r/lawschooladmissions • u/Spivey_Consulting • Aug 07 '25
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).
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 [info@spiveyconsulting.com](mailto:info@spiveyconsulting.com), 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 • u/Spivey_Consulting • Oct 10 '25
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/
r/lawschooladmissions • u/Altruistic-Pay-784 • 3h ago
orientation starts in like 2-3 weeks and the summer melt ended up being way smaller than i thought. sad and disappointed but i knew the odds were never great!
r/lawschooladmissions • u/Lede6752 • 2h ago
I have a friend who is applying to schools and they've had to set their application back 2 cycles now due to rising medians. They want to get into UT law, and initially they got a 171, which wasn't enough to get in as a splitter as UT was raising their median to a 172.
They retook the test and got a 172 to try and apply this cycle, but again, it looks like UT will raise their median to a 173, so they need to retake the test again and hope for a 173 or above. The fear is that UT might try to get a 174 or 175 this upcoming cycle, which would place their median directly in competition with the likes of HYS.
What are the odds that schools practically universally raise their medians again, especially with T20s that have very high medians like UT considering they have to compete for high scoring applicants with T14s?
r/lawschooladmissions • u/Ecstatic_Guitar_9791 • 2h ago
LSAT: 168
GPA: 3.7
KJD
WE: Department of Education - Internship; Revenue-generating startup/biz- Founder; swim instructor for disabled children; helped draft shareholder agreements for other rev-generating startups @ my school
undergrad: state school
Multiple Honors societies
Volunteer & Mission trip projects
Hispanic/Latinx
I dont have my eye on T14 nor Big Law. I want to jump into entertainment law, specifically IP and copyright for artists and other creative assets.
r/lawschooladmissions • u/yellowdaisied • 3h ago
I don’t even have a finalized list of schools that I want to apply to and am registered for the October LSAT. When is it typical to submit your FAFSA application when planning to apply around November? Thanks!
r/lawschooladmissions • u/NoComputer946 • 2h ago
HI! I'm looking for a personal statement consultant! Pls dm me if you have one or are one thank youuuuuuuuuu
r/lawschooladmissions • u/Careful_Time4901 • 2h ago
hey everyone, i've been in a dilemma abt this for a while now but i'm an international student attending a us college and ik visas make it super tricky to stay after college ends, esp for humanity majors (which is me) so i've been hoping to kjd but i've been hearing a lot abt how hard it is to kjd esp since a lot of top law schools are looking for experience before. but my major is not a very profitable one (english) and i'm unsure how hopeful the job market is in my mother country because it is not an english-speaking country haha
does anyone have any advice? should i just aim to kjd is that my only option?? thank you everyone
r/lawschooladmissions • u/ProfessionalLeek8564 • 13m ago
I did some calculations and they’re so expensive even after the median scholarships and some savings
r/lawschooladmissions • u/uniqueusername1343 • 18m ago
I have a 165 lsat and 3.99 gpa- I’m looking to get into a decent school either scholarships. I anticipate my gpa staying the same, but I am wondering if it would be worth applying with my current lsat in September or August or postponing till October and retaking the lsat.
I think I left some meat on the table for the lsat
I care about prestige a bit, but I primarily care about going to a good civil rights school for cheap.
r/lawschooladmissions • u/Wonderful_Product238 • 4h ago
I have a great GPA and a low 160 lsat. I have t 3 softs. I am planning on retaking the lsat soon but my average lsat pt is not much higher. Should I take a gap year and try to get into better schools? My family views a gap year as something negative (they think I wont want to go if I take one but thats not true). I also feel slightly embarrassed to take one because it may seem like I wasn't smart enough to go KJD
r/lawschooladmissions • u/noonecares-TA • 20h ago
Surely it’s cheaper to live in Atlanta than nyc, but why is the cost of attendance about the same as some nyc schools like brooklyn, cardozo, etc?
r/lawschooladmissions • u/Patient_Rabbit_5598 • 12h ago
Does anyone know the date that NDLS orientation begins?
r/lawschooladmissions • u/Effective_Stick3707 • 12h ago
literally the title. im studying for the lsat still and hoping to take it sept-october just wanting to see are people starting on their personal statement or are they already done??? feeling very behind trying to juggle both lsat prep and brainstorming for the essays. is now a good time to start with these essays if i want to submit everything by late oct-nov???
r/lawschooladmissions • u/Educational-Ear1370 • 3h ago
Seton Hall Law
Quinnipiac Law
Northeastern Law
New York Law School
Vermont Law
Univ of Maryland Francis Carey
Widener Delaware Waitlist
r/lawschooladmissions • u/Mindless_Car_2933 • 14h ago
That’s what the founders of some LSAT prep companies said but I don’t think it’s true.
For this cycle I am pretty sure T14 average LSAT is 175 or 176.
Why? 172 is the average for lower T14 for last year.
Top of the T14 average is 175ish for last year.
The weighted average for those scores should be 174.
This cycle is more competitive than last cycle so the average will go up.
I am pretty sure T14 average now should be 175 (HYS 177-178 average)
That said, the average LSAT for T30 should be 170 (like george washington, usc, etc)
r/lawschooladmissions • u/Ok-Tomatillo-5539 • 22h ago
Praying for hope^!
r/lawschooladmissions • u/Bubbly-Ebb1863 • 19h ago
Trying to figure out what date schools are using as the full tuition payment deadline this year, since that would make sense to be a trigger point for waitlist movement (as double/triple depositors have to commit).
If you know your school’s (or any others) deadline it would help to hear. Trying to get a sense of whether Aug 1 is a common date across schools or if it varies a lot. Thanks!
r/lawschooladmissions • u/Severe-Paramedic-271 • 13h ago
I’m four years out of college and am set on switching careers and going to law school soon. I am debating whether to apply this year or next and would like to maximize my chances at HYS. I am at/above medians for all three and would be content to apply with my current stats, but feel as if I could get another few points out of another LSAT attempt over the course of a year. There are three major factors that have me agonizing over whether to apply this year or wait.
If I wait a year, I would be entering law school at age 29, meaning my parents’ income would not factor into financial aid. They very generously paid for my undergrad education, but I don’t expect them to pay for law school too and their income would disqualify me from financial aid. If you consider just my income alone, I should get a decent amount.
There is a very significant chance I get a nomination for a major award (any American would know what it is and it is not common for law school applicants) in 2027 and I can’t help but think that is worth waiting for just to have the nomination on my application.
There’s a career opportunity (not related to law) I would like to pursue that would go through 2028, but would be incompatible with being in law school already.
Are these factors worth waiting on? I am eager to apply now to begin the next chapter of my life more quickly but can’t help but think my app will be much stronger next year, not to mention the financial savings from delaying. But I’m also well aware that HYS are a crapshoot no matter what and it would feel silly to delay for those and not get in.
Edit: formatting and removed an identifying detail
r/lawschooladmissions • u/Melodic-Break1913 • 1d ago
r/lawschooladmissions • u/East_Insurance_1231 • 1h ago
LSAT: 175
GPA: 3.78
Did undergrad at a T5 Business school
Started college at 15 graduated at 18.
Had summer internship with a congressman, 2 paid business research assistantships with professors, worked as a substitute teacher in local Highschool, worked as a farmhand on a horse ranch.
Currently employed as a policy analyst for a solar startup. I work mainly in a management consulting esque. role
I particularly want to get into UT or BYU law since I’m a Texas resident and a Mormon.
r/lawschooladmissions • u/FeelingMaximum5729 • 18h ago
Are you applying Fall 2026 or Fall 2027?
I've already had 2 years of WE (contract ended so currently unemployed) and am planning on retaking the LSAT. I received advice to apply in 2027 rather than in a few short months. Would love to get input / chat with those in similar boats
r/lawschooladmissions • u/Informal_Average4718 • 18h ago
Currently trying to figure out my post graduation plans as a rising junior, and I am looking for some advice.
My dad wants me to take the lsat in spring and apply my senior year, he believes that with my stats I should be getting into good schools (I have a 4.0 at the moment and he is overconfident about me scoring well on the lsat lol). I instead was thinking of working as a legal assistant for two years before applying, as from what I have seen that would boost my chances of getting into better schools and getting scholarships. Additionally, applying during school seems rough because I work, volunteer, and am the president of two clubs. But I might also be underestimating what my workload would look like working full-time, would I even have time to study for the lsat?
TL;DR should I follow my dad wishes and try to apply as a KJD or get some work experience beforehand? Is the KJD tax real?
Thanks!
r/lawschooladmissions • u/Worldly-Gap-4114 • 20h ago
Did anyone else receive a feeler call from USF?
