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Here is how to get into Cornell law school, numbers first: it admits 18.2 percent, 838 offers on 4,608 applications, with medians of 173 and 3.92 and 25th percentiles of 168 and 3.75. Everything after that is strategy, and this page is the strategy.
18.2 percent for the fall 2025 entering class: 838 offers of admission on 4,608 completed applications, per Cornell's own 2025 ABA 509 report.
The easiest T14 admit by acceptance rate, with the highest large-firm placement rate in the country. That combination is the single best arbitrage in law school admissions.
Verified figureValueAcceptance rate18.2% (838 offers on 4,608 applications)LSAT 25/50/75168 / 173 / 175GPA 25/50/753.75 / 3.92 / 3.97Annual cost of attendance$118,364Median grant / share receiving$30,000 to 91% of studentsClass of 2025 graduates197Firms of 101+ attorneys65.5% (129 graduates)Federal clerkships5.6% (11 graduates)Employed at 10 months99.5%Top marketsNY 122, DC 17, CA 13CityIthaca, NYCar neededNoJanuary average low / July average high14.6F / 79.9F
Sources: Cornell's 2025 ABA 509 report (https://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2025-CLS-509-Report.pdf), its class of 2025 ABA Employment Summary (https://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Cornell-Law-2025-ABA-Employment-Report.pdf), and its admissions pages (https://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/admissions/jd-admissions/jd-faq/). Climate from NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals. Verified July 26, 2026.
The enrolled class tells you what Cornell actually takes. LSAT percentiles were 168 at the 25th, 173 at the median and 175 at the 75th.
A 173 clears the median and makes you numbers-competitive. A 175 puts you in the top quarter, which is where merit money conversations start. Below 168 you are under the disclosed floor and the rest of the file has to carry an unusual amount.
Moderately friendly.
GPA percentiles were 3.75 at the 25th, 3.92 at the median and 3.97 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.
Friendly. Cornell is historically one of the more splitter-tolerant elite schools.
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 175+ and GPA 3.97+Above both 75th percentilesApply early and negotiate; you are who the aid budget exists forLSAT 173-175 and GPA 3.92-3.97At or above both mediansCompetitive; timing and the essay decide the marginLSAT 173+ and GPA below 3.75SplitterLSAT carries the file; addendum only if the GPA has a real storyLSAT 168-173 and GPA 3.92+Reverse splitterRetake is usually the highest-value moveLSAT 168-173 and GPA 3.75-3.92Below the class midpoint, inside the rangeEverything early and flawless; expect little aidBelow 168 or below 3.75Below the 25th percentileRetake, then rebuild the list
Percentile anchors from the 2025 ABA 509; the readings are our framework, not published admit rates.
Friendly. Cornell is historically one of the more splitter-tolerant elite schools. Moderately friendly.
The disclosed evidence behind that: the GPA spread is 0.17 and the LSAT spread is 5 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. Cornell's 18.2% acceptance rate is the most forgiving in the T14 and it waitlists strong candidates it expects to lose.
91% of students receive grant aid, among the highest rates of any private law school.
The disclosed figures: a median grant of $30,000 reaching 91 percent of students, against a cost of attendance of $118,364. That puts the median student at roughly $88,364 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 $68,364 a year at sticker to close privately, our arithmetic.
Early decision: Binding, one round, January 1. Regular decision runs March 1 priority and July 1 final.
Interviews: Yes: invitation-only Kira online assessment, asynchronous, evaluative. Cornell states it invites applicants it is strongly considering for admission. It explicitly declines live interviews in lieu of the standardized online assessment as a matter of equity and fairness.
Scholarship effect of applying early: ED admits stay eligible: apply for aid before March 15 and you are considered for merit and need-based aid on the same standards as regular decision admits. The catch is sequencing, since the binding process requires depositing and committing regardless of aid notification.
Both lines come from the school's own admissions pages (https://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/admissions/jd-admissions/jd-faq/), verified July 26, 2026. Prior cycle only. FAQ says it was updated for the season opening September 1, 2025.
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.
Cornell wants to know you understand what Ithaca is. Applicants who visibly have not thought about three winters in the Finger Lakes read as flight risks.
Work experience: Neutral.
Serious, New York-focused, internationally diverse, and unusually tolerant of winter. Cornell has one of the highest international student shares in American legal education.
A tiny, gothic, deliberately isolated law school that funnels an extraordinary share of its class straight into New York BigLaw.
The outcomes: 65.5 percent into firms of 101 or more attorneys, 5.6 percent into federal clerkships, 99.5 percent employed at ten months, concentrated in NY 122, DC 17, CA 13.
For the daily texture see what Cornell Law is really like, and for the verdict see our honest take.
The fall 2025 enrolled medians were 173 LSAT with a 168 twenty-fifth percentile and a 175 seventy-fifth. A 173 is numbers-competitive; 175 puts you in the top quarter.
18.2 percent for fall 2025, 838 offers on 4,608 completed applications, per its 2025 ABA 509 report.
Median 3.92, with a 3.75 twenty-fifth percentile and a 3.97 seventy-fifth. The spread of 0.17 between median and floor is what tells you how far below the middle the school will go.
91% of students receive grant aid, among the highest rates of any private law school. The disclosed median grant is $30,000 reaching 91 percent of students.
Friendly. Cornell is historically one of the more splitter-tolerant elite schools.
Written by Ali, Georgetown Law, founder of Lovare Institut.
July 30, 2026
July 30, 2026