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T14 law school acceptance rates are among the lowest in legal education, ranging from single digits to the low double digits across the fourteen schools: Yale, Stanford, Chicago, Columbia, Harvard, NYU, Penn, Virginia, Berkeley, Michigan, Duke, Northwestern, Cornell, and Georgetown. Current rates range from Yale's 4.06% and Stanford's 6.1% up to Cornell's 18.19%, according to the schools' 2025 ABA Standard 509 reports.
By Ali Unar, JD candidate at Georgetown Law and founder of Lovare Institut. Last updated August 2026. Every figure on this page was verified in August 2026 against the sources listed below.
The T14 are the fourteen law schools that have effectively always ranked in the U.S. News top 14, and their acceptance rates are the lowest in legal education. The table lists each school with its current acceptance rate and the two admissions medians that most affect your odds. Every figure comes from the school's 2025 ABA Standard 509 report.
Law schoolAcceptance rateMedian LSATMedian GPAYale University4.06%174See ABA 509 reportStanford University6.1%1733.96University of Chicago9.74%1743.97Columbia University11.84%1733.92Harvard University9.2%1743.96University of Pennsylvania8.05%1733.95New York University13.39%1723.92University of Virginia10.17%173See ABA 509 reportUniversity of California, Berkeley14.84%1703.92University of Michigan8.57%171See ABA 509 reportDuke University12.88%171See ABA 509 reportNorthwestern University12.3%1733.96Cornell University18.19%173See ABA 509 reportGeorgetown University15.75%1713.93
Acceptance rates and medians are from each school's 2025 ABA Standard 509 report; ranks are from the U.S. News 2026-27 list (via LSD.law). Where a school does not report a median UGPA in that set (Yale, Virginia, Michigan, Duke, Cornell), the figure is in its ABA Standard 509 disclosure.
The exact membership of the T14 can shift at the margin. In the U.S. News 2026-27 ranking the schools placing in the numeric top 14 are Stanford, Chicago, Yale, Penn, Virginia, Harvard, Duke, NYU, Columbia, Northwestern, and Michigan, then Vanderbilt (12th) and Cornell, UCLA, and Washington University in St. Louis (tied 13th), so Vanderbilt, UCLA, and WashU now sit inside the top 14 by the numbers while Berkeley (16th) and Georgetown (18th) fall just outside, per U.S. News 2026-27.
T14 acceptance rates are low because these schools draw huge applicant pools against a limited number of seats, and they can fill a class with applicants at or above high LSAT and GPA medians. A low rate signals selectivity but does not, by itself, tell you your odds. Two schools with the same acceptance rate can have very different medians, so always read the rate alongside the median LSAT and GPA.
Your realistic odds at a T14 school depend far more on where your LSAT and GPA fall against that school's medians than on the published acceptance rate. An applicant above both the median LSAT and median GPA is admitted at well above the overall rate, while one below both faces long odds even at the more accessible T14 schools. Compare your numbers to each school's ABA 509 medians (each school's medians appear in its 2025 ABA Standard 509 report).
The single most controllable factor is your LSAT score, since moving above a school's median LSAT sharply improves your odds. A high GPA, a compelling personal statement, strong recommendations, and meaningful work or research also help, especially at schools that read files holistically. Applying early in the cycle, when more seats are open, can add a further edge at rolling-admissions schools.
The T14 refers to the fourteen law schools that have effectively always ranked in the U.S. News top 14: Yale, Stanford, Chicago, Columbia, Harvard, Penn, NYU, Virginia, Berkeley, Michigan, Duke, Northwestern, Cornell, and Georgetown. They are grouped because they place graduates nationally rather than regionally. Their internal order changes yearly; in U.S. News 2026-27 it runs Stanford 1st; Chicago and Yale tied 2nd; Penn and Virginia tied 4th; Harvard 6th; Duke and NYU tied 7th; Columbia, Northwestern, and Michigan tied 9th; Cornell tied 13th; Berkeley tied 16th; and Georgetown tied 18th, per U.S. News 2026-27.
The lowest law school acceptance rates belong to the most selective T14 schools, typically Yale, Stanford, and the University of Pennsylvania, which admit only a small fraction of applicants (Yale 4.06%, Stanford 6.1%, and Penn 8.05%, per their 2025 ABA Standard 509 reports). A very low rate reflects heavy applicant volume against few seats, so read it together with the school's median LSAT and GPA to judge your realistic odds.
The schools usually called the best are the T14; in the U.S. News 2026-27 list the top five are Stanford 1st, Chicago and Yale tied 2nd, and Penn and Virginia tied 4th, per U.S. News 2026-27. The best school for you, though, is the one where your LSAT and GPA are competitive and that places graduates in the market you want to work in.
Law school rankings are compiled by private publishers, mainly U.S. News, not by the ABA or any government body. U.S. News scores each school on reputation surveys, incoming LSAT and GPA medians, graduate employment and bar-passage rates, and per-student spending to produce the rank. The exact weights change periodically and are published in the U.S. News Best Law Schools methodology.
Verified August 2026.
August 21, 2026
August 21, 2026