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

How to get into Duke Law School starts with two numbers. Duke Law School's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure reports an LSAT median of 171, with the middle 50% from 169 to 172, and a GPA median of 3.91, spanning 3.83 to 3.96. A 171 and 3.91 sit at both medians; below 169 or 3.83, you need a compensating strength.

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 Duke Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report (fall 2025 entering class), the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, and Duke Law School's own admissions pages.

Duke Law School is the T14's most reliable BigLaw machine, and it is a national feeder rather than a regional one. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, 99.3% of Duke Law School graduates were employed at ten months and 77.3% went into firms of 101 or more lawyers, the highest large-firm share among the schools in this series. Its largest market is not North Carolina but New York, which took 40.1% of the class. On price, Duke Law School's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure reports that 94% of students receive a grant, the widest grant reach of any school profiled here, though the awards are broad rather than deep. The thesis of this page is that Duke Law School buys you the surest large-firm outcome in the T14 and puts some money in almost every admitted student's hand, but you should not expect a Penn-sized full ride.

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

Duke Law School is one of the most selective law schools in the country, and one of the most consistent at placing graduates in large firms. According to Duke Law School's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure, the fall 2025 class posted a 171 LSAT median, a 3.91 GPA median, and a 12.88% acceptance rate. Full-time tuition and fees run $81,829.

MetricDuke Law School (fall 2025 entering class)LSAT (25th / 50th / 75th)169 / 171 / 172GPA (25th / 50th / 75th)3.83 / 3.91 / 3.96Acceptance rate12.88%Applications6,240Offers of admission804Matriculants from the pool222First-year class227Full-time tuition and fees$81,829 (tuition $80,100 + fees $1,729)Living expenses$26,116Share receiving grants94%Median grant$35,000Conditional scholarshipsNoFirst-time bar passage97.48%Employed at ten months99.3% (275 of 277)

Source: Duke Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report (fall 2025 entering class), Duke Law School's ABA bar-passage report, and the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024. 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 Duke Law School?

You realistically need a 171 LSAT and a 3.91 GPA to sit at the center of Duke Law School's class. Duke Law School's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure puts the LSAT middle at 169 to 172 and the GPA middle at 3.83 to 3.96. Both bands are tight, so both numbers matter.

Duke Law School reports an LSAT 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile of 169, 171, and 172, and a GPA spread of 3.83, 3.91, and 3.96, in its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. What stands out is how tight both bands are. The entire middle half of Duke Law School's class sits inside a three-point LSAT range and a GPA range of just 0.13, which is a narrow window even by T14 standards. The Duke University law LSAT median of 171 and the Duke University law GPA median of 3.91 describe a class that is remarkably uniform on paper.

That compression has a practical meaning. Because Duke Law School's LSAT band runs only from 169 to 172, there is very little room to be a low-LSAT admit; a 168 already sits below the 25th percentile, and scores much lower than that are hard to place in this class at all. The GPA band tells the same story: a 3.83 marks the bottom quarter, and the 75th percentile of 3.96 is close to perfect. Duke Law School admits a tightly grouped class, so neither number has much slack.

So what does a realistic Duke Law School profile look like? A 171 LSAT and a 3.91 GPA place an applicant exactly at both medians, per Duke Law School's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure, which is the center of the class at a 12.88% acceptance rate. Below the 169 LSAT or the 3.83 GPA, an applicant needs a clear compensating strength on the other number. A 3.7 GPA applicant realistically needs an LSAT at or above the 172 upper quartile to stay in the running, and a 168 LSAT applicant needs a near-perfect GPA and a strong overall Duke Law School file.

On the splitter question, Duke Law School is balanced rather than splitter friendly or reverse-splitter friendly. The GPA spread from the 25th percentile to the median is 0.08 and the LSAT spread is just 2 points, per Duke Law School's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure, so neither number forgives a weak other number by much. A splitter-friendly school forgives a low GPA when the LSAT is high; a reverse-splitter-friendly school forgives a low LSAT when the GPA is high. Duke Law School does neither cleanly, and its unusually tight LSAT band means a soft test score is especially hard to offset. Duke University law admissions rewards applicants who are strong on both numbers at once.

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

No, and this surprises people. Duke Law School's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure reports a 12.88% acceptance rate, which ranks thirteenth among the twenty-six leading schools clustered around its 171 LSAT median. Its T14 reputation says elite; its admit rate sits squarely in the middle of its band.

To size up Duke Law School's selectivity fairly, compare it only against schools with a similar academic profile. Among the twenty-six leading national law schools whose median LSAT falls within two points of Duke Law School's 171, that is a median of 169 to 173, ranked by acceptance rate, Duke Law School is the thirteenth most selective, right at the midpoint. Ranked from most to least selective, the band runs: Stanford University at 6.1%, the University of Pennsylvania (Carey) at 8.1%, the University of Michigan at 8.6%, the University of Virginia at 10.2%, the University of Southern California at 11.0%, USC (Gould) at 11.2%, Columbia University at 11.8%, UCLA at 12.1%, Boston University at 12.1%, Texas A&M University at 12.1%, Northwestern University (Pritzker) at 12.3%, the University of Georgia at 12.7%, Duke University at 12.88%, Vanderbilt University at 13.3%, New York University at 13.4%, the University of Texas at Austin at 14.0%, UC Berkeley at 14.8%, the University of Florida at 14.9%, UC Irvine at 14.9%, Georgetown University at 15.8%, George Mason University (Scalia) at 16.0%, the University of Notre Dame at 16.1%, the University of Florida (Levin) at 16.5%, Cornell University at 18.2%, Brigham Young University at 22.8%, and the University of Minnesota at 26.7%.

Here is the honest read. Duke Law School carries a firmly elite T14 reputation, but on the one metric that measures how hard an offer is to win, it sits at the middle of its academic band, thirteenth of twenty-six. The reason is structural. Duke Law School runs an offer-heavy, low-yield strategy: its 2025 ABA 509 disclosure shows 804 offers against a first-year class of 227, so it extends far more offers than seats to defend against losing cross-admits to higher-ranked rivals. That inflates the Duke University law acceptance rate to 12.88% even though the class that enrolls posts a 171 median. So Duke Law School is not harder to get into than its reputation; if anything an offer is more attainable than the T14 halo suggests, while the enrolled numbers stay strong and the outcomes stay elite.

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

Yes. Duke Law School offers binding Early Decision in two rounds. According to Duke Law School's own admissions pages, Round I closes November 1 and Round II January 3, a nonrefundable $500 deposit is due within ten days of admission, and you must immediately withdraw every other law-school application.

Duke Law School runs a binding Early Decision program in two rounds, and unlike some peers it publishes the mechanics plainly. According to Duke Law School's own admissions pages, Round I closes on November 1 and Round II on January 3. An applicant admitted through either round must pay a nonrefundable $500 deposit within ten days of admission, must immediately withdraw all other law-school applications, and must submit no new applications elsewhere. That is a hard, enforceable commitment to enroll at Duke Law School.

The strategy follows from Duke Law School's low yield. Because Duke Law School enrolls only 27.6% of the students it admits, a binding Early Decision commitment is unusually valuable to it, and applicants who use it are signaling exactly the certainty Duke Law School wants. For the right candidate, binding Early Decision can be a genuine boost. The cost is real, though: committing early to Duke Law School means giving up the ability to compare admission offers and merit awards from other schools, and because Duke Law School awards merit aid, that forfeited leverage can be worth real money. Only apply Early Decision if Duke Law School is a clear, first-choice bet.

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

Duke Law School's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure lists full-time tuition and fees at $81,829 and living expenses at $26,116, with no combined cost-of-attendance total printed. Duke Law School awards merit and need-based grants to 94% of students, the widest reach in this series, though the awards are broad rather than deep.

Start with the sticker. Duke Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure lists full-time tuition and fees at $81,829, made up of $80,100 in tuition and $1,729 in fees, and separately lists living expenses at $26,116, the lowest living line among the schools in this series, reflecting Durham's cheaper cost of living. That 509 does not print a single combined cost-of-attendance total, so any all-in figure quoted elsewhere is someone's arithmetic, not a number Duke Law School reports, and this page will not invent one.

Now the aid, where Duke Law School has a distinctive shape. Duke Law School awards both merit and need-based grants, and according to its 2025 ABA 509 disclosure, 94% of students receive a grant, the widest grant reach of any school profiled in this series. Almost no one at Duke Law School pays full sticker. The grant amounts, however, are modest: the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles are $27,000, $35,000, and $40,000, so even a top-quartile award covers less than half of the $81,829 sticker.

That is the trade-off to understand about Duke Law School: its aid is broad but shallow. Duke Law School's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure reports just 2 full-tuition awards and 0 awards above full tuition, a stark contrast with University of Pennsylvania Law School, which hands out 96 full-tuition grants to a smaller 59% of its class. Duke Law School spreads money to nearly everyone in smaller amounts; Penn concentrates it into a large pool of full rides. A numbers-strong applicant who wants a full-tuition scholarship will find far better odds at Penn Carey Law than at Duke Law School.

For a typical grant recipient, the math runs like this. Against the $81,829 sticker for tuition and fees, a student receiving Duke Law School's median grant of $35,000 nets about $46,829 in tuition and fees before living costs, using figures from Duke Law School's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure. Duke Law School also reports that its scholarships are not conditional, so a grant cannot be cut for landing in the bottom of the class curve, per the same disclosure. The award an admitted student is quoted at Duke Law School is the award they keep.

The strategic consequence is nuanced. Because Duke Law School awards merit aid, stronger numbers help both admission and the size of the grant, and a 94% grant rate means an admitted applicant can plan on some discount almost regardless of profile. What a strong applicant should not plan on is a full ride: with only 2 full-tuition awards, Duke Law School rarely erases the whole bill. Treat a Duke Law School grant as a reliable partial discount, and if a full scholarship is the priority, weigh Duke Law School against schools with deeper full-ride pools.

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

Genuinely live, more than at most elite peers. Duke Law School's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure records 804 offers and 222 matriculants from the pool, an implied yield of 27.6%. No ABA disclosure publishes waitlist admits, so that low yield is the honest proxy: Duke Law School leans heavily on later rounds.

Here is the reasoning in full. Duke Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure reports 804 offers of admission and 222 matriculants drawn from that applicant pool, which is an implied yield of 27.6%. No ABA disclosure, Duke Law School'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 a school converts barely more than a quarter of its offers into enrollments, it is sending roughly three and a half offers for every seat and planning for most admitted students to enroll elsewhere.

That low yield is the best waitlist news among the schools in this series. Because Duke Law School keeps only 27.6% of its admits, it routinely loses cross-admits to higher-ranked rivals and must backfill the class from its waitlist to hit its target. Compared with Penn Carey Law at 39.1%, Harvard at 59.2%, or Yale at 77.4%, Duke Law School leans hardest on later rounds. A waitlist spot at Duke Law School is therefore a real, live possibility rather than a courtesy, and an applicant held there has legitimate reason to stay engaged and send a strong letter of continued interest.

One honest note on the class figures. Duke Law School's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure lists 222 matriculants from the applicant pool but a first-year class of 227. The small gap reflects students who arrive through paths other than this single cycle's pool, such as admits who deferred from a prior year. The 27.6% implied yield is computed from the 222 pool matriculants against the 804 offers, which is the correct comparison for reasoning about this cycle's waitlist odds at Duke Law School.

Where do Duke Law School graduates actually work?

In large firms, and across the whole country. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, New York took 40.1% of Duke Law School graduates and the top three markets 59.6%. Firms of 101-plus lawyers hired 77.3%, the highest large-firm share among the schools in this series.

The most useful fact about Duke Law School's employment outcomes is that they are national, not regional. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, Duke Law School placed 111 graduates in New York, 29 in the District of Columbia, and 25 in California, its three largest markets. New York alone absorbed 40.1% of the class, the highest single-market share in this series, and North Carolina, where the school sits, does not even crack the top three. Duke Law School sends its graduates out into the national market, led hard by New York, rather than feeding the local Durham or Raleigh bar.

By employer type, Duke Law School is the most reliable BigLaw machine in this group. The ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows 214 Duke Law School graduates, 77.3%, taking jobs at firms of 101 or more lawyers, and 188 of those, 67.9% of the class, at the very largest firms of 501 or more lawyers. More than three of every four Duke Law School graduates go straight into a large firm, the highest large-firm share among the schools profiled here, ahead of even Penn Carey Law's 69.4%.

Clerkships fill out the picture. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, 29 Duke Law School graduates, 10.5% of the class, went into federal clerkships, a middle result that sits above Penn Carey Law's 8.2% and below Harvard's 18.0%. So Duke Law School is not a clerkship-first school, but it places a respectable slice of its class on the federal bench while sending the clear majority into firm practice.

Overall placement is near perfect. The ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows 275 of 277 Duke Law School graduates employed at the ten-month mark, a 99.3% employment rate, and Duke Law School's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure reports first-year academic attrition of 1.0%, meaning almost no one who starts washes out academically. Near-total employment is expected at this level, so it is the mix, not the rate, that distinguishes Duke Law School.

The reason to weigh Duke Law School on concentration and mix rather than the headline rate is that its 99.3% employment number mirrors its peers while its destinations do not. Duke Law School's specific answer to where a degree leads is a large firm, most likely in New York, reached from a Durham campus that functions as a national launchpad. An applicant who wants the surest possible large-firm outcome and is happy to relocate to New York or another major market is buying exactly what Duke Law School sells; an applicant hoping to practice locally in North Carolina should note that Duke Law School's own graduates mostly leave the state.

When are Duke Law School's application deadlines?

Duke Law School runs binding Early Decision and a regular cycle. According to Duke Law School's own admissions pages, Early Decision Round I closes November 1 and Round II January 3. Cycle dates shift year to year, so confirm the current deadlines on Duke Law School's site before you rely on them.

Duke Law School gives applicants two binding Early Decision windows plus the regular cycle. According to Duke Law School's own admissions pages, Early Decision Round I is due November 1 and Round II January 3, and both bind an admitted applicant to enroll, pay the nonrefundable $500 deposit within ten days, and withdraw all other applications. An applicant certain that Duke Law School is the first choice can use one of those rounds; everyone else applies in the regular cycle, which Duke Law School does not reduce to a single fixed date this page can pin down beyond the Early Decision anchors.

One caveat applies to every date on this page. Application cycle timelines shift from year to year, and a November 1 or January 3 date correct for one cycle can move in the next. The Early Decision windows stated here reflect Duke Law School's own admissions pages as verified in August 2026. Before relying on them, confirm the current deadlines directly on Duke Law School's site, because a page like this one is a planning aid, not the registrar of record.

Frequently asked questions about getting into Duke Law School

Is a 171 LSAT good enough for Duke Law School?

A 171 is exactly Duke Law School's LSAT median in its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, so it makes you competitive, not safe. Half of the fall 2025 class scored 171 or higher, within a tight 169 to 172 middle range. At a 12.88% acceptance rate, a 171 applicant to Duke Law School still needs a solid GPA and a distinctive file to turn the number into an offer.

What GPA do you need to get into Duke Law School?

Duke Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure reports a GPA median of 3.91, a 25th percentile of 3.83, and a 75th percentile of 3.96. The middle half of Duke Law School's class sits in that narrow 3.83 to 3.96 band. Realistically you want a GPA at or above 3.83, and anything lower needs an LSAT at or above the 172 upper quartile to offset it at Duke Law School.

What is Duke Law School's acceptance rate?

Duke Law School's acceptance rate is 12.88%, computed as 804 offers against 6,240 applications in its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. That places Duke Law School thirteenth among the twenty-six leading schools within two LSAT points of its 171 median, right at the midpoint. The rate is lifted by Duke Law School's offer-heavy, low-yield strategy rather than any weakness in the enrolled class.

How many people apply to Duke Law School each year?

Duke Law School received 6,240 applications for its fall 2025 entering class, according to its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. From that pool, Duke Law School extended 804 offers and enrolled 222 matriculants, building a first-year class of 227. The large number of offers relative to the small class is what produces both the 12.88% acceptance rate and the low 27.6% yield at Duke Law School.

Does Duke Law School have binding Early Decision?

Yes. Duke Law School offers binding Early Decision in two rounds, with Round I due November 1 and Round II January 3, according to its own admissions pages. An admitted applicant must pay a nonrefundable $500 deposit within ten days, withdraw all other law-school applications, and file no new ones. Only commit through Early Decision if Duke Law School is a clear first choice.

How much does Duke Law School cost per year?

Duke Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure lists full-time tuition and fees at $81,829, which is $80,100 in tuition plus $1,729 in fees, and living expenses at $26,116. Duke Law School does not publish a single combined cost-of-attendance total, so this page will not quote one. A student receiving Duke Law School's median grant of $35,000 nets about $46,829 in tuition and fees before living costs.

Does Duke Law School give merit scholarships?

Yes. Duke Law School awards both merit and need-based grants, and per its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, 94% of students receive one, the widest reach in this series. The awards are modest, though, with quartiles of $27,000, $35,000, and $40,000 and only 2 full-tuition grants. At Duke Law School, expect a near-guaranteed partial discount rather than a likely full ride.

What is Duke Law School's bar passage rate?

Duke Law School's ABA bar-passage report shows a first-time pass rate of 97.48% for the 2024 exam year, with a 95.9% rate in its largest jurisdiction, New York. The ultimate pass rate, measured two years out for the 2022 cohort, is 99.06%. In short, nearly every Duke Law School graduate who sits for a bar exam ends up passing it.

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

Yes, more than at any school in this series. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, 214 Duke Law School graduates (77.3%) took jobs at firms of 101 or more lawyers, and 188 of those (67.9% of the class) landed at firms of 501 or more lawyers. Large-firm practice is overwhelmingly the most common outcome for Duke Law School graduates.

Where do most Duke Law School graduates work?

Most Duke Law School graduates work outside North Carolina. The ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows New York taking 111 graduates (40.1%), the District of Columbia 29, and California 25, so the top three markets account for 59.6% of the class. Duke Law School is a national feeder led by New York, and its home state does not rank among the top three markets.

Can a splitter get into Duke Law School?

It is hard, because Duke Law School is balanced with an unusually tight LSAT band. Its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure shows a GPA 25th-to-median spread of 0.08 and an LSAT spread of just 2 points, so neither number offsets a weak other number by much. A splitter with a high LSAT and a low GPA, or the reverse, has a tougher time at Duke Law School than at a school with wider bands.

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

Duke Law School is the thirteenth most selective of twenty-six schools in its LSAT band, right at the middle. Among the leading national schools with a median LSAT within two points of Duke Law School's 171, ranked by acceptance rate, its 12.88% trails Stanford, Penn, Michigan, Virginia, and several others, per its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. By admit rate, Duke Law School is mid-band, not the hardest in its cluster.

Is Duke Law School worth the cost?

For most admitted students, yes. Against an $81,829 tuition and fees sticker in Duke Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, 94% of students receive a grant, and the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows 99.3% of Duke Law School graduates employed at ten months, with 77.3% in large firms. The near-universal aid and the top large-firm placement make Duke Law School's cost defensible.

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

Numbers above the medians. Because Duke Law School awards merit aid, an LSAT above 171 and a GPA above 3.91, per its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, improve both admission and grant size. Realistically, though, Duke Law School's awards top out around the $40,000 upper quartile with only 2 full rides, so strong numbers buy a bigger partial grant at Duke Law School, not a likely full-tuition scholarship.

Sources

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

Duke Law School 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report (fall 2025 entering class): https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/AnnualQuestionnaire/GenerateIndividualDisclosure509Report?schoolId=109&year=2025

ABA Employment Summary, Class of 2024: https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/EmploymentOutcomes/GenerateIndividualEQSummaryReport?schoolId=109&year=2024

Duke Law School ABA bar-passage report: https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/BarPassageOutcomes/GenerateIndividualBarPassageReport?schoolId=109&year=2025

Duke Law School Early Decision page: https://law.duke.edu/admis/apply/early/

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