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The Berkeley law school acceptance rate is 14.8 percent: 974 offers on 6,562 completed applications for fall 2025. Medians were 170 and 3.92, with 25th percentiles of 167 and 3.84; grants reach 86 percent of students. Here is how to get in against those numbers.
14.8 percent for the fall 2025 entering class: 974 offers of admission on 6,562 completed applications, per Berkeley's own 2025 ABA 509 report.
Berkeley fell out of the US News T14 for the first time in its history this year while ranking seventh nationally for Big Law placement. The ranking moved; the school did not.
Verified figureValueAcceptance rate14.8% (974 offers on 6,562 applications)LSAT 25/50/75167 / 170 / 172GPA 25/50/753.84 / 3.92 / 3.99Annual cost of attendance$108,562Median grant / share receiving$31,158 to 86% of studentsClass of 2025 graduates283Firms of 101+ attorneys62.2% (176 graduates)Federal clerkships6.4% (18 graduates)Employed at 10 months98.9%Top marketsCA 181, NY 48, DC 14CityBerkeley, CACar neededNoJanuary average low / July average high43.3F / 74.2F
Sources: Berkeley's 2025 ABA 509 report (https://www.law.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/archive/2025/12/Std509InfoReport_2025.pdf), its class of 2025 ABA Employment Summary (https://www.law.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/EQSummary-22-06-09-2026-14-41-04.pdf), and its admissions pages (https://www.law.berkeley.edu/admissions/jd/applying-for-jd-degree/). Climate from NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals. Verified July 26, 2026.
The enrolled class tells you what Berkeley actually takes. LSAT percentiles were 167 at the 25th, 170 at the median and 172 at the 75th.
A 170 clears the median and makes you numbers-competitive. A 172 puts you in the top quarter, which is where merit money conversations start. Below 167 you are under the disclosed floor and the rest of the file has to carry an unusual amount.
The friendliest reverse-splitter school among elite institutions.
GPA percentiles were 3.84 at the 25th, 3.92 at the median and 3.99 at the 75th. The 25th percentile is the number that matters most if your transcript is the weaker half of your file, because it is the disclosed floor rather than the advertised middle.
The spread between the median and the 25th is 0.08, which is narrow, so this school protects its GPA median hard and a low transcript is difficult to overcome.
Unfriendly. Berkeley weights GPA more heavily than almost any elite school.
No school publishes admit rates by score band, so this grid is directional and built strictly from where each combination sits against the disclosed percentiles above.
Your positionRead on your oddsWhat to doLSAT 172+ and GPA 3.99+Above both 75th percentilesApply early and negotiate; you are who the aid budget exists forLSAT 170-172 and GPA 3.92-3.99At or above both mediansCompetitive; timing and the essay decide the marginLSAT 170+ and GPA below 3.84SplitterLSAT carries the file; addendum only if the GPA has a real storyLSAT 167-170 and GPA 3.92+Reverse splitterRetake is usually the highest-value moveLSAT 167-170 and GPA 3.84-3.92Below the class midpoint, inside the rangeEverything early and flawless; expect little aidBelow 167 or below 3.84Below the 25th percentileRetake, then rebuild the list
Percentile anchors from the 2025 ABA 509; the readings are our framework, not published admit rates.
Unfriendly. Berkeley weights GPA more heavily than almost any elite school. The friendliest reverse-splitter school among elite institutions.
The disclosed evidence behind that: the GPA spread is 0.08 and the LSAT spread is 3 points. A wide GPA spread means the school routinely enrolls students well below its own transcript midpoint; a wide LSAT spread means the same on the test.
Yield protection: Moderate.
86% receive grants. Resident tuition of $62,532 against non-resident tuition of $76,149 makes California residency worth pursuing.
The disclosed figures: a median grant of $31,158 reaching 86 percent of students, against a cost of attendance of $108,562. That puts the median student at roughly $77,404 a year before interest.
Since July 1, 2026 federal borrowing for professional students is capped at $50,000 a year and $200,000 in aggregate with Grad PLUS eliminated, under the Reimagining and Improving Student Education final rule, which attributes the change to the Working Families Tax Cuts Act (https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/05/01/2026-08556/reimagining-and-improving-student-education-federal-student-loan-program-final-regulations). That leaves about $58,562 a year at sticker to close privately, our arithmetic.
Early decision: Binding, Nov 14
Interviews: Yes: invitation-only optional Kira video
Both lines come from the school's own admissions pages (https://www.law.berkeley.edu/admissions/jd/applying-for-jd-degree/), verified July 26, 2026. Terms reflect the most recently posted cycle; re-verify in September.
One caution for anyone cross-checking us against a secondary summary. Widely circulated write-ups of this school's early decision and interview policy are out of date on this point, which is why every line above carries the school's own URL rather than a citation to a compilation.
Berkeley reads for demonstrated commitment, particularly to public interest, technology, or environmental work. Generic corporate ambition reads flat here.
Work experience: Preferred. Berkeley's student body skews older than most peers.
Activist, technically sophisticated, and older than average. Berkeley draws both movement lawyers and Silicon Valley technology counsel, often in the same seminar.
The most ideologically distinctive elite law school in America, and simultaneously the seventh-best Big Law feeder in the country.
The outcomes: 62.2 percent into firms of 101 or more attorneys, 6.4 percent into federal clerkships, 98.9 percent employed at ten months, concentrated in CA 181, NY 48, DC 14.
For the daily texture see what Berkeley Law is really like, and for the verdict see our honest take.
The fall 2025 enrolled medians were 170 LSAT with a 167 twenty-fifth percentile and a 172 seventy-fifth. A 170 is numbers-competitive; 172 puts you in the top quarter.
14.8 percent for fall 2025, 974 offers on 6,562 completed applications, per its 2025 ABA 509 report.
Median 3.92, with a 3.84 twenty-fifth percentile and a 3.99 seventy-fifth. The spread of 0.08 between median and floor is what tells you how far below the middle the school will go.
86% receive grants. Resident tuition of $62,532 against non-resident tuition of $76,149 makes California residency worth pursuing. The disclosed median grant is $31,158 reaching 86 percent of students.
Unfriendly. Berkeley weights GPA more heavily than almost any elite school.
Written by Ali, Georgetown Law, founder of Lovare Institut.
July 30, 2026
July 30, 2026