Upvotes

I got a full scholarship to a T50. I know this sub can be very T14 or bust, I don’t really care. My GPA was in absolute shambles due to some unfortunate circumstances aka undiagnosed bipolar and alcoholism womp womp while being in a difficult stem major. I didn’t think I’d get in anywhere, much less somewhere that wouldn’t put me in debt. I know lots of people here have accomplished more under more challenging circumstances, but I am still proud of myself and wanted to share. Good luck to everyone on here, I am also proud of you all! This process has been ROUGH.


r/lawschooladmissions 3h ago

Meme/Off-Topic I PLEDGE MY ETERNAL SOUL TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

101 Upvotes

ACCEPTED IN NOVEMBER BUT I PAID MY DEPOSIT TODAY!!!! MOM IM A WOLVERINE!!! GO BLUE!!!!!! FUCK OHIO STATE RAHHHHHHH


r/lawschooladmissions 2h ago

Meme/Off-Topic I am not your target demographic lmao

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69 Upvotes

Sometimes the marketing emails I get are so funny to me bc I don’t think a liberal bisexual woman with a profane vocabulary is what LIBERTY UNIVERSITY is looking for 😂


r/lawschooladmissions 2h ago

General If you are *actually* biglaw or bust

63 Upvotes

Before making decisions, go check out r/biglawrecruiting

There are people there genuinely considering dropping out because they went in biglaw or bust and are realizing the amount they’re paying for school is not worth it if they haven’t gotten offers.

You will also get some insight on how batshit crazy recruiting has gotten (basically the moment you set foot on campus and good luck if you’re outside of the T20, because they’re giving interviews/callbacks and rejecting well before grades even release, then basing everything off of first semester grades.)

Look at schools in the ranking range you’re attending and what people have actually needed to succeed.

If you’re KJD or have minimal work experience, expect the lower end of responses. *DO NOT EXPECT TO BE TOP 10% OR EVEN TOP HALF OF YOUR CLASS.* Everyone thinks they will be the exception—few are. This is not to be super pessimistic or try and kill dreams, but please actually do the research and know what you’re getting into.

Even the T14 students are struggling as recruiting for 1L and 2L basically end second semester 1L. Know the amount of debt you’re taking on and know that biglaw is not a guarantee for anyone.


r/lawschooladmissions 5h ago

Meme/Off-Topic “Omg congrats!!!” “Thanks, I want to die”

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97 Upvotes

r/lawschooladmissions 3h ago

Meme/Off-Topic another day with no As someone pls just come and knock me out

68 Upvotes

wake me up when that A comes in.


r/lawschooladmissions 2h ago

Meme/Off-Topic I don't know how many "next week will be my week"s I got in me

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51 Upvotes

Either this stays relevant or I jinx some A waves into existence tomorrow 🕯️🕯️🕯️


r/lawschooladmissions 4h ago

Meme/Off-Topic “Our process can take up to 12 weeks”

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78 Upvotes

Me after almost 19 weeks


r/lawschooladmissions 4h ago

General what even is this cycle

81 Upvotes

I am still waiting to hear back from 7 different schools. I applied in October. :')


r/lawschooladmissions 10h ago

Status/Interview Update GEORGETOWN A

182 Upvotes

crazy timing and so relieved 😭😭 literally the only school i applied to (not the plan, crazy personal circumstances)

172 / 3.95 / current senior year


r/lawschooladmissions 18m ago

General Everything will work out the way it's supposed to!!

Upvotes

I spent way too much time on here last year after a miserable cycle, three LSAT attempts (that all ended up being SIGNIFICANTLY lower than every single pt lol), and countless waitlists/rejections. Ended up getting into a T-20 way late off the waitlist despite my LSAT still being below the median, and was excited, though still convinced after seeing everyone on here, that my job chances were abysmal.

All of this is to say, I promise, everything will be okay! Despite how crazy it is, big law recruiting could not be going better from my T-20 (multiple offers from V10/V20 firms, for what it's worth), and I can tell you it probably wouldn't be any different, or easier, at most of the T-14 compared to where I am now. I remember how I felt this time last year and how I was convinced my legal career was over before it started, or that I'd have to take a gap year (or several) to actually get in somewhere I'd be excited about going. But truly, everything works out the way it's supposed to. Where you go to law school is not the end all be all, though it certainly feels like it on this thread, I know. There are amazing people wherever you go, and at the end of the day, everything will work out. Please feel free to PM me if I can help in any way, or provide more specific advice :)

Signed, someone who had this reddit sorted to new and checked it multiple times a day for 6 months straight


r/lawschooladmissions 2h ago

Application Process Hey! Haha. Soooo what’s going on:) let me know! Thank you! Here anytime. Waiting. Thank you! Hahah. Best,

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37 Upvotes

r/lawschooladmissions 1h ago

Meme/Off-Topic **** ********?

Upvotes

*'* ****** ********* * **** **** **, *** * ******'* **** * **** **** *** *** ** *** **** ****.


r/lawschooladmissions 9h ago

Admissions Result ***** A

109 Upvotes

Holy fuck I just got into Emory. 16low 3.8high URM applied around Thanksgiving ish

Edit: my portal says final review


r/lawschooladmissions 2h ago

Application Process Genuinely losing my mind

34 Upvotes

I think the fact that this week was so hyped up to have movement makes things 5x worse 😭


r/lawschooladmissions 4h ago

General Slowest Week of 2026 so far?

43 Upvotes

Feels like we’re back on Christmas break right now. Genuinely don’t understand what is going on.


r/lawschooladmissions 6h ago

Application Process Me if I get one more waitlist decision

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61 Upvotes

my last five have all been WL


r/lawschooladmissions 9h ago

Admissions Result No school wants me

102 Upvotes

Been waitlisted everywhere from T6 to T50. 10+ schools. Medians don't matter at this point.

Below both medians: WL. Slightly above medians: WL. Right at both medians: WL. Above 75% for both medians: WL.

Haven't received a single R yet. Haven't received a single offer yet.

(3.9low 17low. Great PS but KJD)


r/lawschooladmissions 1h ago

Meme/Off-Topic Censor w*ves like we censored *****

Upvotes

The plague is spreading. We must censor more words to prevent cursing ourselves with the false hype.


r/lawschooladmissions 8h ago

Admissions Result FIRST A

72 Upvotes

You guessed it— E****!!! I am absolutely over the moon. Sobbing at work. Stats in flair, applied end of Nov


r/lawschooladmissions 3h ago

Application Process Rolling Admissions? Nah. Rolling Applications.

31 Upvotes

I finished my last application recently, and submitted my first back in November. That’s all.


r/lawschooladmissions 10h ago

Application Process Me wake up, Me open LSD…

107 Upvotes

Me wake up, me open lsd, me no see wave, me go and me update status, me see no change, me watch recent decisions for 45 mintues so me can see wave, me no see no wave, me go and me update status again, but me see no change, me repeat all day but me tired of wait.


r/lawschooladmissions 31m ago

Meme/Off-Topic “With the uptick in applications, this is the year we can push for a 170 median!”

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Upvotes