How to Get Into Boston College Law School: LSAT, GPA & Admissions (2026)

The short answer to how to get into Boston College Law School is to hit the medians from BC Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure: a 168 LSAT and a 3.83 GPA. The middle 50 percent scored 162 to 169 on the LSAT and 3.67 to 3.9 in GPA. Clear both and you are competitive.

By Ali Unar, Georgetown Law, Founder of Lovare Institut. Ali Unar is a Georgetown Law student and the founder of Lovare Institut, an admissions and LSAT-prep practice built on primary-source law school data. Verified August 2026. Every figure on this page comes from Boston College Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report (fall 2025 entering class), the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, and BC Law's own published pages.

Boston College Law School reports an unusually low 8.48% acceptance rate, but that number comes with a caveat you should understand before you read anything into it. According to BC Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, applications rose and offers were cut, producing an 8.48% admit rate, the lowest in its LSAT band. But Boston College reports its offers on a narrower basis than its peers, so the rate looks lower than BC Law's true market position implies. What is not in doubt is the payoff: in the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, 62.7% of BC Law graduates went to large firms of 101 or more lawyers, an exceptionally high share for its band. The thesis of this page is that Boston College Law School is a BigLaw feeder whose headline admit rate overstates its selectivity, and whose binding Early Decision lets you lock a named scholarship tier up front.

Boston College Law School at a glance: LSAT, GPA, acceptance rate and cost

Boston College Law School posts a 168 LSAT median, a 3.83 GPA median, and an 8.48% acceptance rate in BC Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, though that rate reflects a narrower offer basis than peers use. Full-time tuition and fees run $72,755. The table below collects the headline numbers.

MetricBoston College Law School (fall 2025 entering class)LSAT (25th / 50th / 75th)162 / 168 / 169GPA (25th / 50th / 75th)3.67 / 3.83 / 3.9Acceptance rate8.48% (offers reported on a narrower basis than peers)Applications7,668Offers of admission650Matriculants from the applicant pool216First-year class219Full-time tuition and fees$72,755 (tuition $72,380 + fees $375)Living expenses$25,726Share receiving grants89% (566 of 635)Median grant$24,000Conditional scholarshipsNoFirst-time bar passage96.19%Employed at ten months97.7% (212 of 217)

Source: Boston College Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report (fall 2025 entering class), with employment from the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 and bar passage from BC Law's ABA bar-passage report. Tuition and living expenses are printed separately in the 509, which does not publish a single combined cost-of-attendance total.

What LSAT and GPA do you really need to get into Boston College Law School?

Boston College Law School reports an LSAT spread of 162 to 169 and a GPA spread of 3.67 to 3.9 in its 2025 ABA 509. A 168 and 3.83 sit at both medians. Below the 162 LSAT or 3.67 GPA, you need a clear compensating strength on the other number.

Boston College Law School reports an LSAT 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile of 162, 168, and 169, and a GPA 25th, 50th, and 75th of 3.67, 3.83, and 3.9 for the fall 2025 entering class, per BC Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. The median is the fiftieth percentile: half of enrolled students scored above 168 on the LSAT and above 3.83 in GPA, and half below. A median is a target, not a cutoff, but at BC Law both medians are high and set the center of the class.

Like several schools at its level, Boston College Law School has a wide LSAT band on the low side. From the 25th percentile of 162 to the median of 168 is a six-point drop, while from the median to the 75th of 169 is a single point. That asymmetry means BC Law admits a meaningful number of students below its median but very few above it. A 162, the 25th percentile, is a real admit range at Boston College Law School, but it needs a strong GPA to carry the file.

The GPA band runs from 3.67 at the 25th to 3.9 at the 75th, a 0.23 spread. A 3.67, the bottom quartile, is a solid college record but sits low for Boston College Law School, so it wants LSAT support at or above the 168 median. Read the two bands together and they describe a class with strong LSATs and strong-but-more-varied GPAs, which points directly to how BC Law treats an imbalanced file.

That shape makes Boston College Law School reverse-splitter friendly. Lovare's read of the 509 spreads shows a GPA 25th-to-median spread of 0.16 and an LSAT 25th-to-median spread of six points, so the LSAT band is far wider than the GPA band. A reverse-splitter-friendly school forgives a lower LSAT when the GPA is high; a splitter-friendly school forgives a lower GPA when the LSAT is high. BC Law leans reverse-splitter: a high GPA paired with an LSAT in the low-to-mid 160s has a genuine path, while a high LSAT with a sub-3.67 GPA is a tougher sell. If your transcript is strong and your LSAT lags, Boston College Law School is a school worth targeting.

Is Boston College Law School harder to get into than its reputation?

Yes, but read the number carefully. By raw acceptance rate, Boston College Law School is the most selective school in its LSAT band, at 8.48% in BC Law's 2025 ABA 509. That rate overstates its selectivity, though, because BC Law reports offers on a narrower basis than peers. Its true position is elite but not literally first.

Reputation places Boston College Law School among the strong national private schools, and its 168 LSAT median fits that tier. Its headline acceptance rate, though, tells a more complicated story that deserves care. Lovare built a peer band of the 28 leading national law schools whose median LSAT falls within two points of BC Law's 168, that is, a median of 166 to 170, then ranked them by acceptance rate from the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures. By that raw ranking, Boston College Law School is the most selective school in the band.

Here is the caveat that changes how you should read that. Boston College Law School's 8.48% acceptance rate is unusually low because BC Law reports its offers on a narrower basis than its peers. Its applications rose and its reported offers were cut, which pushes the ratio of offers to applications down, but the number is not measuring the same thing that its peers' rates measure. So while 8.48% is the honest figure from BC Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure, it makes Boston College Law School look more selective than its true market position implies. Do not read it as proof that BC Law is harder to get into than a school posting an 11% rate on the standard basis.

Ranked from most to least selective by acceptance rate, the band runs from Boston College at 8.5%, then the University of Southern California at 11.0%, USC Gould at 11.2%, the University of North Carolina at 11.2%, Boston University at 12.1%, Texas A&M University at 12.1%, the University of Georgia at 12.7%, and Vanderbilt University at 13.3%, out through Notre Dame at 16.1%, Fordham at 16.2%, Wake Forest at 25.0%, and Emory at 38.7%. The honest verdict is that Boston College Law School is genuinely selective, comfortably in the top handful of its band, but its literal first-place rate is an artifact of how it counts offers, not evidence that it is the single hardest admit in the group.

Does Boston College Law School have Early Decision, and is it binding?

Yes. Boston College Law School runs binding Early Decision in two rounds, ED I on December 1 and ED II on January 15, per BC Law's Early Decision page. Applicants choose a named scholarship track up front: Dean's Scholars, BC Scholars, or the no-scholarship Eagle Track. A nonrefundable $1,000 deposit applies.

Boston College Law School runs a binding Early Decision program in two rounds, and its distinctive feature is that you choose a named scholarship tier when you apply. According to BC Law's Early Decision page, ED I closes on December 1 and ED II closes on January 15. Both rounds are binding: if admitted, you must enroll, withdraw all other applications, submit no new ones, and pay a nonrefundable $1,000 deposit.

What sets Boston College Law School apart is the scholarship structure attached to Early Decision. Per BC Law's Early Decision page, an applicant chooses one of three tracks up front. The Dean's Scholars track carries a scholarship of $40,000 to $55,000 per year. The BC Scholars track carries $20,000 to $35,000 per year. The Eagle Track carries no scholarship consideration. In effect, Boston College Law School lets you name the scholarship tier you are competing for before you submit, which is unusual and worth thinking through.

The strategy at Boston College Law School is to match your track to an honest read of your own file. The Dean's Scholars and BC Scholars tracks put real money on the table, up to $55,000 per year at the top of the Dean's range against a $72,755 sticker, but they are competitive and tie you to a binding commitment. The Eagle Track offers no scholarship but signals maximum commitment, which can help a borderline file convert. Because the deposit is nonrefundable and the commitment is binding, choose the track and the round only if Boston College Law School is genuinely your first choice.

How much does Boston College Law School cost, and how much scholarship money will you get?

Boston College Law School charges $72,755 in full-time tuition and fees, per BC Law's 2025 ABA 509, plus $25,726 in living expenses. Eighty-nine percent of students receive grants, with a median award of $24,000. A median-grant recipient nets about $48,755 in tuition and fees before living costs.

Boston College Law School is a full-freight private school, and the sticker shows it. BC Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure lists full-time tuition and fees at $72,755, made up of $72,380 in tuition and $375 in fees, plus $25,726 in living expenses. The 509 prints tuition and living separately and does not publish a single combined cost-of-attendance total, so any all-in annual number quoted elsewhere is someone's arithmetic, not a figure BC Law reports, and this page will not invent one.

Aid reaches most but not all students. According to the same 509, 89% of Boston College Law School students receive grant aid, 566 of 635, with awards at the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles of $20,000, $24,000, and $28,000. BC Law reports 8 full-tuition awards and no awards above full tuition. Those grants include both merit and need-based aid, so not every dollar is a merit discount, and the full-tuition awards are few, which fits a school that concentrates its biggest money in the named Early Decision scholarship tiers.

For a typical recipient, the math works out like this. Against the $72,755 sticker, a student receiving Boston College Law School's median grant of $24,000 nets about $48,755 in tuition and fees before living costs, using figures from BC Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure. The aid is stable: BC Law does not use conditional scholarships, so an award is not tied to a first-year class-rank or GPA threshold and cannot be cut if your grades slip. The grant Boston College Law School quotes at admission is the grant you keep.

Note how the numbers connect to Early Decision. The named Dean's Scholars tier, at $40,000 to $55,000 per year, is well above the $24,000 median grant that BC Law reports across all students, which tells you the largest awards at Boston College Law School flow through the Early Decision scholarship tracks rather than the regular-cycle median. If a big merit award is your goal, the Early Decision tracks are where Boston College Law School puts its richest money.

What are your real chances off the Boston College Law School waitlist?

Boston College Law School does not disclose waitlist offers or admits, and no ABA report does. The honest proxy is implied yield: 216 matriculants against 650 offers is a 33.2% yield. That is a moderate yield, so BC Law fills much of its class from first-round offers while keeping some waitlist movement.

Here is the reasoning in full. Boston College Law School enrolled 216 matriculants from 650 offers in its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, an implied yield of 33.2%. No ABA disclosure, BC Law's included, publishes how many applicants are admitted off the waitlist or how many accept, so implied yield is the honest proxy for waitlist movement. When about a third of admitted students enroll, a school fills most of its class from first-round offers but still leaves some room that a waitlist can fill.

A 33.2% yield is moderate, which puts Boston College Law School between the extremes. It is higher than a school that yields a quarter of its offers and leans hard on its waitlist, and lower than a school that yields close to half and barely moves its list. For a waitlisted applicant to BC Law, that means real but limited hope: some cycles will see movement, others little.

If you land on the Boston College Law School waitlist, the play is the same as anywhere: send a concise letter of continued interest naming BC Law as a top choice, add any new score or grades, and keep another acceptance in hand. Do not treat a Boston College Law School waitlist spot as a plan, but do not write it off either, because the moderate yield leaves the door genuinely ajar.

One honest note on the class figures. BC Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure lists 216 matriculants from the applicant pool but a first-year class of 219. The small gap reflects students who arrive through paths other than this single cycle's pool, such as admitted students who deferred from a prior year. The 33.2% implied yield is computed from the 216 pool matriculants against the 650 offers, which is the correct comparison for reasoning about this cycle's waitlist odds at Boston College Law School.

Where do Boston College Law School graduates actually work?

In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, Boston College Law School placed 58.5% of graduates in Massachusetts and 86.2% across its top three markets. Large firms of 101-plus lawyers took 62.7%, and 7.4% won federal clerkships. BC Law is a concentrated BigLaw feeder.

Boston College Law School is a concentrated BigLaw feeder, and the employment data makes both words literal. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, BC Law placed 127 of its graduates in Massachusetts, 50 in New York, and 10 in California. That is a 58.5% top-market share and an 86.2% top-three share, one of the most concentrated placement profiles you will find: nearly six in ten graduates stay in Massachusetts, and more than eight in ten land in just three markets.

Why lead with concentration rather than the raw employment rate? Because the rate barely separates peer schools. Boston College Law School reported 212 of 217 graduates employed at ten months, or 97.7%, in the same ABA Employment Summary, which is excellent but similar across the top of the market. Concentration is what predicts fit. If you want Boston or the New York corridor, BC Law is squarely aimed there. If your target is the West Coast or the South, the 86.2% top-three concentration is a warning that Boston College Law School's network runs narrow and Northeastern.

On firm outcomes, Boston College Law School is a genuine standout. The ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows 136 BC Law graduates, or 62.7%, taking jobs at large firms of 101 or more lawyers, and 107, or 49.3%, at the largest firms of 501-plus. Nearly two in three graduates enter large-firm practice, and almost half go to the very biggest firms, a share that runs high for BC Law's band and is the single strongest reason to choose Boston College Law School.

Federal clerkships round out the picture. The ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows 16 Boston College Law School graduates, or 7.4%, entering federal clerkships, a solid share that outpaces several of BC Law's band peers. Between a 62.7% large-firm rate and a 7.4% clerkship rate, Boston College Law School sends the large majority of its class into either BigLaw or the federal courts, which is exactly what an applicant aiming at elite private practice wants to see.

When are Boston College Law School's application deadlines?

Boston College Law School's binding Early Decision rounds close on December 1 for ED I and January 15 for ED II, per BC Law's Early Decision page. Beyond these two ED dates, this page's sources do not specify a separate regular-decision deadline. Cycle dates shift, so confirm current dates on BC Law's site.

Boston College Law School's published deadlines are its two binding Early Decision rounds. According to BC Law's Early Decision page, ED I closes on December 1 and ED II closes on January 15. Both are binding commitments with a nonrefundable $1,000 deposit and a requirement to withdraw all other applications, so the round you choose is also a commitment you are making to Boston College Law School.

Beyond these two Early Decision dates, this page's sources do not specify a separate regular-decision deadline for Boston College Law School, so confirm the current regular timeline directly on BC Law's site rather than relying on a date this page cannot verify. As with every deadline here, cycle dates shift from year to year, and the December 1 and January 15 dates reflect BC Law's Early Decision page as verified in August 2026. Confirm the current deadlines on Boston College Law School's site before you rely on them, because a page like this one is a planning aid, not the registrar of record.

Frequently asked questions about getting into Boston College Law School

Is a 168 LSAT good enough for BC Law?

A 168 is exactly the LSAT median at Boston College Law School, per BC Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, where the middle 50 percent scored 162 to 169. A 168 puts you at the fiftieth percentile, competitive but not a lock. Pair it with a GPA at or above the 3.83 median and you are a strong candidate at Boston College Law School.

What GPA do you need to get into BC Law?

Boston College Law School reports a GPA median of 3.83, with a 25th to 75th range of 3.67 to 3.9, in its 2025 ABA 509. Aim for 3.83 or higher. Because BC Law is reverse-splitter friendly, a strong GPA can help carry an LSAT in the low-to-mid 160s, so a high transcript is especially valuable at Boston College Law School.

What is BC Law's acceptance rate?

Boston College Law School admitted 8.48% of applicants for the fall 2025 class, extending 650 offers against 7,668 applications, according to BC Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. That is the lowest rate in its LSAT band, but Boston College Law School reports offers on a narrower basis than peers, so the rate looks lower than its true market position implies.

Why is BC Law's acceptance rate so low?

Two reasons. Boston College Law School saw applications rise while its reported offers were cut, which mathematically lowers the 8.48% admit rate in BC Law's 2025 ABA 509. More importantly, BC Law reports offers on a narrower basis than its peers, so its rate is not measuring quite the same thing. Read Boston College Law School as very selective, but not literally the hardest admit in its band.

How many people apply to BC Law each year?

Boston College Law School received 7,668 applications for the fall 2025 entering class, made 650 offers, and enrolled 216 matriculants from the pool for a first-year class of 219, per BC Law's 2025 ABA 509. That large pool against a small number of reported offers is what produces Boston College Law School's 8.48% acceptance rate.

Does BC Law have binding Early Decision?

Yes. Boston College Law School runs binding Early Decision in two rounds, ED I on December 1 and ED II on January 15, per BC Law's Early Decision page. Applicants choose a named scholarship track up front: Dean's Scholars ($40,000 to $55,000 per year), BC Scholars ($20,000 to $35,000 per year), or the Eagle Track with no scholarship. A nonrefundable $1,000 deposit applies.

How much does BC Law cost per year?

Boston College Law School lists full-time tuition and fees of $72,755, made up of $72,380 in tuition and $375 in fees, plus $25,726 in living expenses, in its 2025 ABA 509. BC Law does not publish a single cost-of-attendance total in the 509, so tuition and living are best read separately rather than summed into an invented all-in figure for Boston College Law School.

Does BC Law give merit scholarships?

Yes. Boston College Law School reports that 89% of students receive grant aid, 566 of 635, with awards of $20,000, $24,000, and $28,000 at the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles, plus 8 full-tuition awards, per BC Law's 2025 ABA 509. Its largest awards flow through the named Early Decision tiers, where Dean's Scholars can reach $55,000 per year at Boston College Law School.

What is BC Law's bar passage rate?

Boston College Law School posted a 96.19% first-time bar passage rate for exam year 2025, according to BC Law's ABA bar-passage report. Its ultimate pass rate, measured two years out for the 2023 cohort, was 98.76%. Both figures are excellent and place Boston College Law School near the top of the national range, with almost every graduate who sits for a bar exam ultimately passing.

Do BC Law graduates get large-firm (BigLaw) jobs?

Yes, at an exceptional rate. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, Boston College Law School sent 136 graduates, or 62.7%, to large firms of 101 or more lawyers, and 107, or 49.3%, to firms of 501-plus. Nearly two in three graduates enter large-firm practice, one of the highest BigLaw shares in Boston College Law School's LSAT band.

Where do most BC Law graduates work?

Most stay in Massachusetts. The ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows Boston College Law School placed 127 graduates in Massachusetts, 50 in New York, and 10 in California, a 58.5% top-market share and 86.2% across the top three. Boston College Law School has one of the most concentrated Northeast-corridor placement profiles of any school at its level.

Can a splitter get into BC Law?

A reverse-splitter has a real path. Lovare reads Boston College Law School as reverse-splitter friendly, with a wide LSAT 25th-to-median spread of six points but a narrow GPA spread of 0.16 in the 2025 ABA 509. That means BC Law forgives a lower LSAT when the GPA is high, so a strong-GPA applicant with an LSAT in the low-to-mid 160s is more viable at Boston College Law School than the reverse.

How selective is BC Law compared with schools at the same LSAT?

By raw rate, Boston College Law School ranks first in its LSAT band, at 8.48% in BC Law's 2025 ABA 509 among the 28 leading schools within two points of its 168 median. But that first-place rate reflects a narrower offer basis than peers use, so read Boston College Law School as elite and comfortably top-tier for its band, not literally the single hardest admit.

Is BC Law worth the cost?

For a large-firm career, yes. Boston College Law School pairs a $72,755 sticker with 89% grant reach and, in the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, a 62.7% large-firm placement rate and 7.4% federal clerkships. Add a 96.19% first-time bar pass rate, and the outcomes justify the cost, especially for applicants who win a named Early Decision scholarship tier at Boston College Law School.

What LSAT and GPA give the best shot at a BC Law scholarship?

Scores above the medians, applied through Early Decision. Because Boston College Law School concentrates its largest awards in the named ED tracks, an LSAT above 168 and a GPA above 3.83, near the 169 and 3.9 upper quartiles in BC Law's 2025 ABA 509, position you for the Dean's Scholars tier of $40,000 to $55,000 per year at Boston College Law School.

Sources

Every figure on this page is drawn from primary disclosures, listed here so readers can verify each one directly.

Boston College Law School 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report (fall 2025 entering class): https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/AnnualQuestionnaire/GenerateIndividualDisclosure509Report?schoolId=73&year=2025

ABA Employment Summary, Class of 2024: https://www.bc.edu/bc-web/schools/law/careers/employment-statistics.html

Boston College Law School ABA bar-passage report, published on Boston College Law School's consumer-information page. Boston College does not expose a direct machine-readable URL for this report, so the figures here are drawn from that ABA-derived report.

Boston College Law School Early Decision program page: https://www.bc.edu/bc-web/schools/law/admission-aid/jd-program/early-decision.html

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