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Very few ABA-approved law schools admit JD students with no standardized test at all, since most no-LSAT paths still require the GRE or JD-Next. The exceptions are narrow waivers, often for a school's own high-GPA undergraduates or accelerated three-plus-three students. about 196 ABA-approved law schools. The table shows what they require instead.
By Ali Unar, JD candidate at Georgetown Law and founder of Lovare Institut. Last updated August 2026. Figures on this page were verified in August 2026 or point readers to the current source.
A handful do, but not many, and almost never as an open door for every applicant. The common no-LSAT routes, the GRE and JD-Next, still involve a standardized measure, so removing both tests leaves only narrow waivers. These usually target a school's own undergraduates, applicants above a high GPA line, or students in accelerated pipelines. Treat any claim of a fully test-free JD with caution until you read the eligibility fine print. see the linked source (see the linked source).
Where a school waives both the LSAT and the GRE, it substitutes other evidence of readiness. The table lists the main routes and who each one is actually open to.
The current ranking is best read directly from the source. See the U.S. News Best Law Schools list for the up-to-date order, and each school's ABA Standard 509 report for its median LSAT, GPA, and acceptance rate.
ABA accreditation standards have long expected a valid and reliable admissions test, and even the waivers that exist often require a substitute score such as the SAT, ACT, or GRE. Schools rely on a test because it helps predict first-year performance and bar passage, which the ABA also scrutinizes. That is why a true no-test admission tends to be capped, conditional, or limited to a school's own students. a test under ABA Standard 503, though a November 2024 variance now lets schools admit applicants without one.
Read each waiver's eligibility before you count on it, because most are narrower than they first appear. If you do not fit an in-house or high-GPA route, the GRE usually gives you far more schools than chasing a rare no-test option. A strong test score also protects your scholarship chances, which waivers rarely improve. see the linked source (see the linked source).
A wide range of ABA-approved law schools accepts the GRE, and for most applicants it is a far more realistic no-LSAT route than seeking a school that requires no test at all. ETS publishes the current roster, which spans top-ranked and regional programs and grows most cycles. about 128 U.S. law schools, including every T14 school.
Yes, most often by submitting a GRE score or, at some schools, a JD-Next result. Getting in with no standardized test at all is much rarer and usually limited to narrow GPA-based or in-house waivers. If you do not fit those, plan to submit the GRE rather than assume a test-free path exists. a test under ABA Standard 503, though a November 2024 variance now lets schools admit applicants without one.
It depends on your strengths, but the more useful point is that the GRE opens far more schools than a no-test waiver. The GRE adds quantitative math the LSAT lacks, while the LSAT leans on logic the GRE omits. Compare your percentile on each before deciding which to submit. the LSAC percentile tables (for example a 150 is about the 37th percentile, 160 the 71st, 165 the 85th, and 170 the 94th).
Verified August 2026.
August 21, 2026
August 21, 2026