Law Schools in Georgia + LSAT Prep (2026 Guide)

Georgia has five ABA accredited law schools: the University of Georgia, Emory University, Georgia State University, Mercer University, and Atlanta's John Marshall Law School. Their median LSATs span 152 to 169 in the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures, so scores from the low 150s to the high 160s all open a real door somewhere in Georgia.

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 median, acceptance rate, and full-time tuition figure on this page comes from each Georgia school's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure for the fall 2025 entering class, and the bar exam status comes from the NCBE.

What law schools are in Georgia?

Georgia has five ABA accredited law schools, enough to give applicants a genuine range from a highly selective public flagship to accessible private options. The University of Georgia anchors the top of the state on selectivity, Emory University is the high-priced national private school, Georgia State University is the low-tuition public option in Atlanta, Mercer University sits in the middle, and Atlanta's John Marshall Law School is the most accessible by median. The table below gathers the median LSAT, acceptance rate, and full-time tuition for each Georgia law school, and every figure in it comes from that school's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure for the fall 2025 entering class.

SchoolMedian LSATAcceptance rateFull-time tuitionUniversity of Georgia16912.7%$18,044Emory University16630.1%$69,510Georgia State University16030.6%$16,162Mercer University15737.8%$44,782Atlanta's John Marshall Law School15232.7%$52,536

Source: each figure above is from that Georgia school's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure for the fall 2025 entering class. The tuition column shows one of the most useful facts about legal education in Georgia: the two public schools, Georgia State University at $16,162 and the University of Georgia at $18,044, carry full-time tuition far below the private schools, with Emory University at $69,510, Atlanta's John Marshall Law School at $52,536, and Mercer University at $44,782. For a Georgia applicant, that means the most selective in-state school, the University of Georgia, is also among the least expensive, which is an unusually favorable combination.

The acceptance rates add a second dimension to that picture. Across Georgia, the University of Georgia is by far the most selective at a 12.7% admit rate, while the other four schools cluster much higher: Emory University at 30.1%, Georgia State University at 30.6%, Atlanta's John Marshall Law School at 32.7%, and Mercer University at 37.8%, all per their 2025 ABA 509 disclosures. That spread tells a Georgia applicant that after the University of Georgia, the in-state schools admit roughly a third or more of their applicants, so a balanced Georgia list can pair one reach with several genuine targets rather than a row of long shots.

What LSAT and GPA do you need for law school in Georgia?

In-state median LSATs in Georgia run from 152 to 169 across the five schools, according to their 2025 ABA 509 disclosures. The University of Georgia posts the highest median at 169 and is also the most selective school in Georgia, admitting just 12.7% of applicants. At the other end, Atlanta's John Marshall Law School posts the lowest median at 152, and Mercer University reports the highest acceptance rate in the state at 37.8%. Between those poles sit Emory University at a 166 median and Georgia State University at 160.

The guiding rule is that a score at or above a school's median is competitive there, and a score below it leans on the rest of your file. A 169 or higher is competitive at the University of Georgia, the top-median school in Georgia, per its 2025 ABA 509 disclosure, though its 12.7% acceptance rate means even median-level applicants face real competition. A 166 tracks the Emory University median, a 160 the Georgia State University median, and a 157 the Mercer University median. A score in the low to mid 150s, at or above the 152 median at Atlanta's John Marshall Law School, is exactly where that school admits applicants.

The point that matters most for a Georgia applicant with a lower score is that the state has real options at every level. A mid 150s score does not shut you out of Georgia. It puts Mercer University, where the 157 median meets a 37.8% acceptance rate, and Atlanta's John Marshall Law School, at a 152 median, squarely in range, while keeping Georgia State University at 160 as a reachable target. A score in the low 160s makes Georgia State University a strong bet and Emory University or the University of Georgia live reaches. The 509 disclosures report LSAT and GPA separately and do not publish a single admissions index, so this page does not invent a combined cutoff for any Georgia school.

For building an actual Georgia application list, the five medians sort into clear tiers. The University of Georgia and Emory University, at 169 and 166, are the reach tier for most applicants and the target tier only for those with scores in the high 160s. Georgia State University at 160 is the classic target for a mid 160s applicant and a reach for someone in the high 150s. Mercer University at 157 and Atlanta's John Marshall Law School at 152 are the target and likely tiers for applicants in the low to mid 150s. A Georgia applicant who maps a score against these tiers can build a list with a reach, a target, and a likely admit without ever leaving the state.

On GPA, the same 2025 ABA 509 disclosures report the number separately from the LSAT and do not publish a single Georgia cutoff, so this page does not invent one. What the spreads show is that the splitter-friendly Georgia State University and Mercer University admit applicants below their GPA medians when the LSAT is strong, so a Georgia applicant with a softer transcript but a solid score still has real in-state targets. A strong GPA, by contrast, does its most valuable work at the reverse-splitter-friendly University of Georgia and Emory University, where the LSAT spreads show those schools reaching down for applicants whose transcripts stand out.

Which Georgia law schools are splitter friendly?

A splitter is an applicant with a high LSAT and a lower GPA, and a reverse splitter is the opposite: a strong GPA carrying a lower LSAT. A school is splitter friendly when it forgives a lower GPA for a high LSAT, and reverse-splitter friendly when it forgives a lower LSAT for a strong GPA. Georgia has schools of both types, computed from the 2025 ABA 509 percentile spreads, so most unbalanced applicants can find an in-state fit.

Two Georgia schools read as reverse-splitter friendly. The University of Georgia shows a wide ten point LSAT spread from its 25th percentile up to its 169 median in the 2025 ABA 509 data, the largest such spread among Georgia schools, which means it will reach lower on the LSAT for an applicant whose GPA is strong. Emory University reads the same way with a four point LSAT spread. If you carry a high GPA but your LSAT sits below the school's median, the University of Georgia and Emory University are the Georgia schools whose numbers say your transcript can help carry the file.

Two other Georgia schools read as splitter friendly. Georgia State University shows a 0.19 GPA spread from its 25th percentile to its median, and Mercer University shows a wider 0.32 GPA spread, in the same 2025 ABA 509 data. Both admit applicants whose GPA sits below the median when the LSAT holds up, and Mercer University is the more forgiving of the two on the transcript. Atlanta's John Marshall Law School is not flagged as strongly splitter or reverse-splitter friendly in the packet's read of the spreads, so treat its numbers as more balanced. Across the five Georgia schools, a splitter can aim at Georgia State University or Mercer University, and a reverse splitter can aim at the University of Georgia or Emory University.

What is the legal job market like in Georgia?

The dominant legal market in Georgia is Atlanta, the state's economic center and the base for most of its large firms, corporate legal departments, and courts. The clearest way to see how local each Georgia school is comes from the ABA Class of 2024 employment data, which reports how much of each graduating class stays in Georgia.

Georgia State University is the most Georgia-rooted school in the state, keeping 84% of its class in Georgia, according to the ABA Class of 2024 employment data. Mercer University follows closely at 79%, and the University of Georgia keeps 71% in state. All three send strong majorities of their graduates into the Georgia market, which makes them natural choices for an applicant who wants to practice in Atlanta or elsewhere in Georgia. Emory University is the outlier, keeping 43% of its class in Georgia, the lowest in-state share of the group, consistent with a national private school whose graduates spread across many markets rather than concentrating at home.

One honest gap belongs in this Georgia picture. The ABA Class of 2024 retention data in the packet does not report an in-state figure for Atlanta's John Marshall Law School, so this page does not state how much of that school's class stays in Georgia. For the four schools with data, the pattern is clear: Georgia State University, Mercer University, and the University of Georgia are heavily local, Emory University reaches nationally, and Atlanta remains the center of gravity for legal careers in Georgia. This page does not quote salary figures for Georgia, because the packet behind it does not include salary data.

For a Georgia applicant choosing on career grounds, the retention spread is a useful signal. If your plan is to practice in Georgia, and in Atlanta in particular, Georgia State University and Mercer University offer the deepest in-state footprints, with 84% and 79% of their classes staying in Georgia in the ABA Class of 2024 data. If you want maximum geographic flexibility, Emory University's national reach, reflected in its 43% in-state share, keeps more doors open outside Georgia. The University of Georgia sits in between, combining strong in-state placement at 71% with a recognized name that travels beyond the state.

Does Georgia use the NextGen bar exam?

Georgia has adopted the NextGen bar exam, with a first administration set for July 2028, according to the NCBE. Georgia is not a Uniform Bar Exam state: it administers its own bar exam rather than the UBE, and its move to NextGen in July 2028 is how it will modernize that exam.

The timing lines up cleanly with the national transition. The NCBE has set the end of the legacy tests after the February 2028 administration, retiring the older Uniform Bar Exam and the Multistate Bar Exam nationwide. Georgia's first NextGen administration in July 2028 follows immediately after that cutoff, so a Georgia applicant entering law school now should expect to sit the NextGen exam rather than the legacy format. Because Georgia has run its own exam rather than the UBE, the shift to NextGen is the main bar-exam change on the horizon for the state.

For your planning in Georgia, the practical message is to prepare for NextGen. The NextGen exam still tests core legal doctrine and lawyering skills, and a Georgia law school curriculum is built to prepare graduates for the state's exam. Since exam logistics, registration windows, and any transition rules are set by the state, confirm the current details with the Georgia bar authorities when you approach graduation, but plan your study around the NextGen exam that Georgia adopts in July 2028.

Where can you take the LSAT in Georgia?

LSAT test centers are available in Georgia's major metros, so most Georgia applicants can test reasonably close to home. The state's population and its legal activity concentrate in metropolitan Atlanta, by far the largest metro in Georgia, with additional centers of population in Augusta, Columbus, Savannah on the coast, Macon in the center of the state, and Athens, home of the University of Georgia.

The important caveat is that specific test-center locations and their available seats change from one testing cycle to the next, and many LSAT administrations are now offered in a remote-proctored format you take from home. For that reason this page does not print individual Georgia test-center addresses, which would go stale quickly and could send you to a site that is no longer active. Instead, check LSAC's official test-center list when you register, filter it to Georgia, and choose the location or the remote option that fits your schedule.

The practical Georgia takeaway is that access to the LSAT is broad across the state. Between the in-person centers that appear around Atlanta and Georgia's other metros each cycle and the remote-proctored option, an applicant anywhere in Georgia has a workable way to test. Book your date early, because seats at the most convenient Georgia locations fill first, and confirm the current list on LSAC's site rather than relying on last year's centers.

Which Georgia universities feed law school?

Georgia's flagship public university, the University of Georgia in Athens, is the state's largest single source of pre-law undergraduates, and its graduates are common applicants to law schools in Georgia and across the country. The university's size and its strong programs in political science, history, and international affairs make it a natural pipeline into legal education for Georgia residents.

Beyond the flagship, several other Georgia institutions regularly send graduates to law school. The Georgia Institute of Technology and Georgia State University in Atlanta, Emory University, Kennesaw State University, and the historically Black colleges of the Atlanta University Center, including Spelman College, Morehouse College, and Clark Atlanta University, all contribute Georgia applicants to law programs. This section names these Georgia universities as common feeders based on their size and prominence in the state, and it deliberately does not attribute a specific placement statistic to any of them, because the packet behind this page does not include per-university placement data for Georgia.

Frequently asked questions about law school in Georgia

How many law schools are in Georgia?

Georgia has five ABA accredited law schools: the University of Georgia, Emory University, Georgia State University, Mercer University, and Atlanta's John Marshall Law School. Their median LSATs run from 152 to 169 in the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures, so Georgia offers a real range from a highly selective public flagship to accessible private options across the state.

What is the easiest law school to get into in Georgia?

By the 2025 ABA 509 numbers, the most accessible Georgia schools are Atlanta's John Marshall Law School, with the lowest median LSAT at 152, and Mercer University, with the highest acceptance rate in the state at 37.8%. Both admit applicants in the mid 150s and below more readily than the University of Georgia or Emory University, so a Georgia applicant with a lower score should target them first.

What is the best law school in Georgia?

By selectivity, the University of Georgia leads Georgia, with the state's highest median LSAT at 169 and its lowest acceptance rate at 12.7% in the 2025 ABA 509 disclosure, and it pairs that with low public tuition of $18,044. Emory University is the national private option at a 166 median. The best Georgia school depends on whether you weigh selectivity, cost, or reach most.

What LSAT score do you need for law school in Georgia?

Median LSATs in Georgia run 152 to 169, per the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures. A 169 is competitive at the University of Georgia, a 166 at Emory University, a 160 at Georgia State University, a 157 at Mercer University, and a 152 at Atlanta's John Marshall Law School. A mid 150s score gives a Georgia applicant several real options, so a lower scorer is not shut out of the state.

How much does law school cost in Georgia?

Full-time tuition in Georgia ranges widely: Georgia State University at $16,162 and the University of Georgia at $18,044 are the low-cost public options, while Emory University at $69,510, Atlanta's John Marshall Law School at $52,536, and Mercer University at $44,782 are the private schools, per the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures. The 509 reports tuition separately from living costs, so this page does not sum them into one Georgia figure.

Does Georgia use the NextGen bar exam?

Georgia has adopted the NextGen bar exam, with a first administration set for July 2028, according to the NCBE. Georgia is not a Uniform Bar Exam state and administers its own exam. Because the legacy UBE and Multistate Bar Exam end nationally after the February 2028 administration, a Georgia applicant starting law school now should prepare for the NextGen exam.

Can you take the bar in Georgia with an out-of-state degree?

Graduating from an ABA accredited law school in any state is the standard threshold to sit for a state bar, so an out-of-state ABA degree generally lets you take the Georgia bar. Georgia administers its own bar exam and is moving to NextGen in July 2028, per the NCBE. Because each jurisdiction sets its own admission details, confirm the current requirements directly with the Georgia bar authorities.

Which Georgia law school has the best bar passage?

The disclosures behind this page cover median LSAT, acceptance rate, and tuition for Georgia's five law schools, but they do not include each school's first-time bar passage rate, so this page does not rank Georgia schools on bar passage. First-time bar results by school are published in each school's ABA bar-passage report, which is the right place to compare them for Georgia.

Are there part-time or evening law programs in Georgia?

The figures on this page report full-time medians and full-time tuition for Georgia's five schools and do not itemize part-time or evening divisions, so this page cannot confirm those programs from its sources. If a part-time or evening schedule is essential to your Georgia plan, confirm the current offerings directly with each school's admissions office, several of which are based in metropolitan Atlanta.

Where can you take the LSAT in Georgia?

LSAT test centers appear in Georgia's major metros, chiefly metropolitan Atlanta, along with Augusta, Columbus, Savannah, Macon, and Athens, and a remote-proctored option is available from home. Because specific Georgia centers and seats change each cycle, check LSAC's official test-center list when you register rather than relying on a fixed address, and book early to secure the most convenient location.

Which Georgia law schools are splitter friendly?

In Georgia, Georgia State University and Mercer University read as splitter friendly, with GPA spreads of 0.19 and 0.32 from the 25th percentile to the median in the 2025 ABA 509 data, so a high LSAT can carry a lower GPA there. The University of Georgia and Emory University read as reverse-splitter friendly, with LSAT spreads of ten and four points, so a strong GPA helps carry a lower LSAT.

Do you have to go to law school in Georgia to practice there?

No. You do not have to attend a Georgia law school to practice in Georgia. An ABA accredited J.D. from any state generally qualifies you to sit for the Georgia bar, which is moving to the NextGen exam in July 2028, per the NCBE. That said, the in-state schools place heavily in Georgia, so studying in the state can help build local connections in the Atlanta market. Confirm admission rules with the Georgia bar authorities.

Which Georgia law school keeps the most graduates in the state?

Georgia State University keeps the largest share of its class in Georgia at 84%, followed by Mercer University at 79% and the University of Georgia at 71%, according to the ABA Class of 2024 employment data. Emory University keeps 43%, the lowest of the group, reflecting its national reach. The packet does not report an in-state figure for Atlanta's John Marshall Law School.

Is a 160 LSAT good for law school in Georgia?

A 160 is a strong score for Georgia. It sits at the Georgia State University median, above the medians at Mercer University and Atlanta's John Marshall Law School, and within reach of Emory University, per the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures. Only the University of Georgia at 169 would treat a 160 as clearly below its median, so a 160 gives a Georgia applicant several competitive in-state options.

What is the cheapest law school in Georgia?

By full-time tuition in the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures, Georgia State University is the least expensive law school in Georgia at $16,162, just below the University of Georgia at $18,044. Both are public schools and sit far below the private options at Emory University, Mercer University, and Atlanta's John Marshall Law School. For a cost-conscious Georgia applicant, the two public schools are the clear value.

Sources

Every figure on this page is drawn from primary disclosures for Georgia, listed here so readers can verify each one directly. School-level median LSAT, acceptance rate, and full-time tuition are from each Georgia school's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure for the fall 2025 entering class, available through the ABA disclosure portal.

ABA Required Disclosures portal (2025 Standard 509 reports): https://www.abarequireddisclosures.org/

NCBE, for Georgia's NextGen bar exam adoption in July 2028 and the national retirement of the legacy UBE and MBE after February 2028: https://www.ncbex.org/

LSAC, for the official and current Georgia LSAT test-center list: https://www.lsac.org/

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