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Here is how to get into Michigan law school, numbers first: it admits 8.6 percent, 770 offers on 8,982 applications, with medians of 171 and 3.88 and 25th percentiles of 168 and 3.74. Everything after that is strategy, and this page is the strategy.
8.6 percent for the fall 2025 entering class: 770 offers of admission on 8,982 completed applications, per Michigan's own 2025 ABA 509 report.
An 8.6% acceptance rate this cycle, sharply lower than prior years, and the school's numbers moved up with the market. Older tables badly misprice Michigan.
Verified figureValueAcceptance rate8.6% (770 offers on 8,982 applications)LSAT 25/50/75168 / 171 / 173GPA 25/50/753.74 / 3.88 / 3.95Annual cost of attendance$103,566Median grant / share receiving$32,000 to 91% of studentsClass of 2025 graduates343Firms of 101+ attorneys59.5% (204 graduates)Federal clerkships9.9% (34 graduates)Employed at 10 months98.0%Top marketsNY 112, IL 45, MI 36CityAnn Arbor, MICar neededNoJanuary average low / July average high16.2F / 83.7F
Sources: Michigan's 2025 ABA 509 report (https://michigan.law.umich.edu/system/files/2025-12/Std509InfoReport-2025-a11y.pdf), its class of 2025 ABA Employment Summary (https://michigan.law.umich.edu/system/files/2026-04/aba-employment-summary-class-of-2025-a11y.pdf), and its admissions pages (https://michigan.law.umich.edu/resource-center/special-application-circumstances). Climate from NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals. Verified July 26, 2026.
The enrolled class tells you what Michigan actually takes. LSAT percentiles were 168 at the 25th, 171 at the median and 173 at the 75th.
A 171 clears the median and makes you numbers-competitive. A 173 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.
Friendly.
GPA percentiles were 3.74 at the 25th, 3.88 at the median and 3.95 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 0.14, which is moderate, so a below-median GPA needs the LSAT to compensate.
Friendly. Michigan's 3.88 GPA median is the lowest in the top 10, which creates real room.
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 173+ and GPA 3.95+Above both 75th percentilesApply early and negotiate; you are who the aid budget exists forLSAT 171-173 and GPA 3.88-3.95At or above both mediansCompetitive; timing and the essay decide the marginLSAT 171+ and GPA below 3.74SplitterLSAT carries the file; addendum only if the GPA has a real storyLSAT 168-171 and GPA 3.88+Reverse splitterRetake is usually the highest-value moveLSAT 168-171 and GPA 3.74-3.88Below the class midpoint, inside the rangeEverything early and flawless; expect little aidBelow 168 or below 3.74Below the 25th percentileRetake, then rebuild the list
Percentile anchors from the 2025 ABA 509; the readings are our framework, not published admit rates.
Friendly. Michigan's 3.88 GPA median is the lowest in the top 10, which creates real room. Friendly.
The disclosed evidence behind that: the GPA spread is 0.14 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 to high. Michigan waitlists strong candidates it expects to lose.
91% receive grants, tied for the highest rate in the tier. Darrow Scholars is full tuition, and Michigan is aggressive with merit money to win cross-admits.
The disclosed figures: a median grant of $32,000 reaching 91 percent of students, against a cost of attendance of $103,566. That puts the median student at roughly $71,566 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 $53,566 a year at sticker to close privately, our arithmetic.
Early decision: Binding, one round, November 15. Decision by December 15. Incomplete ED applications roll automatically into regular admissions.
Interviews: No. Michigan states it does not perform evaluative interviews, and publishes its reasoning: social science research suggests interviews offer no information helpful to the decision-making process. Admissions counselors will meet applicants; those meetings are not evaluative.
Scholarship effect of applying early: ED admits are eligible for merit and need-based grants on the same terms as every other admitted student, though the aid decision arrives after the commitment.
Both lines come from the school's own admissions pages (https://michigan.law.umich.edu/resource-center/special-application-circumstances, https://michigan.law.umich.edu/resource-center/jd-admissions-faqs), verified July 26, 2026. Prior cycle only, and worse in places. Dated pages show the 2025-26 season with a February 28, 2026 regular deadline; the application checklist page still shows November 15, 2023.
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.
Michigan asks a distinctive set of optional essays and rewards applicants who actually engage with them. The school reads holistically and says so credibly.
Work experience: Preferred, not required.
Midwestern-normal in the best sense. Unpretentious, funny, geographically diverse, and heavy on people who could have gone to a higher-ranked school and chose Michigan for money and quality of life.
A great national law school hiding in a college town. Gothic quadrangle, unpretentious people, and an alumni network that behaves like a family.
The outcomes: 59.5 percent into firms of 101 or more attorneys, 9.9 percent into federal clerkships, 98.0 percent employed at ten months, concentrated in NY 112, IL 45, MI 36.
For the daily texture see what Michigan Law is really like, and for the verdict see our honest take.
The fall 2025 enrolled medians were 171 LSAT with a 168 twenty-fifth percentile and a 173 seventy-fifth. A 171 is numbers-competitive; 173 puts you in the top quarter.
8.6 percent for fall 2025, 770 offers on 8,982 completed applications, per its 2025 ABA 509 report.
Median 3.88, with a 3.74 twenty-fifth percentile and a 3.95 seventy-fifth. The spread of 0.14 between median and floor is what tells you how far below the middle the school will go.
91% receive grants, tied for the highest rate in the tier. Darrow Scholars is full tuition, and Michigan is aggressive with merit money to win cross-admits. The disclosed median grant is $32,000 reaching 91 percent of students.
Friendly. Michigan's 3.88 GPA median is the lowest in the top 10, which creates real room.
Written by Ali, Georgetown Law, founder of Lovare Institut.
July 30, 2026
July 30, 2026