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The Boston University law school acceptance rate is 12.1 percent: 953 offers on 7,892 completed applications for fall 2025. Medians were 170 and 3.88, with 25th percentiles of 164 and 3.71. Here is how to get in against those numbers.
12.1 percent for the fall 2025 entering class: 953 offers of admission on 7,892 completed applications, per BU's own 2025 ABA 509 report.
A 12.1% acceptance rate at #24, and a private salary distribution running $205,000 at the 25th percentile. Both numbers are better than the ranking implies.
Verified figureValueAcceptance rate12.1% (953 offers on 7,892 applications)LSAT 25/50/75164 / 170 / 171GPA 25/50/753.71 / 3.88 / 3.93Annual cost of attendance$100,920Median grant / share receiving$29,000 to 91% of studentsClass of 2025 graduates214Firms of 101+ attorneys52.3% (112 graduates)Federal clerkships1.4% (3 graduates)Employed at 10 months96.7%Top marketsMA 106, NY 46, CA 9CityBoston, MACar neededNoJanuary average low / July average high23.1F / 82.1F
Sources: BU's 2025 ABA 509 report (https://www.bu.edu/law/files/2025/12/Std509InfoReport-18-12-18-2025-8-18-55.pdf), its class of 2025 ABA Employment Summary (https://www.bu.edu/law/files/2026/04/Class-of-2025-ABA-Employment-Summary-Page.pdf), and its admissions pages (https://www.bu.edu/law/admissions-aid/jd-admissions/early-decision-program/). Climate from NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals. Verified July 26, 2026.
The enrolled class tells you what BU actually takes. LSAT percentiles were 164 at the 25th, 170 at the median and 171 at the 75th.
A 170 clears the median and makes you numbers-competitive. A 171 puts you in the top quarter, which is where merit money conversations start. Below 164 you are under the disclosed floor and the rest of the file has to carry an unusual amount.
Moderately friendly.
GPA percentiles were 3.71 at the 25th, 3.88 at the median and 3.93 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 0.17, which is moderate, so a below-median GPA needs the LSAT to compensate.
Moderately friendly.
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 171+ and GPA 3.93+Above both 75th percentilesApply early and negotiate; you are who the aid budget exists forLSAT 170-171 and GPA 3.88-3.93At or above both mediansCompetitive; timing and the essay decide the marginLSAT 170+ and GPA below 3.71SplitterLSAT carries the file; addendum only if the GPA has a real storyLSAT 164-170 and GPA 3.88+Reverse splitterRetake is usually the highest-value moveLSAT 164-170 and GPA 3.71-3.88Below the class midpoint, inside the rangeEverything early and flawless; expect little aidBelow 164 or below 3.71Below the 25th percentileRetake, then rebuild the list
Percentile anchors from the 2025 ABA 509; the readings are our framework, not published admit rates.
Moderately friendly. Moderately friendly.
The disclosed evidence behind that: the GPA spread is 0.17 and the LSAT spread is 6 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: Real, driven by the BC and Northeastern cross-admit battle.
Meaningful merit aid, and BU will move against a BC offer.
The disclosed figures: a median grant of $29,000 reaching 91 percent of students, against a cost of attendance of $100,920. That puts the median student at roughly $71,920 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 $50,920 a year at sticker to close privately, our arithmetic.
Early decision: Binding, two named tracks that are opposites: Distinguished Scholar closes November 9 with notification December 18, and BU Bound closes February 1 with notification February 15. CONFLICT: BU's dates and deadlines page is a cycle behind and gives November 10; the ED page carries current-cycle LSAT cutoffs, so November 9 is the one to use.
Interviews: No. BU states it does not interview candidates for the JD program. No Kira, no video component, no evaluative conversation anywhere in the process.
Scholarship effect of applying early: The tracks are opposites and choosing wrong is expensive. Distinguished Scholar admits are named Distinguished Scholars and granted a three-year FULL TUITION scholarship.
Both lines come from the school's own admissions pages (https://www.bu.edu/law/admissions-aid/jd-admissions/early-decision-program/, https://www.bu.edu/law/admissions-aid/jd-admissions/application-instructions/), verified July 26, 2026. Current cycle, and the only unambiguous one in this set: the ED page accepts an LSAT through November 2026 for the first track and January 2027 for the second. Its own dates and deadlines page is a cycle behind.
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.
Both get a page of their own: the full early decision terms and the interview format and prep.
BU competes directly with Boston College for the same applicants and reads for genuine preference between them. Say why BU and not BC.
Work experience: Neutral to preferred.
Ambitious, urban, career-focused, and more coastal in outlook than BC's student body.
The other Boston school, and the one with the better Big Law numbers.
The outcomes: 52.3 percent into firms of 101 or more attorneys, 1.4 percent into federal clerkships, 96.7 percent employed at ten months, concentrated in MA 106, NY 46, CA 9.
For the daily texture see what BU Law is really like, and for the verdict see our honest take.
The fall 2025 enrolled medians were 170 LSAT with a 164 twenty-fifth percentile and a 171 seventy-fifth. A 170 is numbers-competitive; 171 puts you in the top quarter.
12.1 percent for fall 2025, 953 offers on 7,892 completed applications, per its 2025 ABA 509 report.
Median 3.88, with a 3.71 twenty-fifth percentile and a 3.93 seventy-fifth. The spread of 0.17 between median and floor is what tells you how far below the middle the school will go.
Meaningful merit aid, and BU will move against a BC offer. The disclosed median grant is $29,000 reaching 91 percent of students.
Moderately friendly.
Written by Ali, Georgetown Law, founder of Lovare Institut.
July 30, 2026
July 30, 2026