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

The short answer to how to get into Catholic Law School is to clear the medians in Catholic Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure: a 161 LSAT and a 3.68 GPA. The middle 50 percent of the entering class scored 158 to 163 on the LSAT and earned 3.46 to 3.85 in GPA. Hit both medians and you are a competitive applicant.

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. Admissions figures on this page come from Catholic Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report for the fall 2025 entering class, employment figures from the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, and bar passage and other details from Catholic Law's own published ABA reports and pages.

Based in Washington, DC, Catholic Law School produces outcomes that mirror its location. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, Catholic Law placed 37.3% of graduates in the District of Columbia and 69.0% across the District, Maryland, and Virginia, one of the tightest capital-region clusters in the country. Catholic Law is not a national large-firm feeder: the same summary shows only 14.3% of graduates at firms of 101 or more lawyers. What Catholic Law offers instead is a Washington-region network paired with near-universal tuition discounting, with 99% of students receiving grant aid in Catholic Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. The thesis of this page is that Catholic Law School is a capital-market school, priced with broad but partial scholarships, and best judged by where it places rather than by any single admit rate.

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

Catholic Law School posts a 161 LSAT median, a 3.68 GPA median, and a 32.4% acceptance rate in Catholic Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. Full-time tuition and fees run $63,280, and 99% of students receive a grant, though the median award is a partial one. The table below collects the headline admissions, cost, and outcome numbers for the fall 2025 entering class.

MetricCatholic Law School (fall 2025 entering class)LSAT (25th / 50th / 75th)158 / 161 / 163GPA (25th / 50th / 75th)3.46 / 3.68 / 3.85Acceptance rate32.4%Applications1,867Offers of admission605Matriculants from the applicant pool179First-year class182 (139 full-time + 43 part-time)Full-time tuition and fees$63,280Living expenses$32,374Share receiving grants99%Median grant$26,000Conditional scholarshipsYes (an award can be reduced or cut for grades)First-time bar passage83.08%Employed at ten months94.4% (119 of 126)

Source: Catholic Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report for the fall 2025 entering class, with employment from the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 and bar passage from Catholic Law's ABA bar-passage report. The 509 prints tuition and living expenses separately and does not publish a single combined cost-of-attendance total, so this page does not sum them into an all-in figure.

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

Catholic Law School reports an LSAT spread of 158 to 163 and a GPA spread of 3.46 to 3.85 in its 2025 ABA 509 disclosure. A 161 LSAT and a 3.68 GPA sit at both medians. Below the 158 LSAT or the 3.46 GPA, an applicant needs a clear compensating strength on the other number.

Catholic Law School reports an LSAT 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile of 158, 161, and 163, and a GPA 25th, 50th, and 75th of 3.46, 3.68, and 3.85 for the fall 2025 entering class, per Catholic Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. The median is the fiftieth percentile: half of the enrolled class scored above 161 on the LSAT and above 3.68 in GPA, and half scored below. A median is a target rather than a hard cutoff, but at Catholic Law both medians define the center of the class, and the numbers that land you cleanly above them are the numbers that make an application easy to admit.

The LSAT band at Catholic Law School is compact. From the 25th percentile of 158 to the median of 161 is a three-point gap, and from the median to the 75th of 163 is only two more points. That tight five-point range from bottom quartile to top quartile tells you Catholic Law admits close to its number: a 158 is a genuine admit range, the bottom of the middle 50 percent, but it wants a GPA at or above the 3.68 median to carry the file. A 163, the 75th percentile, moves you into the comfortable range and improves both your admit odds and your scholarship position.

The GPA band runs from 3.46 at the 25th to 3.85 at the 75th, a spread of 0.39. A 3.46 is a solid college record but sits at the bottom quartile for Catholic Law School, so it wants LSAT support at or above 161. Read the two bands together and they describe a class with strong-but-attainable numbers, which points directly to how Catholic Law treats an imbalanced file.

That shape makes Catholic Law School splitter friendly. Lovare's read of the 509 spreads shows a GPA 25th-to-median spread of 0.22 and an LSAT 25th-to-median spread of three points. A splitter-friendly school forgives a lower GPA when the LSAT is high; a reverse-splitter-friendly school forgives a lower LSAT when the GPA is high. Catholic Law leans splitter: a high LSAT of 163 or better paired with a GPA below the 3.46 bottom quartile has a real path, while a strong GPA with an LSAT under 158 is the tougher sell. If your LSAT is your stronger number, Catholic Law School is a school worth targeting.

Is Catholic Law School harder to get into than its reputation?

Catholic Law School sits about where its reputation places it. Among the 38 ABA law schools whose median LSAT is within two points of Catholic Law's 161, ranked by acceptance rate, Catholic Law is the 16th most selective, per Lovare's analysis of the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures. That is the middle of its band, neither a hidden reach nor a soft admit.

Reputation places Catholic Law School among the established regional-national private schools, a Washington, DC institution with a long history and a capital-market focus, and its 161 LSAT median fits that tier. To test whether the admit gate is tighter or looser than the name suggests, Lovare built a peer band of the 38 ABA law schools whose median LSAT falls within two points of Catholic Law's 161, that is, a median of 159 to 163, then ranked them by acceptance rate from the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures. By that ranking, Catholic Law School comes in 16th of 38, squarely in the middle third of its band.

What that means for you is reassuring in its ordinariness. Catholic Law School is not one of those schools whose admit rate runs far below its band peers, so a 32.4% acceptance rate is not hiding a stealth reach. Nor is it near the bottom of the band on selectivity, so it is not a school you can treat as a certainty at the medians. The honest read is that Catholic Law's admit gate matches its academic profile: clear the 161 LSAT and 3.68 GPA medians and you are a strong candidate, sit below both and you are relying on the rest of the file. Catholic Law School behaves like exactly the school its numbers describe.

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

Catholic Law School charges $63,280 in full-time tuition and fees, per Catholic Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure, plus $32,374 in living expenses. Ninety-nine percent of students receive a grant, with a median award of $26,000. A student receiving that median grant nets about $37,280 in tuition and fees before living costs.

Catholic Law School is a full-freight private school on sticker, and the 509 shows it. Catholic Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure lists full-time tuition and fees at $63,280 and living expenses at $32,374. 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 rather than a figure Catholic Law reports, and this page will not invent one.

Where Catholic Law School stands out is the reach of its aid. According to the same 509, 99% of Catholic Law students receive grant aid, with awards at the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles of $15,727, $26,000, and $45,000. That near-universal reach is the good news. The caution is depth: Catholic Law reports zero full-tuition awards and a single award above full tuition, so almost no student attends free, and the median discount of $26,000 covers a little over 40 percent of the $63,280 sticker. Nearly everyone gets money, but the money is partial.

For a typical recipient, the math works out like this. Against the $63,280 sticker, a student receiving Catholic Law School's median grant of $26,000 nets about $37,280 in tuition and fees before living costs, using figures from Catholic Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure. An applicant whose numbers reach the 75th percentiles of 163 LSAT and 3.85 GPA is positioned for the $45,000 upper-quartile award, which would cut the net to roughly $18,280 before living costs.

One consumer warning matters at Catholic Law School: its scholarships are conditional. Per Catholic Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure, an award can be reduced or eliminated if your grades fall below the threshold the school sets, which means the number in your admission letter is not guaranteed for all three years. Before you count that money, ask the Catholic Law admissions office in writing what class-rank or grade threshold applies, how many students fall below it in a typical first year, and what share keep the full award into the second and third years. A conditional scholarship you lose after a curved first year can turn an affordable offer into a full-freight one.

What are your real chances off the Catholic Law School waitlist?

Catholic Law School does not disclose waitlist offers or admits, and no ABA report does. The honest proxy is implied yield: 179 matriculants against 605 offers is a 29.6% yield in Catholic Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure. That is a moderate yield, so Catholic Law fills much of its class from first-round offers while leaving some room the waitlist can fill.

Here is the reasoning in full. Catholic Law School enrolled 179 matriculants from 605 offers in its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, an implied yield of 29.6%. No ABA disclosure, Catholic 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 roughly three in ten admitted students enroll, a school extends more offers than seats and depends on predictable melt, which usually means the waitlist is a live but secondary tool rather than the main way the class is built.

A 29.6% yield is moderate, which puts Catholic 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 Catholic Law, that means real but limited hope: some cycles will see movement, others little, and the outcome turns on how the deposited class lands in a given year.

If you land on the Catholic Law School waitlist, the play is the standard one: send a concise letter of continued interest naming Catholic Law as a top choice, add any new LSAT score or improved grades, and keep another acceptance in hand as your real plan. One honest note on the class figures: Catholic Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure lists 179 matriculants from the applicant pool but a first-year class of 182, made up of 139 full-time and 43 part-time students. 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 29.6% implied yield is computed from the 179 pool matriculants against the 605 offers, which is the correct comparison for reasoning about this cycle's waitlist odds at Catholic Law School.

Where do Catholic Law School graduates actually work?

In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, Catholic Law School placed 37.3% of graduates in the District of Columbia and 69.0% across the District, Maryland, and Virginia. Large firms of 101 or more lawyers took 14.3% of graduates, and federal clerkships took 2.4%. Catholic Law is a concentrated Washington-region school rather than a national large-firm feeder.

Catholic Law School's employment profile leads with geography, and the geography is the capital region. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, Catholic Law placed 47 graduates in the District of Columbia, 23 in Maryland, and 17 in Virginia. That is a 37.3% top-market share and a 69.0% top-three share: more than a third of the class works in Washington itself, and better than two in three work within the District, Maryland, and Virginia together. If your target is the Washington legal market, Catholic Law School's network points straight at it. If your target is New York, Chicago, or the West Coast, that same 69.0% concentration is a signal that Catholic Law's reach runs local rather than national.

Why lead with concentration rather than the raw employment rate? Because the rate barely separates peer schools. Catholic Law School reported 119 of 126 graduates employed at ten months, or 94.4%, in the same ABA Employment Summary, which is strong but similar across its band. Where graduates actually land is the number that predicts fit, and at Catholic Law that number is emphatically regional.

On firm outcomes, Catholic Law School is a modest large-firm feeder. The ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows 14.3% of Catholic Law graduates taking jobs at large firms of 101 or more lawyers. That is a real but minority share, and it tells you the majority of the class builds careers in smaller firms, government, public interest, and the many federal and District agencies that anchor the Washington market. If a large-firm salary is your primary goal, Catholic Law School can get you there, but it is not the high-percentage bet that a national BigLaw feeder offers.

Federal work rounds out the picture. The ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows 2.4% of Catholic Law School graduates entering federal clerkships, a small share that fits a regional school whose government pipeline runs more through agency and District practice than through the federal courts. Read the whole profile together and Catholic Law School is best understood as a Washington-region school: choose it if you want to practice in the District, Maryland, or Virginia, and weigh it carefully if your ambitions lie elsewhere.

When are Catholic Law School's application deadlines?

Catholic Law School's specific application deadlines and any Early Decision terms are not confirmed here for the current cycle. If you are planning a cycle, confirm the current regular-decision deadline and any binding or non-binding Early Decision option directly on Catholic Law's admissions site, because those dates shift from year to year and this page will not state a date it cannot verify.

Catholic Law School, like most ABA law schools, runs a rolling admissions cycle that typically opens in the early fall and reviews files as they are completed, which rewards applying early in the window when more seats and more scholarship money remain. That general rhythm is standard across the market, but the exact opening date, the priority and final deadlines, and whether Catholic Law offers an Early Decision track with specific terms are details this page did not verify from a primary source. Rather than print a date that might be wrong, this page dates what it can confirm and points you to the school for the rest.

The practical takeaway for Catholic Law School applicants is to treat the calendar as a competitive variable, not an afterthought. Because rolling review favors early complete files, aim to have your LSAT taken, your transcripts and letters in, and your application submitted as early in the cycle as your materials allow. Confirm the current deadlines and any Early Decision terms on Catholic Law School's admissions page before you rely on them, because a page like this one is a planning aid verified in August 2026, not the registrar of record.

Frequently asked questions about getting into Catholic Law School

Is a 161 LSAT good enough for Catholic Law?

A 161 is exactly the LSAT median at Catholic Law School, per Catholic Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, where the middle 50 percent scored 158 to 163. A 161 puts you at the fiftieth percentile, competitive but not a lock. Pair it with a GPA at or above the 3.68 median and you are a strong candidate at Catholic Law School.

What GPA do you need to get into Catholic Law?

Catholic Law School reports a GPA median of 3.68, with a 25th-to-75th range of 3.46 to 3.85, in its 2025 ABA 509 disclosure. Aim for 3.68 or higher. Because Catholic Law is splitter friendly, a strong LSAT can help carry a GPA in the low-3.4s, but a transcript at or above 3.68 keeps your file comfortably inside the class Catholic Law School enrolls.

What is Catholic Law's acceptance rate?

Catholic Law School admitted 32.4% of applicants for the fall 2025 class, extending 605 offers against 1,867 applications, according to Catholic Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. Among the 38 schools within two points of its 161 LSAT median, that ranks Catholic Law School 16th most selective, right in the middle of its band rather than unusually tight or unusually open.

How many people apply to Catholic Law each year?

Catholic Law School received 1,867 applications for the fall 2025 entering class, made 605 offers, and enrolled 179 matriculants from the pool for a first-year class of 182, per Catholic Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure. That pool against those offers produces the 32.4% acceptance rate and a 29.6% implied yield at Catholic Law School.

How much does Catholic Law cost per year?

Catholic Law School lists full-time tuition and fees of $63,280 plus living expenses of $32,374 in its 2025 ABA 509 disclosure. Catholic 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. Nearly all students offset the tuition with a grant at Catholic Law School.

Does Catholic Law give scholarships?

Yes, and almost everyone gets one. Catholic Law School reports that 99% of students receive grant aid, with awards of $15,727, $26,000, and $45,000 at the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles, per Catholic Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure. The reach is near-universal, but the awards are partial: Catholic Law School reports zero full-tuition awards and only one award above full tuition.

Are Catholic Law scholarships conditional?

Yes. Catholic Law School uses conditional scholarships, per Catholic Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure, which means a first-year award can be reduced or eliminated if your grades fall below the school's threshold. Before you count the money, ask the Catholic Law School admissions office in writing what threshold applies and what share of students keep the full award into the second and third years.

What is Catholic Law's bar passage rate?

Catholic Law School posted an 83.08% first-time bar passage rate for exam year 2024, with the District of Columbia as its largest jurisdiction, according to Catholic Law's ABA bar-passage report. Its ultimate pass rate for the 2022 cohort, measured about two years out, was 89.91%. Both figures are solid, and the gap shows most who do not pass on the first try eventually clear the Catholic Law School bar.

Where do most Catholic Law graduates work?

Most stay in the capital region. The ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows Catholic Law School placed 47 graduates in the District of Columbia, 23 in Maryland, and 17 in Virginia, a 37.3% top-market share and 69.0% across the top three. Catholic Law School has one of the most concentrated Washington-region placement profiles of any school in its band.

Can a splitter get into Catholic Law?

A splitter has a real path. Lovare reads Catholic Law School as splitter friendly, with a GPA 25th-to-median spread of 0.22 and an LSAT spread of three points in the 2025 ABA 509 disclosure. That means Catholic Law forgives a lower GPA when the LSAT is high, so a high-LSAT applicant with a sub-3.46 GPA is more viable at Catholic Law School than a high-GPA applicant with a sub-158 LSAT.

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

Catholic Law School ranks 16th most selective of the 38 ABA schools within two points of its 161 LSAT median, by acceptance rate in the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures, per Lovare's analysis. That is the middle of the band. Catholic Law School is neither a stealth reach hiding behind a friendly-looking rate nor a school you can treat as a lock at the medians.

Is Catholic Law worth the cost?

For the Washington market, it can be. Catholic Law School pairs a $63,280 sticker with 99% grant reach, a 94.4% employment rate at ten months, and an 83.08% first-time bar pass rate, per Catholic Law's 2025 ABA 509 and the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024. The value is strongest for applicants who win an above-median grant and want to practice in the District, Maryland, or Virginia.

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

Numbers above the medians. Because Catholic Law School reports its 75th-percentile grant at $45,000 for students near the 163 LSAT and 3.85 GPA upper quartiles, an application above the 161 and 3.68 medians positions you for the larger awards, per Catholic Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure. Remember that Catholic Law School scholarships are conditional, so protect the award with a strong first year.

What is Catholic Law's first-year attrition rate?

Catholic Law School reported 4.0% first-year academic attrition in its 2025 ABA 509 disclosure, meaning a small share of the entering class did not continue for academic reasons. That figure matters most alongside the conditional-scholarship policy at Catholic Law School, because the same curved first-year grading that ends an award for some students is what a handful fall below entirely.

Sources

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

Catholic Law School 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report (fall 2025 entering class): https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/AnnualQuestionnaire/GenerateIndividualDisclosure509Report?schoolId=29&year=2025

Catholic Law School ABA bar-passage report: https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/BarPassageOutcomes/GenerateIndividualBarPassageReport?schoolId=29&year=2025

ABA Employment Summary, Class of 2024: https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/EmploymentOutcomes/GenerateIndividualEQSummaryReport?schoolId=29&year=2024

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