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The short answer on should I go to BU law school: pick it if you want Boston or New York corporate work. Skip it if you want a small cohort. It costs $100,920 a year and places 52.3 percent into large firms. The argument follows.
The other Boston school, and the one with the better Big Law numbers.
The verified position: a 12.1 percent acceptance rate, a 170 LSAT and 3.88 GPA median, $100,920 a year with a $29,000 median grant reaching 91 percent of students, and 52.3 percent into firms of 101 or more attorneys.
Verified figureValueAcceptance rate12.1% (953 offers on 7,892 applications)LSAT 25/50/75164 / 170 / 171GPA 25/50/753.71 / 3.88 / 3.93Annual cost of attendance$100,920Median grant / share receiving$29,000 to 91% of studentsClass of 2025 graduates214Firms of 101+ attorneys52.3% (112 graduates)Federal clerkships1.4% (3 graduates)Employed at 10 months96.7%Top marketsMA 106, NY 46, CA 9CityBoston, MACar neededNoJanuary average low / July average high23.1F / 82.1F
Sources: BU's 2025 ABA 509 report (https://www.bu.edu/law/files/2025/12/Std509InfoReport-18-12-18-2025-8-18-55.pdf), its class of 2025 ABA Employment Summary (https://www.bu.edu/law/files/2026/04/Class-of-2025-ABA-Employment-Summary-Page.pdf), and its admissions pages (https://www.bu.edu/law/admissions-aid/jd-admissions/early-decision-program/). Climate from NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals. Verified July 26, 2026.
For the numbers you need before you get here, see our page on Boston University law school acceptance rate.
You want Boston or New York corporate work, or you are a health law or intellectual property specialist.
Students targeting Boston or New York corporate work, and health law or IP specialists.
The disclosed numbers behind that: 52.3 percent large-firm placement, 1.4 percent federal clerkships, 96.7 percent employed at ten months, and a placement pattern of MA 106, NY 46, CA 9.
You want a small cohort, a clerkship, or a low cost of living.
Anyone who wants a small cohort, a clerkship, or a low cost of living.
The complaint current students actually make, which is the fairest warning available: Bar-required employment of 84.5% is the lowest in this group, and the federal clerkship rate of 3.7% is near the bottom.
BU's private salary 25th percentile is $205,000, higher than the medians at most schools ranked above it. The Boston Big Law pipeline is narrow but it pays at full market scale, and BU is the second-best route into it after Harvard.
It is checkable. Every number we have used is in BU's own filings, linked above, and we would rather you verify it than trust us.
Bar-required employment is the lowest in this group, and the 1.4% federal clerkship rate is near the bottom of every ranked school.
Price it rather than dismissing it. The three-year net cost at the median grant is roughly $215,760, our arithmetic before interest, and that is the sum you are putting against the risk.
Since July 1, 2026 federal borrowing 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). Any gap above that cap here has to be closed privately, which sharpens every risk on this page.
You pay Boston prices for the strongest Big Law pipeline in New England outside Harvard.
Run the comparison on net cost after your actual offer rather than on sticker, because the median grant is a midpoint and half of recipients received less. Then weigh the outcome columns against the market you actually intend to practice in.
For the daily texture rather than the verdict, see what BU Law is really like. For where it sits against every other school on outcomes and cost, our value table ranks all 31.
You want Boston or New York corporate work, or you are a health law or intellectual property specialist. You want a small cohort, a clerkship, or a low cost of living.
Students targeting Boston or New York corporate work, and health law or IP specialists. The verified case is 52.3 percent large-firm placement, 1.4 percent federal clerkships and 96.7 percent employed at ten months.
Anyone who wants a small cohort, a clerkship, or a low cost of living. Bar-required employment of 84.5% is the lowest in this group, and the federal clerkship rate of 3.7% is near the bottom.
Bar-required employment is the lowest in this group, and the 1.4% federal clerkship rate is near the bottom of every ranked school. Against a three-year net cost of roughly $215,760 at the median grant, that risk deserves an explicit price.
Written by Ali, Georgetown Law, founder of Lovare Institut.
July 30, 2026
July 30, 2026