Which Law Schools Sit at Your LSAT Score? A Complete Band-by-Band Breakdown
One school reports a 175 median LSAT. Six sit below 150. Between them, 41 report 150–154 and 56 report 155–159 — where most applicants actually compete.
Which data year this uses
The band distribution is the 2025 entering class. The shape is stable across cycles, but the counts shift — if you are targeting fall 2027 entry, check your target schools' current median rather than relying on a band boundary.
The most useful question about LSAT scores is not "what do I need to get in" but "how many schools am I actually choosing from." The answer varies by more than most applicants expect. Grouping all 196 ABA-approved schools by reported median LSAT produces a distribution with sharp cliffs at both ends and a single school sitting alone at the top.
How to read these bands
Each school is placed in a band by the median LSAT of its entering class, not by its 25th or 75th percentile. A school with a 172 median might admit students scoring from 158 upward. These figures describe where each school sits, not where you would land. All data is from the ABA Standard 509 disclosures for the 2025 cycle.
The full distribution
Here is every school that reports a median LSAT, grouped into five-point bands, with the total application volume each band received.
| Median LSAT band | Schools | Total applications | Median GPA in band |
|---|---|---|---|
| 175 and above | 1 | 5,616 | 3.96 |
| 170–174 | 21 | 146,219 | 3.92 |
| 165–169 | 26 | 103,234 | 3.83 |
| 160–164 | 43 | 115,045 | 3.76 |
| 155–159 | 56 | 89,472 | 3.62 |
| 150–154 | 41 | 51,114 | 3.41 |
| 145–149 | 6 | 5,560 | 3.20 |
| 140–144 | 1 | 542 | 3.39 |
| Below 140 | 1 | 325 | 3.33 |
ABA Standard 509, 2025 cycle. 196 schools total. Median GPA is the median of the schools' own reported entering-class medians within that band.
Two facts that surprise people
Exactly one school reports a median LSAT of 175 or higher — Washington University in St. Louis. And the 170–174 band received more applications than the 160–164 band despite having half as many schools: 146,219 against 115,045. High scores attract more applications, not fewer.
Why applications pile up at the top
Average applications per school climb steeply with each band, and the pattern is close to exponential rather than linear.
| Band | Schools | Average applications per school |
|---|---|---|
| 145–149 | 6 | 927 |
| 150–154 | 41 | 1,247 |
| 155–159 | 56 | 1,598 |
| 160–164 | 43 | 2,675 |
| 165–169 | 26 | 3,971 |
| 170–174 | 21 | 6,963 |
| 175+ | 1 | 5,616 |
Averages are within-band, so schools at the lower edge of a band pull the figure down. The 175+ figure reflects a single school.
This is the part that catches people. Reaching a higher score does not reduce the number of applicants competing for the same seats — it increases it. The 170–174 band has 21 schools receiving 146,219 applications; the 160–164 band has 43 schools receiving 115,045. A candidate scoring 172 is competing against roughly 6,963 applications per school, against 2,675 for a candidate at 162.
What this means for a retake decision
Five more points does not open a larger pool. It moves you into a smaller group of schools that are being flooded. Our guide to deciding on a retake covers where the marginal return actually sits — and the answer is not where most applicants assume.
The two ends of the distribution
The single school at 175
Washington University in St. Louis reports a median LSAT of 175, with 5,616 applications and 1,065 offers — an admit rate of 19.0 percent. No other ABA school reports a median above 174.
A single school at a score is a fact worth sitting with. If your goal is a 175 median, there is one institution where that is the reported middle of the class, and it is not a school most applicants would name first. Use our score converter to see what a given score reaches in practice.
Eight schools below 150
At the bottom, the picture reverses: eight schools report median LSATs below 150, and they are not the schools most applicants picture.
| School | Median LSAT | Applications | Admit rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico | 139 | 325 | 61.5% |
| Inter American University of Puerto Rico | 144 | 542 | 50.9% |
| Appalachian School of Law | 146 | 732 | 60.9% |
| Southern University | 147 | 1,153 | 56.6% |
| Cooley Law School | 147 | 1,323 | 52.9% |
| Wilmington University School of Law | 149 | 273 | 52.0% |
| Southern Illinois University | 149 | 724 | 56.2% |
| Ohio Northern University | 149 | 1,355 | Not reported |
ABA Standard 509, 2025 cycle. Ohio Northern reports applications but no admit rate in this year's disclosure.
Two schools with almost no competition
Wilmington University received 273 applications for its entering class — fewer than a single mid-tier school receives in a week. Pontifical Catholic received 325. These admit rates above 50 percent describe schools where the constraint is seats rather than applicants, and the bar passage figures are correspondingly lower; our bar passage analysis covers what those numbers mean.
The middle is where most applicants compete
The 150–154 and 155–159 bands contain 97 schools between them — half the profession. This is the part of the distribution with the most options and the most competition per school.
Median GPA rises with band as well: 3.41 in the 150–154 group and 3.62 in 155–159, against 3.92 at 170–174 and 3.96 at the single 175 school. The two measures move together, which means a score gain without a GPA gain moves you partway into a different pool rather than all the way.
Check both numbers, not just the score
Because GPA tracks LSAT across bands, a 160 with a 3.7 and a 160 with a 3.95 are not competing from the same starting point. Most of these schools publish a 25th percentile that is meaningfully lower than the median — that figure, not the median, is what determines whether a specific file is competitive. Each school's page here lists all three percentiles.
Using this with your own score
- Find your band
Use the table above to see how many schools report a median near your score. One school at 175 and eight below 150 are very different situations from the 56 schools at 155–159.
- Then look at 25th percentiles, not medians
A school whose median is 165 was admitting students well below that. Check the 25th percentile on each school page in our school database, and count how many schools have your score inside their actual range.
- Account for application volume
In the bands above 165, average applications per school exceed 3,900. Budget more applications there, or accept that you are choosing among a smaller set of schools.
- Weight GPA alongside score
The median GPA difference between adjacent bands is roughly 0.10 to 0.20. A retake that raises your score without moving your transcript moves you into a band you are only partly qualified for.
The full percentile picture — where each score sits competitively — is in our LSAT percentile chart.
Questions we get asked
How many law schools have a 170 median LSAT?
Twenty-one schools report a median of 170 or higher in the 2025 disclosures, and exactly one reports 175 or above — Washington University in St. Louis. Adding that school to the 21 gives 22 schools at 170 or higher.
How many law schools are below a 150 median LSAT?
Eight. They report medians from 139 to 149, and their admit rates range from about 52 to 62 percent — though Ohio Northern did not report an admit rate this cycle. Application volume at these schools is low: between 273 and 1,355 each.
Does a higher LSAT mean more competition?
At the school level, yes. Average applications per school rise from about 927 in the 145–149 band to 6,963 in the 170–174 band. The 170–174 band received more total applications than the 160–164 band despite having 21 schools instead of 43. Higher scores concentrate applicants into fewer, more heavily applied-to schools.
What LSAT do I need for a decent chance at a good school?
It depends which school. Forty-one report 150–154 and fifty-six report 155–159, so a 160 puts you inside or near the range of most of the profession. Reaching 170 narrows you to 21 schools, which are the most heavily applied to. The score calculator shows which programs a given score reaches, and the school database lists the percentiles for each.
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 at 196 ABA-approved schools. Schools are grouped by their reported median LSAT, which is not the same as the score at which they begin admitting. Applications and offers are institution-reported totals; admit rates are offers divided by applications, and Ohio Northern University did not report an admit rate in this cycle. This article is educational and is not admissions advice.
Sources
- ABA Standard 509 Required Disclosures, 2025 reporting cycle — median LSAT, applications, offers, and GPA for 196 ABA-approved law schools
Figures reflect the most recent published data available as of October 27, 2026. Always confirm current policy on lsat.lsac.org.