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The Penn Carey law school acceptance rate is 8.1 percent: 650 offers on 8,074 completed applications for fall 2025. Medians were 173 and 3.95, with 25th percentiles of 167 and 3.77. Here is how to get in against those numbers.
8.1 percent for the fall 2025 entering class: 650 offers of admission on 8,074 completed applications, per Penn's own 2025 ABA 509 report.
An 8.1% acceptance rate makes Penn statistically harder than Harvard and Chicago this cycle.
Verified figureValueAcceptance rate8.1% (650 offers on 8,074 applications)LSAT 25/50/75167 / 173 / 174GPA 25/50/753.77 / 3.95 / 4.00Annual cost of attendance$120,294Median grant / share receiving$42,246 to 59% of studentsClass of 2025 graduates252Firms of 101+ attorneys71.4% (180 graduates)Federal clerkships7.9% (20 graduates)Employed at 10 months100.0%Top marketsNY 104, PA 44, DC 29CityPhiladelphia, PACar neededNoJanuary average low / July average high26.0F / 87.8F
Sources: Penn's 2025 ABA 509 report (https://www.law.upenn.edu/live/files/5191-aba-509), its class of 2025 ABA Employment Summary (https://www.law.upenn.edu/live/files/13757-class-of-2025-aba-employment-report), and its admissions pages (https://www.law.upenn.edu/admissions/how-to-apply.php). Climate from NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals. Verified July 26, 2026.
The enrolled class tells you what Penn actually takes. LSAT percentiles were 167 at the 25th, 173 at the median and 174 at the 75th.
A 173 clears the median and makes you numbers-competitive. A 174 puts you in the top quarter, which is where merit money conversations start. Below 167 you are under the disclosed floor and the rest of the file has to carry an unusual amount.
Friendly. Penn is one of the better reverse-splitter schools in the tier.
GPA percentiles were 3.77 at the 25th, 3.95 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 0.18, which is moderate, so a below-median GPA needs the LSAT to compensate.
Unfriendly. Penn weights GPA more heavily than most of the T14.
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 174+ and GPA 4.00+Above both 75th percentilesApply early and negotiate; you are who the aid budget exists forLSAT 173-174 and GPA 3.95-4.00At or above both mediansCompetitive; timing and the essay decide the marginLSAT 173+ and GPA below 3.77SplitterLSAT carries the file; addendum only if the GPA has a real storyLSAT 167-173 and GPA 3.95+Reverse splitterRetake is usually the highest-value moveLSAT 167-173 and GPA 3.77-3.95Below the class midpoint, inside the rangeEverything early and flawless; expect little aidBelow 167 or below 3.77Below the 25th percentileRetake, then rebuild the list
Percentile anchors from the 2025 ABA 509; the readings are our framework, not published admit rates.
Unfriendly. Penn weights GPA more heavily than most of the T14. Friendly. Penn is one of the better reverse-splitter schools in the tier.
The disclosed evidence behind that: the GPA spread is 0.18 and the LSAT spread is 6 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. Penn waitlists strong applicants it expects to lose to higher-ranked peers.
59% receive grants, median $42,246, the second-highest in the tier. Levy Scholars is full tuition.
The disclosed figures: a median grant of $42,246 reaching 59 percent of students, against a cost of attendance of $120,294. That puts the median student at roughly $78,048 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 $70,294 a year at sticker to close privately, our arithmetic.
Early decision: Binding, two rounds: November 15 Round 1 and January 7 Round 2. Round 1 complete by December 1 with a decision by December 31; Round 2 complete by January 15 with a decision by January 31.
Interviews: No. Penn states the Law School does not interview as part of the first-year JD application process. No Kira, no asynchronous video, no Zoom evaluation anywhere in the published process.
Scholarship effect of applying early: Not published. Penn states no ED merit-aid eligibility or ineligibility on its reachable admissions pages.
Both lines come from the school's own admissions pages (https://www.law.upenn.edu/admissions/how-to-apply.php, https://www.law.upenn.edu/admissions/jd/faqs.php), verified July 26, 2026. Prior cycle only. Page carries 2025 and 2026 year references.
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.
Penn explicitly asks how you will use the university's cross-disciplinary resources. Answering that question concretely, with named programs, is the single highest-leverage move in a Penn application.
Work experience: Preferred, not required.
Polished, pleasant, corporate-curious, cross-disciplinary. A high proportion pursue Wharton certificates or joint degrees.
The nicest elite law school, and it is a deliberate institutional strategy rather than an accident.
The outcomes: 71.4 percent into firms of 101 or more attorneys, 7.9 percent into federal clerkships, 100.0 percent employed at ten months, concentrated in NY 104, PA 44, DC 29.
For the daily texture see what Penn Law is really like, and for the verdict see our honest take.
The fall 2025 enrolled medians were 173 LSAT with a 167 twenty-fifth percentile and a 174 seventy-fifth. A 173 is numbers-competitive; 174 puts you in the top quarter.
8.1 percent for fall 2025, 650 offers on 8,074 completed applications, per its 2025 ABA 509 report.
Median 3.95, with a 3.77 twenty-fifth percentile and a 4.00 seventy-fifth. The spread of 0.18 between median and floor is what tells you how far below the middle the school will go.
59% receive grants, median $42,246, the second-highest in the tier. Levy Scholars is full tuition. The disclosed median grant is $42,246 reaching 59 percent of students.
Unfriendly. Penn weights GPA more heavily than most of the T14.
Written by Ali, Georgetown Law, founder of Lovare Institut.
July 30, 2026
July 30, 2026