How Many Schools You Can Realistically Reach, by LSAT Band
At a 152 median only 2 schools admit 30 percent or fewer applicants. At 172, that number is 21. Your list size is decided by your band, not your ambition.
How many law schools to apply to has a conventional answer: somewhere between ten and twenty. That advice assumes a score near the middle of the distribution. It does not hold for most applicants, because the number of schools you can realistically be admitted to varies by a factor of ten depending on your band.
This is the arithmetic behind that variation, using 2025 disclosures. It is a companion to our guide to application volume, which covers the strategic side; this one covers the mechanical constraint.
What "reachable" means here
A school is counted as reachable if its reported acceptance rate is 30 percent or lower — selective enough that admission is a real possibility rather than a formality. This is a rough filter, not a prediction: it ignores your specific LSAT, GPA, and the strength of your application beyond numbers. Use the score calculator for an individual read.
The arithmetic by band
Grouping schools by median LSAT and counting how many in each group are genuinely selective reveals the constraint.
| Median LSAT band | Schools in band | Median admit rate | Selective schools (≤30%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 145–149 | 6 | 56.2% | 0 |
| 150–154 | 41 | 53.2% | 2 |
| 155–159 | 56 | 41.4% | 6 |
| 160–164 | 43 | 29.9% | 22 |
| 165–169 | 26 | 19.8% | 24 |
| 170–174 | 21 | 12.3% | 21 |
ABA Standard 509, 2025 cycle. "Selective" counts schools in the band whose acceptance rate is 30 percent or lower.
The number that should shape your list
An applicant with a 152 median has two genuinely selective schools in range. An applicant with a 172 median has twenty-one. Everything else — how many applications to send, whether to add reach schools, when to submit — follows from that count, not from a rule of thumb about list size.
Why the middle bands are hardest
The 155–159 band contains 56 schools, more than any other, and a median admit rate of 41.4 percent. It is the most crowded place in the distribution — and only 6 of those 56 are selective enough to be a real target.
This produces an uncomfortable position. An applicant with a 157 median is statistically better positioned than a 162 applicant, because there are six selective schools in reach rather than none — but the absolute number is still small, and the schools that count are heavily applied to.
| LSAT band | Median applications per school | What that means for one school |
|---|---|---|
| 150–154 | 951 | A single school receives fewer than 1,000 applications |
| 155–159 | 1,353 | Roughly one application per school seat |
| 160–164 | 2,267 | Two to three applications per seat |
| 165–169 | 3,459 | Three to four per seat |
| 170–174 | 6,581 | Six to seven per seat |
Median total applications received by schools reporting a median LSAT in each band. Per-seat ratios are illustrative — entering class sizes vary.
Higher scores compete against more applicants
This is the part that counters the intuition built into the retake conversation. Moving from the 150–154 band to the 170–174 band does not move you into a larger pool. It moves you into a pool where each school receives roughly seven times as many applications. Our score band analysis covers this in detail.
Turning the count into a list
- Count your realistic options first
Use the table above to establish how many selective schools exist in your band. That is your ceiling, before considering whether you are competitive at any of them.
- Then narrow by percentile, not median
A school with a 165 median admits students well below that. The number of schools whose 25th percentile you clear is usually several times larger than the count of selective schools. Both numbers matter: one is your reach, the other is your realistic range.
- Build the list from the overlap
A workable list is mostly schools in the overlap between the band you can reach numerically and the schools whose stated preferences you can meet. Each school's page in our school database lists all three percentiles.
- Add a few above your range, but count them
Reach applications are worth a small number, not a large one. Ten applications where seven are plausible and three are genuine reaches is a different proposition from three plausible and seven unlikely.
- Watch the cost
Every additional school costs $45 for the CAS report plus the application fee. Our cost analysis covers why the marginal school on a long list is often not worth it.
One caution on all of this: band-level figures describe schools, not applicants. Two people with identical LSAT medians have different realistic options depending on where their own scores sit relative to each school's percentiles, and on everything a number cannot capture. Treat these counts as a constraint to plan against, not a probability.
Questions we get asked
How many law schools should I apply to with a 160 LSAT?
With a median of 160 you fall in the 160–164 band, where 43 schools report a median in that range and 22 of them admit 30 percent or fewer applicants. That 22 is the realistic ceiling for selective applications. Schools whose 25th percentile sits below your score expand that considerably — check each school's page rather than working from the band alone.
Is it harder to get into law school with a higher score?
At the school level, more so. Median applications per school rise from 951 in the 150–154 band to 6,581 in the 170–174 band. A higher score moves you into fewer but more heavily applied-to schools, which is why retake decisions should be made on where you sit relative to each school's percentiles rather than on the raw score.
What if my score is below my target school's median?
The median is not the cutoff — the 25th percentile is roughly what a selective school admits. Plenty of applicants below a school's median are admitted, and plenty above it are not. Use the percentiles, then read what the school says it values.
Should I add more reach schools if my list feels short?
Only if the additional schools are ones you would genuinely attend. Each application costs $45 for the CAS report plus the school fee, and a reach application with weak credentials can dilute a list without adding much probability. Our application volume guide covers the strategic tradeoffs.
How much does the LSAT cost, and can I take it more than once?
Registration is $253 for the 2026–2027 testing year and includes LSAT Argumentative Writing. LSAC limits sittings to five within the current reportable score period and seven over a lifetime, with no per-year cap; cancelled scores count toward both limits. Need-based fee waivers cover registration for eligible applicants, and a Tier 1 waiver can cover up to two LSATs within the waiver period.
All figures come from the ABA Standard 509 Required Disclosures for the 2025 reporting cycle and describe the fall 2025 entering class. Schools are grouped by reported median LSAT; "selective" is defined here as a self-reported acceptance rate of 30 percent or lower, which is a planning filter rather than a prediction about any applicant. Coverage is incomplete for schools not reporting both figures. This article is educational and is not admissions advice.
Sources
- ABA Standard 509 Required Disclosures, 2025 reporting cycle — applications, offers, and acceptance rates for 196 ABA-approved law schools
Figures reflect the most recent published data available as of October 26, 2026. Always confirm current policy on lsat.lsac.org.