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Statistical Profile of the Class of 2023

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Updated: 10/8/2020

3,626 applicants262 new offers221 new offers accepted84% yield on new offers208 matriculated57 graduate degrees5 Truman Scholars, 5 Rhodes Scholar, 2 Marshall Scholars, and 1 Fulbright Research Fellow10 AmeriCorps Members6 Teach for America Corps Members6 Liman Public Interest Summer Fellows1 Peace Corps Volunteer8 veterans and servicemembers (3 Army, 3 Marine Corps, 2 Navy)

49% women51% students of color24% first generation professionals11% first generation college students25 average age82 undergraduate institutions34 states represented7 countries represented14% directly from college41% 1-2 years out29% 3-4 years out16% 5+ years out

	LOW	25%	MEDIAN	75%	HIGH
GPA	3.50	3.85	3.94	3.99	4.33
LSAT	155	170	173	176	180

The Class of 2023 has collectively lived or worked in:

Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burma, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kosovo, Latvia, Lebanon, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Namibia, New Zealand, Palestinian Territories, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, The Netherlands, The Philippines, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and Vietnam. 

…and can read and speak the following languages:

American Sign Language, Arabic, Attic/Classical Greek, Bisaya, Cantonese, Dholuo, Esperanto, French, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Kichwa, Korean, Latin, Latvian, Malayalam, Mandarin, Marathi, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Shindzuani, Spanish, Swahili, Tagalog, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu.

For aspiring lawyers, attending Yale Law School is the unparalleled dream. Yale’s is the highest ranked, most selective law school in the United States, boasting renowned faculty members, small class sizes, an untraditional grading system, and a plethora of illustrious and powerful alumni, including two former Presidents, three sitting Supreme Court Justices, and many other leading figures in politics, academia, business, and media.

If you hope to add your name to the Yale Law School alumni list, you probably already know that you’ll need stellar undergraduate grades and standardized test scores, stand-out personal essays, and that little, mysterious, crucial something extra to be a competitive applicant.

This guide will go over everything you need to know to tackle your Yale Law School application, including statistics, a discussion of standardized tests, an overview of all the application components, and full-length examples of personal essays.

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Yale Law School programs
Most students looking to practice law will be interested in earning a Juris Doctor (JD) degree. In addition to its JD program, Yale Law School also offers a few other graduate degrees: Master of Laws (LLM), Doctor of the Science of Laws (JSD), Master of Studies in Law (MSL), and PhD in Law.

Yale’s JD program is what we’ll cover in this post.

Yale Law School also permits JD students to enroll in joint degree programs with a number of other Yale graduate programs, pending case-by-case approval. While students can seemingly propose a dual-degree course of study in any program that will complement their legal studies, most common are JD-MBAs or JD-MA programs in fields such as Global Affairs. If a joint degree program interests you, depending on the specific program in question, you’ll either need to apply to your non-JD program at the same time that you apply to Yale Law or you’ll apply during your first year of law school.

Yale Law School admissions statistics
With an incoming class size of around 200 students per year and a 7:1 student to faculty ratio, Yale Law School is on the smaller end of top-tier law schools, in a way that can make it seem like an even more elite club.

Here are some statistics on Yale Law School’s class of 2022:

Number of applicants: 3,284

Number of offers of admission: 263 (8%)

Class of 2022 incoming size: 227

GPA distribution and range:

25th percentile: 3.85/4.0

50th percentile: 3.93/4.0

75th percentile: 3.99/4.0

Range: 3.32–4.24

LSAT distribution and range:

25th percentile: 170/180

50th percentile: 173/180

75th percentile: 175/180

Range: 155–180

Though there is no minimum GPA or LSAT score for applicants, the lowest GPA and LSAT scores received by a member of Yale Law School’s class of 2022 were 3.32 and 155 respectively. Admitted students with very low scores likely have other aspects of their applications that are extraordinary in some way.

To get into Yale Law School, you should spend your undergraduate years working as hard as you can to earn top grades. You should also invest plenty of time in studying for the LSAT in order to aim for a score of at least 173, and preferably 175 or above. Remember that while it’s absolutely possible to get in with a lower score, 50% of successful applicants scored a 173 or higher.

Note: For the 2019-2020 cycle, Yale began accepting GRE scores in lieu of the LSAT.

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Yale Law School application
To apply to Yale Law School, you’ll need to sign up for the Law School Credential Assembly Service (CAS), which you can access online via the Law School Admission Council (LSAC). You’ll then submit your entire application online through LSAC.

In the 2019–2020 application cycle, YLS accepts applications between October 1st, 2019 and February 15th, 2020.

The components of your Yale Law School application are:

An application form

Transcripts from every undergraduate and graduate institution you’ve attended, submitted directly to LSAC

At least two letters of recommendation from former professors, submitted to LSAC (and no more than four letters of recommendation total)

LSAT or GRE scores (note: while LSAC will automatically report your LSAT scores to Yale, to submit GRE scores, you’ll need to designate Yale as a score recipient through the testing organization, ETS)

Essays:

Mandatory: law school personal statement (no length guidelines given)

Mandatory: a 250-word essay on “an idea or issue from your academic, extracurricular, or professional work that is of particular interest to you”

Optional: various addenda, such as a diversity statement or an explanation of unusual items that appear elsewhere in your application

While some law schools require dean’s certificate forms as part of their application, Yale only requires them if and when you receive an admission offer and decide to accept.

Yale Law School essay examples
In this section, we’ll go over how to approach writing each of the essays in Yale Law School’s application, plus show you full-length example essays.

Some general guidelines to keep in mind when writing your essays:

Focus on crafting the very best writing you can and make sure to proofread your essays for correct grammar and spelling. Since writing well is an incredibly important skill for lawyers, Yale’s admissions officers will absolutely be paying attention to how you write in addition to what you write.

Be sure to carefully follow essay instructions, including length guidelines. Going over a specified word limit will show you don’t know how to follow directions, which is not a great look for someone hoping to work in a field as intricate as law.

Yale Law School personal statement
When applying to law school, we recommend starting by writing a personal statement that you can later tweak to cater to every school to which you apply.

Here’s what Yale Law School says about the personal statement. Emphases are ours: “The personal statement should help us learn about the personal, professional, and academic qualities an applicant would bring to the Law School community. Applicants often submit the personal statement they have prepared for other law school applications.”

12 Hardest Law Schools to Get Into in the US

A law degree can open doors to a career that is satisfying and lucrative.

Getting into a high-ranking law school is very challenging. What matters the most when enrolling in law schools is your GPA score. Yet that isn’t the only thing that matters. In fact, a prospective student might have a great GPA score and still get rejected. Why?

Law schools receive thousands of applications from students with solid qualifications and GPAs. However, an institution can only accommodate a finite number of students. As a result, law schools filter students further by booking them for LSAT exams.

The LSAT (Law School Admission Test) is a common exam that provides the selection committee with a more objective way to judge a student’s aptitude for law studies. LSATs are designed to evaluate reading comprehension, verbal skills, and logical reasoning. The highest score one can get on the LSAT is 180, while the lowest is 120.

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With that in mind, it is safe to say that enrolling in law school may be more difficult than many people expect. However, some universities are easier to get into than others.

Data rankings in 2020, as compiled by Public Legal, show us those law schools that are most difficult to get into. Here’s the full list, in order of acceptance rates:

12 Hardest Law Schools to Get into
Yale University
The first on our list is Yale University. With an acceptance rate of just 6.9%, it’s no wonder that Yale is, arguably, the hardest law school to get into.

The median GPA score of a student enrolled at Yale University is 3.92, while the median LSAT scores is 173. Calculation of the score is based on students who seek admissions successfully and later enroll as full-time students.

In addition, when it comes to bar passage, Yale students sit comfortably in fourth place, with a rate of 98.3% for first-timers.

Taking all of these statistics into account, it’s safe to say that Yale is one of the hardest law schools to get into.

See the class of 2019 profile at Yale law school.

Stanford University
The second school on our list is Stanford University, with a slightly higher acceptance rate than Yale – 8.7%.

Surprisingly, students of Stanford had slightly higher GPAs than both Yale and Harvard. Stanford had a median GPA of 3.93 compared to Yale’s 3.92 and Harvard’s 3.9. However, the students at Stanford scored slightly lower in LSAT scores, at a median of 171.

See the class of 2019 profile at Stanford law school.

Harvard University
Harvard University is certainly one of the biggest names in higher learning. When it comes to studying law it tops the list as one of the best in the world. Getting admitted to Harvard law school is definitely an uphill struggle, given the fact that Harvard had a 12.9% acceptance rate in 2018/2019.

It had a median LSAT score of 173. Additionally, the median GPA score of a student enrolled at Harvard is 3.9.

Harvard law school graduates are, however, at the top of the list for the highest salary expected in the private sector, where they have a median starting salary of approximately $180,000.

See the class of 2019 profile at Harvard law school.

University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania law school has a low acceptance rate, at just 14.6%. However, even though the acceptance rate is higher than that of the top three on our list, it doesn’t mean they accept students with low scores.

The median GPA score was 3.89, whilst the median LSAT score was 170.

What’s most interesting about the University of Pennsylvania law school is the employment rate after graduation. With an employment rate of 94.9%, it’s at the very top of the list. As a result, it’s no wonder why getting into this law school is challenging.

Get more info about what it takes to get into the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

University of Virginia
One of the most important statistics in the University of Virginia’s law school is its bar passage rate. It ranks number one, with 99.0% of students passing the bar exam on their first try.

It’s not easy to get into though. Students at the University of Virginia had the same median GPA scores as those at the University of Pennsylvania, 3.89. Additionally, they had a median LSAT score of 169. The overall acceptance rate was 15.3%

Columbia University
Located in New York City, Columbia University is one of the more prestigious universities on our list. High tuition fees for full-time law students make it one of the hardest law schools to get into. Additionally, the acceptance rate for Columbia University is only 16.8%.

Interestingly, despite the low acceptance rate, the students of Columbia University had the lowest GPA scores of any school on our list, with a median GPA score of 3.75. However, the same doesn’t ring true when it comes to LSAT scores, where the median is 172. Columbia seem to place more importance on a good LSAT score than GPA.

Learn what it takes to get into Columbia Law School.

University of Chicago
Similar to Harvard, the University of Chicago law students are expected to receive a median starting salary of $180,000 working as associates in the private sector. However, unlike Harvard, the school had an acceptance rate of 17.5%, much higher than Harvard’s 12.9%.

In terms of LSAT scores, the median LSAT score of a student at the University of Chicago is 171, equivalent to that of Stanford University. Regarding GPA scores, the students had an impressive median of 3.89.

Learn what it takes to get into the University of Chicago law school

Northwestern University
Northwestern University law school had an acceptance rate of 19.3%, which puts the University at 8th place in our list.

Additionally, the median GPA score of a student at Northwestern University was quite high at 3.84. On top of that, the median LSAT score was 169. It’s easy to see why getting admitted to Northwestern University is difficult.

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
With a slightly higher acceptance rate than Northwestern University, 19.6% (compared to 19.3%), the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor is ninth on our list.

Interestingly, the students at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor had one of the lowest median GPA scores on our list, at 3.77. However, their median LSAT scores are slightly higher at 169, on par with the University of Virginia.

See the class of 2019 profile at University of Michigan law school

Duke University
Number 10 on our list is Duke University, with a 20.2% acceptance rate.

Students at Duke University had a median GPA score of 3.78, while their median LSAT scores were 169. An encouraging statistic of students at Duke University is their bar exam passage rate: 97.8% of students pass the bar exam on the first try.

University of California-Berkeley
Even though the University of California-Berkeley is near the bottom of this list, that doesn’t mean getting accepted is easy. In fact, only 20.2% of students get accepted, the same as Duke University.

Additionally, the median GPA score of a student enrolled in Berkeley was 3.8, while the median LSAT score was 168.

See the class of 2019 profile at Berkeley law

New York University
Last on our list is New York University law school. Due to its relatively lenient acceptance rate of 23.6%, it earned 12th place.

However, getting into NYU law school is harder than one might think. In fact, students enrolled had a median GPA of 3.79, higher than those at Columbia University by 0.04. On top of that, the median LSAT score of a student at New York University was 170, on par with the University of Pennsylvania.

With scores like these, it’s easy to see why New York University made the list as one of the hardest law schools to get into.

Determining Eligibility of a Law School

The above ranking of law schools in the United States is based on the acceptance rate, as well as median GPA and LSAT scores required. However, those aren’t the only things that matter when choosing a school.

There are other key factors, beyond the aforementioned, that influence the overall excellence of a law school, such as:

State and Bar Passage Rates – state bar and pass bar are common terms among law schools. The state bar is the institution that awards you the certification to practice law in the state. Each has its own pass rate. The bar passage rate is the overall number of students from that university who passed a bar exam.

S/F ratios (student-to-faculty) – S/F is a ratio that details the number of students in a class per faculty member. The better the S/F ratio, the less students per teacher and so the more attention you’ll be likely to get from instructors.

Employment rate – Once qualified, an individual can set up a law firm or serve as a private attorney, practitioner, and so on. However, it is important to have figures of previous students’ employment rates, to know the likelihood of securing a job after graduation.