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

The short answer to how to get into Boston University Law School is to hit the medians from BU Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure: a 170 LSAT and a 3.88 GPA. The middle 50 percent scored 164 to 171 on the LSAT and 3.71 to 3.93 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 University Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report (fall 2025 entering class), the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, and BU Law's own published pages.

Boston University Law School is a BigLaw feeder with a two-track Early Decision that can either buy you a full ride or cost you every dollar of merit aid, and getting that choice right is the whole game. According to BU Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, the acceptance rate is 12.08%, more selective than several higher-ranked names in its LSAT band. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, 48.1% of BU Law graduates went to large firms of 101 or more lawyers. The thesis of this page is that Boston University Law School rewards applicants who understand its machinery: hit a 170 LSAT and 3.88 GPA, then decide, before you apply, whether to chase the Distinguished Scholar full-tuition track or accept that the BU Bound binding track forfeits merit aid entirely. Choose the wrong track and you pay full freight.

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

Boston University Law School posts a 170 LSAT median, a 3.88 GPA median, and a 12.08% acceptance rate in BU Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. Full-time tuition and fees run $71,382. The table below collects every headline number in one place for quick reference.

MetricBoston University Law School (fall 2025 entering class)LSAT (25th / 50th / 75th)164 / 170 / 171GPA (25th / 50th / 75th)3.71 / 3.88 / 3.93Acceptance rate12.08%Applications7,892Offers of admission953Matriculants from the applicant pool234First-year class238Full-time tuition and fees$71,382 (tuition $69,870 + fees $1,512)Living expenses$21,532Share receiving grants91%Median grant$29,000Conditional scholarshipsNoFirst-time bar passage94.93%Employed at ten months96.3% (286 of 297)

Source: Boston University 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 BU 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 University Law School?

Boston University Law School reports an LSAT spread of 164 to 171 and a GPA spread of 3.71 to 3.93 in its 2025 ABA 509. A 170 and 3.88 sit at both medians. Below the 164 LSAT or 3.71 GPA, you need a clear compensating strength on the other number.

Boston University Law School reports an LSAT 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile of 164, 170, and 171, and a GPA 25th, 50th, and 75th of 3.71, 3.88, and 3.93 for the fall 2025 entering class, per BU Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. The median is the fiftieth percentile: half of enrolled students scored above 170 on the LSAT and above 3.88 in GPA, and half below. A median is a target, not a cutoff, but at BU Law the LSAT median is high and the class clusters at the top of the band.

The most striking feature of Boston University Law School's numbers is the wide LSAT band on the low side. From the 25th percentile of 164 to the median of 170 is a six-point drop, while from the median to the 75th of 171 is a single point. That asymmetry means BU Law admits a meaningful number of students well below its median but almost none above it: the median and the 75th nearly touch. A 164, the 25th percentile, is a real admit range at Boston University Law School, but only when a strong GPA carries the file.

The GPA band runs from 3.71 at the 25th to 3.93 at the 75th, a 0.22 spread. A 3.71, the bottom quartile, is a fine college record but sits low for Boston University Law School, so it wants LSAT support at or above the 170 median. Read the two bands together and the picture is a class with very strong LSATs and strong-but-more-varied GPAs, which points directly to how BU Law treats an imbalanced file.

That shape makes Boston University Law School reverse-splitter friendly. Lovare's read of the 509 spreads shows a GPA 25th-to-median spread of 0.17 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. BU Law leans reverse-splitter: a high GPA with an LSAT in the mid-160s has a real path, while a high LSAT paired with a sub-3.71 GPA is a tougher sell. If your GPA is strong and your LSAT lags, Boston University Law School is a school where the application still has room to work.

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

Yes. Among the 25 leading national law schools whose median LSAT sits within two points of Boston University Law School's 170, Lovare's ranking by acceptance rate places BU Law seventh most selective. Its 12.08% admit rate runs below Duke, NYU, and Georgetown. BU Law is tougher than its reputation implies.

Reputation treats Boston University Law School as a strong private school just outside the national elite, and its 170 LSAT median matches the top of that tier. Its selectivity, though, outruns its ranking. Lovare built a peer band of the 25 leading national law schools whose median LSAT falls within two points of BU Law's 170, that is, a median of 168 to 172, then ranked them by acceptance rate from the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures. Boston University Law School comes in seventh most selective of the 25.

Ranked from most to least selective by acceptance rate, the top of that band runs as follows: Boston College at 8.5%, the University of Michigan at 8.6%, the University of Southern California at 11.0%, USC Gould at 11.2%, the University of North Carolina at 11.2%, UCLA at 12.1%, Boston University at 12.1%, and Texas A&M University at 12.1%. Behind BU Law come schools with higher, less selective admit rates: the University of Georgia at 12.7%, Duke University at 12.9%, Vanderbilt University at 13.3%, New York University at 13.4%, the University of Texas at Austin at 14.0%, Georgetown University at 15.8%, Notre Dame at 16.1%, Fordham at 16.2%, and, further out, George Washington University at 27.2%.

One entry needs an asterisk. Boston College leads the band at an 8.5% admit rate, but Boston College reports its offers on a narrower basis than its peers, so its rate looks lower than its market position implies and it is not a true selectivity peer. The verdict on Boston University Law School is clear regardless. BU Law's 12.08% admit rate, from its 2025 ABA 509 disclosure, is lower than Duke, NYU, Vanderbilt, and Georgetown, all schools that outrank it in name recognition. If you assume BU Law is a comfortable safety below those names, the acceptance rate says otherwise: Boston University Law School is measurably harder to get into than its reputation suggests.

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

Yes, and it is unusually consequential. Boston University Law School runs two binding tracks, per BU Law's Early Decision page. The Distinguished Scholar track carries a three-year full-tuition scholarship with a November 9 deadline; the BU Bound track, due February 1, will not be considered for any merit aid. Choose carefully.

Boston University Law School runs two binding Early Decision tracks, and the difference between them is the single most important decision an applicant makes. According to BU Law's Early Decision page, both tracks are binding: if admitted, you must enroll, withdraw all pending applications within five days, and submit no new ones, and you owe a nonrefundable $1,000 deposit. What separates the two tracks is money.

The Distinguished Scholar Binding Early Decision track carries a three-year full-tuition scholarship and has a November 9 deadline, per BU Law's Early Decision page. This is the track that buys a full ride: commit early and, if admitted as a Distinguished Scholar, you attend Boston University Law School with tuition covered for all three years. It is the most valuable early commitment BU Law offers, and it rewards applicants whose numbers are strong enough to compete for the school's top scholarship.

The BU Bound Binding Decision track is the trap. It has a February 1 deadline and, per BU Law's Early Decision page, applicants on this track will not be considered for merit scholarships at all. You are still bound to enroll if admitted, but you forfeit any merit aid in exchange. Choose the BU Bound track without understanding this and you can lock yourself into paying the full $71,382 in tuition and fees that Boston University Law School's 2025 ABA 509 lists, when a regular application might have drawn a grant.

The strategic read is blunt. At Boston University Law School, the binding early commitment is only worth making through the Distinguished Scholar track, where the payoff is a full-tuition scholarship. The BU Bound track asks for the same binding commitment while removing merit aid from the table, which makes sense only for an applicant who is certain BU Law is the destination and neither needs nor expects a merit discount. Read BU Law's Early Decision terms word for word before you sign either one.

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

Boston University Law School charges $71,382 in full-time tuition and fees, per BU Law's 2025 ABA 509, plus $21,532 in living expenses. Ninety-one percent of students receive grants, with a median award of $29,000. A median-grant recipient nets about $42,382 in tuition and fees before living costs.

Boston University Law School is a full-freight private school, and the sticker reflects it. BU Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure lists full-time tuition and fees at $71,382, made up of $69,870 in tuition and $1,512 in fees, plus $21,532 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 BU Law reports, and this page will not invent one.

Aid is wide but not universal. According to the same 509, 91% of Boston University Law School students receive grant aid, with awards at the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles of $20,000, $29,000, and $43,000. BU Law reports 42 full-tuition awards and one award above full tuition. Those grants include both merit and need-based aid, so not every dollar is a merit discount, but the top of the range is substantial: a 75th-percentile award of $43,000 covers well over half of tuition at Boston University Law School.

For a typical recipient, the math works out like this. Against the $71,382 sticker, a student receiving Boston University Law School's median grant of $29,000 nets about $42,382 in tuition and fees before living costs, using figures from BU Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure. And the aid is stable: BU 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 University Law School quotes at admission is the grant you keep, which removes a risk that catches students at schools with grade-conditioned aid.

The cost picture ties directly back to Early Decision. Because 91% of Boston University Law School students receive grants, the BU Bound binding track, which forfeits merit consideration, means giving up a discount that nine in ten students otherwise receive. The Distinguished Scholar track goes the other way, converting the binding commitment into a full-tuition scholarship. At BU Law, in other words, the scholarship system and the Early Decision system are the same decision viewed from two sides.

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

Boston University Law School does not disclose waitlist offers or admits, and no ABA report does. The honest proxy is implied yield: 234 matriculants against 953 offers is a 24.6% yield. That is a low yield, so BU Law over-admits and leans more heavily on its waitlist than most peers.

Here is the reasoning in full. Boston University Law School enrolled 234 matriculants from 953 offers in its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, an implied yield of 24.6%. No ABA disclosure, BU 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. The logic runs the opposite way from a high-yield school: when only about a quarter of admitted students enroll, a school must over-admit and often reaches into its waitlist to finish the class.

A 24.6% yield is low, and for a waitlisted applicant that is good news. Because Boston University Law School converts only about one in four offers into enrollments, it extends far more offers than it has seats, expects most admits to choose other schools, and has a structural reason to use its waitlist. Compared with a school that yields close to half, BU Law is more likely to see meaningful waitlist activity in a given cycle.

That said, a waitlist is never a plan. If you land on the Boston University Law School waitlist, send a concise letter of continued interest that names BU Law as a top choice, add any new LSAT score or grades, and keep another acceptance in hand while you wait. The low yield means the door is more open here than at a high-yield peer, but movement still depends on how the rest of the class comes together at Boston University Law School.

One honest note on the class figures. BU Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure lists 234 matriculants from the applicant pool but a first-year class of 238. 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 24.6% implied yield is computed from the 234 pool matriculants against the 953 offers, which is the correct comparison for reasoning about this cycle's waitlist odds at Boston University Law School.

Where do Boston University Law School graduates actually work?

In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, Boston University Law School placed 50.2% of graduates in Massachusetts and 74.4% across its top three markets. Large firms of 101-plus lawyers took 48.1%, and 3.7% won federal clerkships. BU Law is a Boston-anchored BigLaw feeder.

Boston University Law School is a Boston-anchored BigLaw feeder, and the employment data shows both halves of that description. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, BU Law placed 149 of its graduates in Massachusetts, 57 in New York, and 15 in the District of Columbia. That is a 50.2% top-market share and a 74.4% top-three share: about half the class stays in Massachusetts, and three in four cluster in just three markets along the Northeast corridor.

Why lead with concentration instead of the raw employment rate? Because the rate barely separates peer schools. Boston University Law School reported 286 of 297 graduates employed at ten months, or 96.3%, in the same ABA Employment Summary, which is strong but ordinary at this level. Concentration is what predicts fit. If you want Boston or the New York corridor, BU Law sits at the center of that market. If your target is California or the Southeast, BU Law can reach there, but its network is thickest in the Northeast.

On firm outcomes, this is where Boston University Law School distinguishes itself. The ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows 143 BU Law graduates, or 48.1%, taking jobs at large firms of 101 or more lawyers, and 106, or 35.7%, at the largest firms of 501-plus. Nearly half the class goes into large-firm practice, and more than a third into the biggest firms in the market. That is a genuine BigLaw pipeline, stronger than most schools at Boston University Law School's selectivity, and it is the single best reason to choose BU Law.

Federal clerkships are the smaller story. The ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows 11 Boston University Law School graduates, or 3.7%, entering federal clerkships. That is a modest share and reflects BU Law's orientation toward private practice rather than the courts. If a federal clerkship is your goal, Boston University Law School can support it, but the school's center of gravity is the large firm, not the judge's chambers.

When are Boston University Law School's application deadlines?

Boston University Law School publishes two binding application deadlines, per BU Law's Early Decision page: November 9 for the Distinguished Scholar track and February 1 for the BU Bound track. Beyond these two binding dates, this page's sources do not specify a separate regular-decision deadline. Cycle dates shift, so confirm current dates on BU Law's site.

Boston University Law School publishes two binding application deadlines. According to BU Law's Early Decision page, the Distinguished Scholar Binding Early Decision track closes on November 9 and the BU Bound Binding Decision track closes on February 1. Both are binding commitments, so the deadline you choose also chooses the terms: the November 9 track competes for a full-tuition scholarship, while the February 1 track forfeits merit aid entirely.

Beyond these two binding dates, this page's sources do not specify a separate regular-decision deadline for Boston University Law School, so confirm the current regular timeline directly on BU 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 November 9 and February 1 dates reflect BU Law's Early Decision page as verified in August 2026. Confirm the current deadlines on Boston University 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 University Law School

Is a 170 LSAT good enough for BU Law?

A 170 is exactly the LSAT median at Boston University Law School, per BU Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, where the middle 50 percent scored 164 to 171. A 170 puts you at the fiftieth percentile, competitive but not a lock. Pair it with a GPA at or above the 3.88 median and you are a strong candidate at BU Law rather than a coin flip.

What GPA do you need to get into BU Law?

Boston University Law School reports a GPA median of 3.88, with a 25th to 75th range of 3.71 to 3.93, in its 2025 ABA 509. Aim for 3.88 or higher. Because BU Law is reverse-splitter friendly, a GPA at the high end of that range can help carry an LSAT in the mid-160s, so a strong transcript is especially valuable at Boston University Law School.

What is BU Law's acceptance rate?

Boston University Law School admitted 12.08% of applicants for the fall 2025 class, extending 953 offers against 7,892 applications, according to BU Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. That rate is lower than several higher-ranked schools in its LSAT band, so Boston University Law School is more selective than its reputation as a strong regional private school suggests.

How many people apply to BU Law each year?

Boston University Law School received 7,892 applications for the fall 2025 entering class, made 953 offers, and enrolled 234 matriculants from the pool for a first-year class of 238, per BU Law's 2025 ABA 509. That large applicant pool against a modest class is what drives Boston University Law School's acceptance rate down to 12.08%.

Does BU Law have binding Early Decision?

Yes, two binding tracks. Boston University Law School runs a Distinguished Scholar Binding Early Decision (deadline November 9) that carries a three-year full-tuition scholarship, and a BU Bound Binding Decision (deadline February 1) that will not be considered for merit aid, per BU Law's Early Decision page. Both require a nonrefundable $1,000 deposit and withdrawal of all pending applications within five days.

How much does BU Law cost per year?

Boston University Law School lists full-time tuition and fees of $71,382, made up of $69,870 in tuition and $1,512 in fees, plus $21,532 in living expenses, in its 2025 ABA 509. BU 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 University Law School.

Does BU Law give merit scholarships?

Yes. Boston University Law School reports that 91% of students receive grant aid, with awards of $20,000, $29,000, and $43,000 at the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles, plus 42 full-tuition and one above-full-tuition award, per BU Law's 2025 ABA 509. These grants blend merit and need aid. Note that the BU Bound Early Decision track forfeits merit consideration entirely at Boston University Law School.

What is BU Law's bar passage rate?

Boston University Law School posted a 94.93% first-time bar passage rate for exam year 2025, with 97.41% in its largest jurisdiction, Massachusetts, according to BU Law's ABA bar-passage report. Its ultimate pass rate, measured two years out for the 2023 cohort, was 96.28%. Both figures are strong and place Boston University Law School well above most state averages.

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

Yes, and it is BU Law's signature outcome. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, Boston University Law School sent 143 graduates, or 48.1%, to large firms of 101 or more lawyers, and 106, or 35.7%, to firms of 501-plus. Nearly half the class enters large-firm practice, a stronger BigLaw share than most schools at Boston University Law School's selectivity.

Where do most BU Law graduates work?

Most stay in Massachusetts. The ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows Boston University Law School placed 149 graduates in Massachusetts, 57 in New York, and 15 in the District of Columbia, a 50.2% top-market share and 74.4% across the top three. Boston University Law School is built for a Boston and Northeast-corridor career.

Can a splitter get into BU Law?

A reverse-splitter has a real path. Lovare reads Boston University Law School as reverse-splitter friendly, with a wide LSAT 25th-to-median spread of six points but a narrow GPA spread of 0.17 in the 2025 ABA 509. That means BU Law forgives a lower LSAT when the GPA is high, so a strong-GPA applicant with an LSAT in the mid-160s is more viable at Boston University Law School than the reverse.

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

More selective than its reputation. Among the 25 leading national law schools within two LSAT points of Boston University Law School's 170 median, Lovare ranks BU Law seventh most selective by acceptance rate. Its 12.08% admit rate is lower than Duke, NYU, Vanderbilt, and Georgetown, all schools that outrank Boston University Law School in name recognition.

Is BU Law worth the cost?

For a large-firm career in the Northeast, yes. Boston University Law School pairs a $71,382 sticker with 91% grant reach, a $29,000 median grant, and a 48.1% large-firm placement rate in the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024. Add a 94.93% first-time bar pass rate, and BU Law's cost is defensible, provided you avoid the merit-forfeiting BU Bound Early Decision track.

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

Scores above the medians, plus the Distinguished Scholar track. Because Boston University Law School spreads merit and need aid across 91% of students, an LSAT above 170 and a GPA above 3.88, near the 171 and 3.93 upper quartiles in BU Law's 2025 ABA 509, position you for larger awards, including the 42 full-tuition grants and the Distinguished Scholar full-tuition Early Decision track at Boston University Law School.

Which BU Law Early Decision track should I choose?

Only the Distinguished Scholar track is worth the binding commitment. That track, due November 9, carries a three-year full-tuition scholarship, while the BU Bound track, due February 1, binds you to enroll but forfeits all merit aid, per BU Law's Early Decision page. Because 91% of Boston University Law School students receive grants, the BU Bound track means surrendering a discount most students get.

Sources

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

Boston University Law School 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report (fall 2025 entering class): https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/AnnualQuestionnaire/GenerateIndividualDisclosure509Report?schoolId=69&year=2025

ABA Employment Summary, Class of 2024: https://www.bu.edu/law/files/2025/04/Class-of-2024-ABA-Summary.pdf

Boston University Law School ABA bar-passage report: https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/BarPassageOutcomes/GenerateIndividualBarPassageReport?schoolId=69&year=2025

Boston University Law School Early Decision program page: https://www.bu.edu/law/admissions-aid/jd-admissions/early-decision-program/

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