Law School with a Below-Median LSAT
If your LSAT came back under 160 — or under a school's median — you are not out of the running. Every accredited school admits students below its median every cycle. Here is what a lower score still makes possible, measured against real ABA 509 data.
Is a sub-160 or below-median LSAT the end of the road?
The short answer is no. The 25th percentile in each school's published 509 report is the lower edge of its admitted LSAT range — by definition, about a quarter of every class scored at or below it. A 155 or a 158 is not a wall; it is a different starting position. Admissions are driven by far more than one number, and a below-median LSAT simply changes which schools view your file as a match versus a reach.
"Below median" also sounds more dire than it is. A median is the middle score: half the class scored higher and half scored lower. A below-median applicant is, statistically, in the company of roughly half of every incoming class. For those students, the school weights the rest of the application — GPA, essays, experience, fit — more heavily. That is normal, not a rejection.
The number that decides more than your LSAT
GPA. Law school admissions run on two axes. A student who is below median on the LSAT but at or above median on GPA is a "splitter," and many schools weight the strong axis heavily — especially when the strong axis is the LSAT. The reverse is also true: a strong LSAT can carry a below-median GPA. The table below shows, for several reference LSAT scores, how many of the 196 schools you already meet or beat at the 25th percentile.
At LSAT 150: you meet or exceed the 25th percentile at 37 of 196 schools
These are schools where your LSAT sits at or above the bottom of their admitted range. Your GPA and the rest of your file do the rest.
- Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico25th pct 136 · median 139
- Inter American University of Puerto Rico25th pct 140 · median 144
- Appalachian School of Law25th pct 145 · median 146
- Cooley Law School25th pct 145 · median 147
- Southern University25th pct 145 · median 147
- Ohio Northern University25th pct 146 · median 149
- Southern Illinois University25th pct 146 · median 149
- Wilmington University School of Law25th pct 146 · median 149
At LSAT 155: you meet or exceed the 25th percentile at 99 of 196 schools
These are schools where your LSAT sits at or above the bottom of their admitted range. Your GPA and the rest of your file do the rest.
- Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico25th pct 136 · median 139
- Inter American University of Puerto Rico25th pct 140 · median 144
- Appalachian School of Law25th pct 145 · median 146
- Cooley Law School25th pct 145 · median 147
- Southern University25th pct 145 · median 147
- Ohio Northern University25th pct 146 · median 149
- Southern Illinois University25th pct 146 · median 149
- Wilmington University School of Law25th pct 146 · median 149
At LSAT 158: you meet or exceed the 25th percentile at 131 of 196 schools
These are schools where your LSAT sits at or above the bottom of their admitted range. Your GPA and the rest of your file do the rest.
- Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico25th pct 136 · median 139
- Inter American University of Puerto Rico25th pct 140 · median 144
- Appalachian School of Law25th pct 145 · median 146
- Cooley Law School25th pct 145 · median 147
- Southern University25th pct 145 · median 147
- Ohio Northern University25th pct 146 · median 149
- Southern Illinois University25th pct 146 · median 149
- Wilmington University School of Law25th pct 146 · median 149
At LSAT 160: you meet or exceed the 25th percentile at 148 of 196 schools
These are schools where your LSAT sits at or above the bottom of their admitted range. Your GPA and the rest of your file do the rest.
- Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico25th pct 136 · median 139
- Inter American University of Puerto Rico25th pct 140 · median 144
- Appalachian School of Law25th pct 145 · median 146
- Cooley Law School25th pct 145 · median 147
- Southern University25th pct 145 · median 147
- Ohio Northern University25th pct 146 · median 149
- Southern Illinois University25th pct 146 · median 149
- Wilmington University School of Law25th pct 146 · median 149
How to read this
"Meets or exceeds the 25th percentile" means your LSAT is at or above the lowest score that school regularly admits. At those schools you are in range on the LSAT axis. The sample schools listed are the ones with the lowest medians among those you clear — the most achievable entry points at that score. They are examples, not a ranking; use the tool below for your exact position.
See where your own numbers land
Enter your LSAT and GPA to grade yourself across all 196 schools — Reach, Match, Safety and Splitter — using the same published 509 percentiles.
What a lower LSAT changes (and what it does not)
A below-median LSAT changes which schools see you as a match versus a reach, and it can change scholarship math — some schools reserve their largest grants for at-or-above-median applicants. It does not make admission impossible, and it does not define your career: many successful lawyers entered below median. If your score came in below your practice average, our practice-to-actual gap analyzer looks at why that happens and whether a retake is likely to help.
Related tools
- Law School List Builder — full graded list across all 196 schools, with costs
- LSAT Gap Analyzer — why your score dropped vs your PTs
- LSAT Retake Calculator — whether you can still retake before your deadline
- LSAT Score Day Hub — every score-release date and the score-day playbook
- LSAT Registration & Scheduling Guide — how registration, scheduling and the writing sample fit the LSAC calendar
- LSAT Changes Hub — what changed on the test and what it means for your prep
- LSAT percentile chart — every score from 120 to 180
- Bar passage rankings — outcomes that matter more than entrance scores