Columbia Law School LSAT and GPA: The Bands and What Sits Between Them

Columbia law school LSAT and GPA bands are 169 to 175 with a median of 173, and 3.85 to 3.98 with a median of 3.92, all from Columbia's own ABA Standard 509 report. The GPA band is the tighter of the two and the one more likely to decide a file. Verified July 2026.

What LSAT score does Columbia Law require?

Columbia Law publishes 169 at the 25th percentile, 173 at the median and 175 at the 75th. That is a 6-point spread across the middle half of the class; Those three figures are from Columbia's own 2025 509 report, retrieved July 31, 2026. Verified July 2026.

What the 509 publishesFigureSourceAcceptance rate11.8%https://www.law.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/2025-12/cls_std509inforeport_2025.pdfApplicants9,463https://www.law.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/2025-12/cls_std509inforeport_2025.pdfOffers1,120https://www.law.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/2025-12/cls_std509inforeport_2025.pdfMatriculants412https://www.law.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/2025-12/cls_std509inforeport_2025.pdfLSAT 25th / 50th / 75th169 / 173 / 175https://www.law.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/2025-12/cls_std509inforeport_2025.pdfGPA 25th / 50th / 75th3.85 / 3.92 / 3.98https://www.law.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/2025-12/cls_std509inforeport_2025.pdfMedian grant$32,000https://www.law.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/2025-12/cls_std509inforeport_2025.pdfStudents receiving a grant54%https://www.law.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/2025-12/cls_std509inforeport_2025.pdf

A median of 173 means about half the admitted class scored below it, which is the single most misread fact about a band this high. Verified July 2026.

LSAC publishes a standard error of measurement of about 2.6 scaled points (https://www.lsac.org/lsat-interpretive-guide/2019-2020), retrieved July 31, 2026, so a 171 and a 173 are not reliably different scores. Verified July 2026.

What GPA does Columbia Law require?

Columbia Law publishes 3.85 at the 25th percentile, 3.92 at the median and 3.98 at the 75th. That is a spread of 0.13 points; That GPA band is unusually tight, which matters more than the LSAT band does at this level, from Columbia's own 509, retrieved July 31, 2026. Verified July 2026.

A 0.13 spread means the middle half of the class sits inside an eighth of a grade point, our arithmetic on Columbia's own published quartiles, retrieved July 31, 2026. Verified July 2026.

A band that narrow is the arithmetic signature of a school with little room to forgive a GPA, whatever else the file contains.

Can you get into Columbia Law as a splitter?

Splitting is a harder route at Columbia Law than at most of its peers. Our master Admissions Playbook records Columbia Law as moderately unfriendly to splitters because it is index-driven, and moderately friendly to reverse splitters instead. Verified July 2026.

Our file records Columbia Law as moderately unfriendly to splitters because it is index-driven, and moderately friendly to reverse splitters (https://lovareinstitut.com/law-schools-master-2026), retrieved July 31, 2026. Verified July 2026.

The published bands support that reading: the GPA spread is 0.13 points against a 6-point LSAT spread, our arithmetic on Columbia's own quartiles (https://www.law.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/2025-12/cls_std509inforeport_2025.pdf), retrieved July 31, 2026. Verified July 2026.

A narrow GPA band beside a wider LSAT band is what a school looks like when the GPA is the harder constraint. That is an inference from quartiles, and we are labelling it.

Does the essay compensate for a below-band number at Columbia Law?

Less than at most schools, on our own file's reading. Our Playbook records Columbia Law as the most numbers-mechanical of the top ten; Our file's note is that you should write clearly and professionally, but not expect the essay to overcome an index shortfall, retrieved July 31, 2026. Verified July 2026.

Columbia publishes a personal statement prompt asking about your interests, goals and aspirations and how a Columbia JD helps achieve them, from its own instructions, retrieved July 31, 2026. Verified July 2026.

That texture is our compiled judgment rather than anything Columbia publishes about its own committee, and it is labelled as such here.

How many people actually get in at Columbia Law?

Columbia Law made 1,120 offers on 9,463 completed applications and enrolled 412 students in the 2025 reporting year, from its own 509 report. Where the master file and the data sheet differ on any number, the sheet is the source of record and the master figure is not printed at all. Verified July 2026.

That is an acceptance rate of 11.8% (https://www.law.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/2025-12/cls_std509inforeport_2025.pdf), retrieved July 31, 2026. Verified July 2026.

Our master file carries a class-size note for Columbia Law that our data sheet does not corroborate, so this page prints the sheet's figure instead: 412 matriculants for the 2025 reporting year (https://www.law.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/2025-12/cls_std509inforeport_2025.pdf), retrieved July 31, 2026. Verified July 2026.

What does a below-median LSAT cost you at Columbia Law?

Money, before it costs you admission at all. Columbia Law reaches 54% of its students with a grant, so a below-median file is competing for a share that just over half the class receives and slightly under half does not. Verified July 2026.

Columbia Law publishes a median grant of $32,000 reaching 54% of students (https://www.law.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/2025-12/cls_std509inforeport_2025.pdf), retrieved July 31, 2026. Verified July 2026.

Against a total cost of attendance of $119,944, a median grant covers roughly a quarter of one year, our arithmetic on Columbia's own published figures, retrieved July 31, 2026. Verified July 2026.

After July 1, 2026 the uncovered remainder is private credit rather than a federal loan, because federal borrowing is capped at $50,000 a year per Harvard's summary of the statutory changes (https://sfs.harvard.edu/changes-federal-student-loans), retrieved July 31, 2026. Verified July 2026.

Do interviews or work experience change the Columbia Law calculation?

Both are recorded in our master file and neither is a requirement. Columbia Law interviews by invitation only, by video, and not all applicants are asked; Our file records interviews at Columbia Law as by invitation only, conducted by video, and not offered to all applicants, retrieved July 31, 2026. Verified July 2026.

On work experience our file records it as preferred rather than required, and the supporting figure in that entry is not corroborated by our data sheet so it is not printed here (https://lovareinstitut.com/law-schools-master-2026), retrieved July 31, 2026. Verified July 2026.

Neither changes what the bands above require. They change what a file inside those bands looks like to a reader.

What our master admissions file holds on Columbia Law

Columbia Law is one of the 31 schools in our master Admissions Playbook, so this page carries its committee texture rather than only its 509 figures. The one line worth reading first is below; On the essay, our file records that columbia is the most numbers-mechanical of the top 10. Verified July 2026.

What our file recordsOn Columbia LawSourceSplitter postureModerately unfriendly. Columbia is index-driven.https://lovareinstitut.com/law-schools-master-2026Reverse splitterModerately friendly.https://lovareinstitut.com/law-schools-master-2026Early decisionEarly decision offered, binding, with a meaningful admissions advantage.https://lovareinstitut.com/law-schools-master-2026InterviewsBy invitation only, conducted by video, and not offered to all applicants.https://lovareinstitut.com/law-schools-master-2026Work experiencePreferred.https://lovareinstitut.com/law-schools-master-2026What the essay must doColumbia is the most numbers-mechanical of the top 10. Write clearly and professionally, but do not expect the essay to overcome an index shortfall.https://lovareinstitut.com/law-schools-master-2026Yield protectionModerate.https://lovareinstitut.com/law-schools-master-2026Scholarship posture54% receive grants. Hamilton Fellowship and Public Interest/Public Service Fellowships are full tuition plus stipend.https://lovareinstitut.com/law-schools-master-2026

Our file records no headline note for Columbia Law that our data sheet corroborates, so this page publishes none rather than repeating a figure the sheet contradicts. Verified July 2026.

Write clearly and professionally, but do not expect the essay to overcome an index shortfall. (https://lovareinstitut.com/law-schools-master-2026), retrieved July 31, 2026. Verified July 2026.

That texture is our own compiled judgment rather than anything Columbia Law publishes, and it is labelled as such here so you can weigh it accordingly. Verified July 2026.

What we do not hold verified on Columbia Law

1 fields this page would otherwise use: a why-school essay requirement. Each is recorded as not pulled in our data sheet rather than estimated, and this page publishes none of them; Every one of those is a real absence rather than a zero, retrieved July 31, 2026. Verified July 2026.

Naming the gap is the only honest option available. The alternative is filling it from a prep site, which is how a wrong figure enters a corpus and never leaves.

Where Columbia Law publishes any of these later, they belong in the sheet first and on this page second. Verified July 2026.

What should you do with the Columbia Law bands?

Place your own two numbers inside them, then decide whether you are asking Columbia Law to forgive anything. On our file's reading this is the school least likely to; Above both medians, 173 and 3.92, you are the candidate the grant budget exists for, retrieved July 31, 2026. Verified July 2026.

Below the 25th on GPA specifically, at 3.85, the tight band is the constraint rather than the LSAT (https://www.law.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/2025-12/cls_std509inforeport_2025.pdf), retrieved July 31, 2026. Verified July 2026.

Then price the residual and compare it against a school that reaches more students with aid. That comparison decides more than the ranking gap does.

Where every figure on this page came from

Every figure on this Columbia Law bands page carries a Verified July 2026 stamp because a dated stamp is the only honest way to publish a number that moves. Each source below was retrieved in July 2026 and is linked in full rather than named vaguely, so nothing here is modelled, averaged or inferred.

What it supportsSourceColumbia Law 2025 ABA Standard 509 reporthttps://www.law.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/2025-12/cls_std509inforeport_2025.pdfOur master Admissions Playbook, compiled judgment rather than school-publishedhttps://lovareinstitut.com/law-schools-master-2026LSAC on the standard error of measurementhttps://www.lsac.org/lsat-interpretive-guide/2019-2020Federal loan caps effective July 1 2026https://sfs.harvard.edu/changes-federal-student-loans

FAQ

What LSAT score do you need for Columbia Law?

169 to 175 with a median of 173, from Columbia's own 2025 509 report. A median means about half the admitted class scored below it. Verified July 2026.

What GPA do you need for Columbia Law?

3.85 to 3.98 with a median of 3.92. That middle half sits inside an eighth of a grade point, which is unusually tight. Verified July 2026.

Is Columbia splitter friendly?

Our master file records Columbia as moderately unfriendly to splitters and index-driven, and moderately friendly to reverse splitters. That is our compiled judgment, not a Columbia statement. Verified July 2026.

Can a strong essay get you into Columbia below the bands?

Our file records Columbia as the most numbers-mechanical of the top ten, and advises against expecting the essay to overcome an index shortfall. Verified July 2026.

Does Columbia interview applicants?

By invitation only, conducted by video, and not offered to all applicants, per our master file. Verified July 2026.

What to do next

Look at the GPA band before the LSAT band. At Columbia it is the tighter of the two and the one more likely to decide your file. The Lovare Diagnostic takes about fifteen minutes and returns your own numbers against published school data rather than a single probability, and it is free.

Written by Ali, Georgetown Law, founder of Lovare Institut.

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