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Asking what is WashU law school like day to day: The most aggressive numbers-and-money play in American legal education, executed deliberately and very well. About 273 people graduate a year in St. Louis. Here is the texture. It admits 19.0 percent, medians are 175 and 3.96, and 94 percent of students carry a grant.
The most aggressive numbers-and-money play in American legal education, executed deliberately and very well.
The scholarship arbitrage school. WashU has bought a top-fifteen class profile with money and it has worked. Top-ten in clinical training and dispute resolution; nationally recognised in international human rights.
Solid and broad, with genuine strength in international human rights through the Whitney Harris World Law Institute. High scorers who chose money over rank, and they are open about it. The 175 LSAT median with a 3.58 GPA 25th percentile tells you exactly who this school recruits: splitters with huge test scores.
Every figure here comes from WashU's own ABA disclosures. Read them before you read anyone's impressions, including ours.
Verified figureValueAcceptance rate19.0% (1,065 offers on 5,616 applications)LSAT 25/50/75165 / 175 / 176GPA 25/50/753.58 / 3.96 / 4.00Annual cost of attendance$102,287Median grant / share receiving$48,000 to 94% of studentsClass of 2025 graduates273Firms of 101+ attorneys53.5% (146 graduates)Federal clerkships11.7% (32 graduates)Employed at 10 months98.5%Top marketsMO 52, IL 44, NY 33CitySt. Louis, MOCar neededYesJanuary average low / July average high23.8F / 89.6F
Sources: WashU's 2025 ABA 509 report (https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/AnnualQuestionnaire/GenerateIndividualDisclosure509Report?schoolId=88&year=2025), its class of 2025 ABA Employment Summary (https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/EmploymentOutcomes/GenerateIndividualEQSummaryReport?schoolId=88&year=2025), and its admissions pages (https://law.washu.edu/admissions/apply/jd-program-application/). Climate from NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals. Verified July 26, 2026.
If you are still working out whether you can get in, our page on how to get into washu law school runs the same class through the admissions numbers.
Present, and slightly sharper in feel because the entering class is now numerically extraordinary and everyone knows it.
Grading: Letter grades with a curve. Class rank: No published rank.
The disclosed backdrop: WashU admitted 19.0 percent of applicants and employs 98.5 percent of graduates at ten months, so the competition is over which job rather than whether one exists. 1L sections in a class of roughly 290, which has grown as the school has expanded.
Friendly and low-key. St. Louis is cheap enough that students live well, and the school culture is notably unpretentious.
Collegiality rates 5 out of 5 in our master file. High-LSAT splitters, anyone debt-averse, and students targeting Chicago, DC, or a clerkship who are willing to network out of market.
The complaint students actually make: The national brand has not caught up to the class profile. Students with a 175 LSAT sometimes feel they are explaining themselves.
Journals: Washington University Law Review, Journal of Law and Policy, Global Studies Law Review. Aggressive full-tuition merit scholarships that reshape a student's entire financial life; a Washington DC semester that few peers offer; the Harris Institute's international human rights convenings.
Yes, though the MetroLink connects campus to downtown.
St. Louis: an underrated, affordable Midwestern city with world-class free museums and a small legal market. Most students live in the Central West End, Clayton, or the Delmar Loop, all within fifteen minutes.
Real four seasons, hot humid summers, moderate winters. A free Saturday looks like this: Forest Park, the free art museum and zoo, the City Museum, Cardinals baseball, a strong and cheap restaurant scene.
Distance to market: St. Louis is a small legal market. Chicago is four and a half hours by car; most students recruit into Chicago, DC, or New York. Airport: STL, twenty minutes, well connected domestically.
Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute, Congressional and Administrative Law Clinic (a semester in Washington), Center for Empirical Research in the Law, Negotiation and Dispute Resolution Program, joint degrees with Olin Business School.
Clinics: Appellate, Civil Rights and Community Justice, Criminal Justice, Immigration Law, Interdisciplinary Environmental Law, Low Income Taxpayer.
Faculty and intellectual lineage: Gregory Magarian, Peggie Smith, John Inazu, Daniel Epps, Lee Epstein (formerly).
$28,603 estimated and honest. A good 1BR in the Central West End or Clayton runs $1,100 to $1,500.
Cost of attendance is $102,287 a year and the median grant is $48,000 to 94 percent of students, so the median student pays roughly $54,287 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 a gap of about $52,287 a year at sticker, our arithmetic, to be closed by scholarship, savings or private credit.
High-LSAT splitters, anyone debt-averse, and students targeting Chicago, DC, or a clerkship who are willing to network out of market.
Who should look elsewhere: Anyone who needs immediate national brand recognition or who wants to stay in St. Louis, which is a small legal market.
The trade-off, stated plainly: You accept a smaller national brand and an out-of-market job search in exchange for a very large scholarship and a low cost of living.
Our full verdict, including who should skip it outright, sits on our honest take on whether to go to WashU.
Our verified data layer for WashU is missing the early decision deadline and whether it is binding, neither of which WashU posts. Everything else on this page is sourced; that one item is not, so we have written around it rather than guessing. Confirm it with the admissions office before you rely on it.
The most aggressive numbers-and-money play in American legal education, executed deliberately and very well. Structurally it is a 273-graduate class in St. Louis, with a 19.0 percent acceptance rate and 98.5 percent employed at ten months.
Present, and slightly sharper in feel because the entering class is now numerically extraordinary and everyone knows it. Grading is Letter grades with a curve, and rank is: no published rank.
Friendly and low-key. St. Louis is cheap enough that students live well, and the school culture is notably unpretentious. Collegiality rates 5 out of 5.
Yes, though the MetroLink connects campus to downtown. Most students live in the Central West End, Clayton, or the Delmar Loop, all within fifteen minutes.
Written by Ali, Georgetown Law, founder of Lovare Institut.
July 30, 2026
July 30, 2026