Yale Law School has been named the choosiest law school based on acceptance rates and median LSAT scores for fall 2022 by the American Bar Association (ABA) admissions data. However, Yale Law School is placed in a tie with the University of Virginia School of Law and the Washington University School of Law in St. Louis for second place in terms of median undergraduate grade-point average for its fall 2022 admittees, according to Paul L. Caron, dean of the Pepperdine University Rick J. Caruso School of Law. Yale Law’s undergraduate GPA was 3.94, and the University of Alabama School of Law was ranked No. 1 for the highest median undergraduate grade point average, with a 2022 median undergrad GPA of 3.95.
The top five law schools ranked by median LSAT scores are Yale Law (175), Harvard Law School (174), the University of Chicago Law School, Columbia Law School, and Stanford Law School (173), with Yale Law coming out on top. In terms of acceptance rate, Yale Law was also ranked the top choice among law schools, with an acceptance rate of (5.72%), followed by Stanford Law (6.88%), the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (9.74%), Harvard Law (10.06%), and the Boston College Law School (10.16%).
The TaxProf Blog reported that U.S. News & World Report is revising its rankings system as most of the top law schools stopped providing data to the publication. The law schools’ decision was partly because of concerns that the rankings system discourages support for public-interest careers. The new U.S. News & World Report rankings system will include acceptance rates, median undergraduate GPA, and median LSAT scores. Acceptance rate will count for 1%, median undergraduate GPA for 8.75%, and median LSAT scores for 11.25%.
Using the above weights and a Z score calculation to standardize data and approximate U.S. News & World Report’s methodology, the TaxProf Blog combined the rankings to create the top 14 law schools based on admissions data. The top 14 law schools are:
- Yale Law School
- Harvard Law School
- Stanford Law School
- The Washington University School of Law in St. Louis
- The University of Virginia School of Law
- The University of Chicago Law School
- The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School
- The University of California at Los Angeles School of Law
- Columbia Law School
- The Vanderbilt University Law School
- The Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law
- The New York University School of Law
- Cornell Law School
- The University of Florida Fredric G. Levin College of Law
Overall, Yale Law School was ranked the highest based on admissions data by the ABA and the TaxProf Blog. However, it is important to note that law school rankings are constantly changing, and they are not the only factors that should be considered when choosing a law school. Prospective students should also consider the school’s location, faculty, curriculum, and career services.
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Which law schools are choosiest? Washington University is in top five, while Yale is mostly No. 1
