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Here is how to get into WashU law school, numbers first: it admits 19.0 percent, 1,065 offers on 5,616 applications, with medians of 175 and 3.96 and 25th percentiles of 165 and 3.58. Everything after that is strategy, and this page is the strategy.
19.0 percent for the fall 2025 entering class: 1,065 offers of admission on 5,616 completed applications, per WashU's own 2025 ABA 509 report.
If you have a 172 or above and a mediocre GPA, WashU is likely to offer you more money than any other school ranked near it.
Verified figureValueAcceptance rate19.0% (1,065 offers on 5,616 applications)LSAT 25/50/75165 / 175 / 176GPA 25/50/753.58 / 3.96 / 4.00Annual cost of attendance$102,287Median grant / share receiving$48,000 to 94% of studentsClass of 2025 graduates273Firms of 101+ attorneys53.5% (146 graduates)Federal clerkships11.7% (32 graduates)Employed at 10 months98.5%Top marketsMO 52, IL 44, NY 33CitySt. Louis, MOCar neededYesJanuary average low / July average high23.8F / 89.6F
Sources: WashU's 2025 ABA 509 report (https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/AnnualQuestionnaire/GenerateIndividualDisclosure509Report?schoolId=88&year=2025), its class of 2025 ABA Employment Summary (https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/EmploymentOutcomes/GenerateIndividualEQSummaryReport?schoolId=88&year=2025), and its admissions pages (https://law.washu.edu/admissions/apply/jd-program-application/). Climate from NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals. Verified July 26, 2026.
The enrolled class tells you what WashU actually takes. LSAT percentiles were 165 at the 25th, 175 at the median and 176 at the 75th.
A 175 clears the median and makes you numbers-competitive. A 176 puts you in the top quarter, which is where merit money conversations start. Below 165 you are under the disclosed floor and the rest of the file has to carry an unusual amount.
Less friendly. WashU is buying LSAT scores.
GPA percentiles were 3.58 at the 25th, 3.96 at the median and 4.00 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 0.38, which is unusually wide and means a damaged transcript survives here more often than at peers.
The most splitter-friendly school in the top twenty by a wide margin. A 165 LSAT 25th percentile against a 175 median tells the whole story.
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 176+ and GPA 4.00+Above both 75th percentilesApply early and negotiate; you are who the aid budget exists forLSAT 175-176 and GPA 3.96-4.00At or above both mediansCompetitive; timing and the essay decide the marginLSAT 175+ and GPA below 3.58SplitterLSAT carries the file; addendum only if the GPA has a real storyLSAT 165-175 and GPA 3.96+Reverse splitterRetake is usually the highest-value moveLSAT 165-175 and GPA 3.58-3.96Below the class midpoint, inside the rangeEverything early and flawless; expect little aidBelow 165 or below 3.58Below the 25th percentileRetake, then rebuild the list
Percentile anchors from the 2025 ABA 509; the readings are our framework, not published admit rates.
The most splitter-friendly school in the top twenty by a wide margin. A 165 LSAT 25th percentile against a 175 median tells the whole story. Less friendly. WashU is buying LSAT scores.
The disclosed evidence behind that: the GPA spread is 0.38 and the LSAT spread is 10 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: Low. WashU wants high scores and pays for them.
Extremely aggressive full-tuition and near-full-tuition merit awards. This is the school's explicit strategy and it is the reason to apply.
The disclosed figures: a median grant of $48,000 reaching 94 percent of students, against a cost of attendance of $102,287. That puts the median student at roughly $54,287 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 $52,287 a year at sticker to close privately, our arithmetic.
Early decision: Offered with NO DEADLINE, and WashU says so in those words: 'There is no deadline to apply Early Decision.' The word binding appears on no WashU admissions policy page. Per the school's own podcast the mechanics are: not bound at application; after admission you receive a scholarship call and award, then two business days to decide; accepting means withdrawing your applications and committing, declining means reconsideration with the regular pool and no admission guarantee.
Interviews: Yes: live Zoom with the admissions team, evaluative, interviewer notes go to the decision committee. The structural fact that matters: WashU interviews EVERY early decision applicant, with the decision following within about two weeks of the interview. So the interview is a step in the process rather than a signal of being singled out.
Scholarship effect of applying early: ED is the aid play here. WashU describes the ED award as the strongest possible scholarship for that application cycle, and its scholarships page confirms ED and Variance admits are exempted from the December scholarship timeline that applies to everyone else.
Both lines come from the school's own admissions pages (https://law.washu.edu/admissions/apply/jd-program-application/, https://law.washu.edu/admissions/), verified July 26, 2026. No entry-year or cycle label printed on any admissions page, so its dates are cycle-agnostic and cannot be confirmed as refreshed for fall 2027.
Both get a page of their own: the full early decision terms and the interview format and prep.
Standard, but the scholarship application is where the real work is. WashU's merit awards are large and competitive.
Work experience: Neutral.
High scorers who chose money over rank, and they are open about it. The 175 LSAT median with a 3.58 GPA 25th percentile tells you exactly who this school recruits: splitters with huge test scores.
The most aggressive numbers-and-money play in American legal education, executed deliberately and very well.
The outcomes: 53.5 percent into firms of 101 or more attorneys, 11.7 percent into federal clerkships, 98.5 percent employed at ten months, concentrated in MO 52, IL 44, NY 33.
For the daily texture see what WashU Law is really like, and for the verdict see our honest take.
Our verified data layer for WashU is missing the early decision deadline and whether it is binding, neither of which WashU posts. Everything else on this page is sourced; that one item is not, so we have written around it rather than guessing. Confirm it with the admissions office before you rely on it.
The fall 2025 enrolled medians were 175 LSAT with a 165 twenty-fifth percentile and a 176 seventy-fifth. A 175 is numbers-competitive; 176 puts you in the top quarter.
19.0 percent for fall 2025, 1,065 offers on 5,616 completed applications, per its 2025 ABA 509 report.
Median 3.96, with a 3.58 twenty-fifth percentile and a 4.00 seventy-fifth. The spread of 0.38 between median and floor is what tells you how far below the middle the school will go.
Extremely aggressive full-tuition and near-full-tuition merit awards. This is the school's explicit strategy and it is the reason to apply. The disclosed median grant is $48,000 reaching 94 percent of students.
The most splitter-friendly school in the top twenty by a wide margin. A 165 LSAT 25th percentile against a 175 median tells the whole story.
Written by Ali, Georgetown Law, founder of Lovare Institut.
July 30, 2026
July 30, 2026