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The short answer on should I go to NYU law school: pick it if you are certain about New York. Skip it if you want a campus community. It costs $120,046 a year and places 67.4 percent into large firms. The argument follows.
The law school with two souls: the deepest public-interest program in the country bolted onto one of the largest BigLaw pipelines.
The verified position: a 13.4 percent acceptance rate, a 172 LSAT and 3.92 GPA median, $120,046 a year with a $20,000 median grant reaching 66 percent of students, and 67.4 percent into firms of 101 or more attorneys.
Verified figureValueAcceptance rate13.4% (1,412 offers on 10,546 applications)LSAT 25/50/75169 / 172 / 174GPA 25/50/753.81 / 3.92 / 3.97Annual cost of attendance$120,046Median grant / share receiving$20,000 to 66% of studentsClass of 2025 graduates417Firms of 101+ attorneys67.4% (281 graduates)Federal clerkships5.5% (23 graduates)Employed at 10 months99.3%Top marketsNY 307, CA 22, DC 21CityNew York, NYCar neededNoJanuary average low / July average high27.9F / 84.9F
Sources: NYU's 2025 ABA 509 report (https://www.law.nyu.edu/sites/default/files/2025-12/Std509InfoReport_2025[2].pdf), its class of 2025 ABA Employment Summary (https://www.law.nyu.edu/sites/default/files/2026-04/Employment-Summary-Class-of-2025.pdf), and its admissions pages (https://www.law.nyu.edu/jdadmissions/applicants/applications). Climate from NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals. Verified July 26, 2026.
For the numbers you need before you get here, see our page on how to get into nyu law school.
You are certain about New York, or you are a public interest or tax specialist. NYU's public interest infrastructure and tax program have no equal.
Public interest students who can win a full scholarship, tax and international specialists, and anyone certain they want to live and practice in New York.
The disclosed numbers behind that: 67.4 percent large-firm placement, 5.5 percent federal clerkships, 99.3 percent employed at ten months, and a placement pattern of NY 307, CA 22, DC 21.
You want a campus community, a low cost of living, or a strong clerkship pipeline.
Someone who wants a self-contained campus community or a low cost of living.
The complaint current students actually make, which is the fairest warning available: Expensive city, expensive tuition, no cohesive campus. Living costs are the highest in the tier after Stanford, and it is easy to feel anonymous.
NYU's public interest scholarships are worth roughly a quarter of a million dollars and are awarded through a separate, demanding process. The students who win them have a fundamentally different NYU experience, and financial outcome, than the students who don't.
It is checkable. Every number we have used is in NYU's own filings, linked above, and we would rather you verify it than trust us.
The highest all-in cost in the country outside Stanford, no campus cohesion, and a 7.6% clerkship rate that lags every peer above it.
Price it rather than dismissing it. The three-year net cost at the median grant is roughly $300,138, 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 the highest all-in cost in the country for total immersion in the market you want to practice in.
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 NYU Law is really like. For where it sits against every other school on outcomes and cost, our value table ranks all 31.
You are certain about New York, or you are a public interest or tax specialist. NYU's public interest infrastructure and tax program have no equal. You want a campus community, a low cost of living, or a strong clerkship pipeline.
Public interest students who can win a full scholarship, tax and international specialists, and anyone certain they want to live and practice in New York. The verified case is 67.4 percent large-firm placement, 5.5 percent federal clerkships and 99.3 percent employed at ten months.
Someone who wants a self-contained campus community or a low cost of living. Expensive city, expensive tuition, no cohesive campus. Living costs are the highest in the tier after Stanford, and it is easy to feel anonymous.
The highest all-in cost in the country outside Stanford, no campus cohesion, and a 7.6% clerkship rate that lags every peer above it. Against a three-year net cost of roughly $300,138 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