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

The honest answer to how to get into George Washington University Law School is two numbers. According to George Washington Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, the fall 2025 class posted a 168 LSAT median (162 to 170) and a 3.86 GPA median (3.55 to 3.93). Clear both and you are a strong candidate for a Washington-anchored class.

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

George Washington Law School runs one of the largest and most Washington-focused classes in the top tier, and its numbers reward a specific kind of applicant. In George Washington Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, the first-year class is 612 students, including a part-time evening division, and the GPA 25th percentile sits at 3.55, low enough that a strong LSAT can carry a softer transcript. The acceptance rate is 27.21%. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, 45.3% of George Washington Law School graduates stayed in the District of Columbia. The strategic thesis of this page is blunt: George Washington Law School is splitter friendly and DC-anchored, but its binding Early Decision is need-based only, so a high scorer who wants merit money should stay in the regular round and make the school compete for their enrollment.

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

George Washington Law School is a large, moderately selective DC law school. According to George Washington Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, the fall 2025 class had a 168 LSAT median, a 3.86 GPA median, and a 27.21% acceptance rate. Full-time tuition and fees run $75,420. The table below collects the core numbers for quick reference.

MetricGeorge Washington Law School (fall 2025 entering class)LSAT (25th / 50th / 75th)162 / 168 / 170GPA (25th / 50th / 75th)3.55 / 3.86 / 3.93Acceptance rate27.21%Applications9,718Offers of admission2,644Matriculants from the pool595First-year class612 (576 full-time + 36 part-time)Full-time tuition and fees$75,420Living expenses$25,240Share receiving grants77%Median grant$28,000Conditional scholarshipsNoFirst-time bar passage90.22%Employed at ten months97.3% (535 of 550)

Source: George Washington Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report (fall 2025 entering class), George Washington 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 George Washington Law School?

You really need a 168 LSAT and a 3.86 GPA to sit at the center of George Washington Law School's class. George Washington Law School's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure puts the LSAT middle at 162 to 170 and the GPA middle at 3.55 to 3.93. The wide GPA floor means a high LSAT can rescue a softer transcript here.

George Washington Law School reports an LSAT 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile of 162, 168, and 170, and a GPA spread of 3.55, 3.86, and 3.93, in its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. A 168 LSAT and a 3.86 GPA place an applicant exactly at both of George Washington Law School's medians, which is the center of the admitted class. Because George Washington Law School admits about 27% of applicants, a file at both medians is competitive without being a lock, and the rest of the application, the personal statement, the work history, and the letters, does real work in a pool this size.

The GPA band is where George Washington Law School is distinctive. Its 2025 ABA 509 disclosure puts the 25th percentile GPA at 3.55 and the 75th at 3.93, a spread of 0.38 across the middle half of the class. That 3.55 floor is strikingly low for a school with a 168 LSAT median, and it is the clearest signal in George Washington Law School's data that the admissions office will forgive a below-median GPA when the LSAT is strong. A GPA in the mid-3.5s is not an outlier at George Washington Law School; it is the 25th percentile, meaning a full quarter of the class sits at or below it.

The LSAT carries the weight in exchange. George Washington Law School's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure puts the 25th percentile at 162 and the median at 168, six points of spread below the median. A 170 sits at the 75th percentile and a 162 at the bottom quarter. The practical reading is that the LSAT is the number George Washington Law School leans on hardest, so an applicant with a strong score has meaningful leverage, and an applicant with a soft score cannot easily hide it behind a good GPA.

On the splitter question, George Washington Law School is clearly splitter friendly. In its 2025 ABA 509 disclosure, the GPA spread from the 25th percentile to the median is 0.31 and the LSAT spread is six points, so the GPA band is far more forgiving than the LSAT band. Splitter friendly means George Washington Law School will forgive a lower GPA when the LSAT is high; a reverse-splitter-friendly school does the opposite. For a classic splitter, a 170-plus LSAT paired with a GPA in the 3.5s, George Washington Law School is one of the better bets in its tier, because the school's own 3.55 GPA 25th percentile shows it routinely admits exactly that profile.

Is George Washington Law School harder to get into than its reputation?

No. George Washington Law School is somewhat easier to get into than its national reputation suggests. George Washington Law School's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure reports a 27.21% acceptance rate, and among the leading national schools at its 168 LSAT median, only the University of Illinois and Emory University admit a larger share. The name outranks the admit math.

To size up George Washington Law School's selectivity fairly, compare it only against schools with a similar academic profile. Among the 28 leading national law schools whose median LSAT falls within two points of George Washington Law School's 168, that is, a median of 166 to 170, ranked by acceptance rate, George Washington Law School is the 26th most selective of the group, per acceptance rates drawn from each school's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. Only two of the 28 admit a larger share of their applicants than George Washington Law School does. At its LSAT level, in other words, George Washington Law School sits near the bottom of the pack for selectivity, which is good news for an applicant who has the numbers but worries the brand puts it out of reach.

Ranked from most to least selective by acceptance rate, the band runs as follows: Boston College at 8.5%, the University of Southern California at 11.0%, USC (Gould) at 11.2%, the University of North Carolina at 11.2%, Boston University at 12.1%, Texas A&M University at 12.1%, the University of Georgia at 12.7%, Vanderbilt University at 13.3%, UC Berkeley at 14.8%, the University of Florida at 14.9%, UC Irvine at 14.9%, George Mason University (Scalia) at 16.0%, Florida State University at 16.0%, the University of Notre Dame at 16.1%, Fordham University at 16.2%, the University of Florida (Levin) at 16.5%, the University of Wisconsin at 19.0%, William & Mary at 22.0%, Brigham Young University at 22.8%, Washington and Lee University at 23.0%, Ohio State University (Moritz) at 25.0%, Southern Methodist University at 25.0%, the University of Utah at 25.0%, Wake Forest University at 25.0%, the University of Alabama at 26.0%, George Washington University at 27.21%, the University of Illinois at 32.9%, and Emory University at 38.7%.

One entry needs an asterisk. Boston College reports an 8.5% acceptance rate that would top this band, but Boston College reports its offers on a narrower basis than the other schools, so it is not a true selectivity peer and should not be read as the benchmark. Setting that aside, the ranking is clear about George Washington Law School. Schools sharing its 168 LSAT profile, from Fordham University at 16.2% to the University of Alabama at 26.0%, admit a smaller slice of their applicants than George Washington Law School's 27.21%. A student who assumes George Washington Law School is as hard to enter as its similarly ranked peers is overestimating the admit hurdle. The scarce resource at George Washington Law School is not the admission; for a strong applicant it is the merit scholarship, and that is the real contest, as the cost and Early Decision sections below explain.

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

Yes, with a serious catch. George Washington Law School offers binding Early Decision with a February 1 deadline. According to George Washington Law School's own J.D. application-options page, an admitted ED applicant posts a nonrefundable seat deposit and withdraws other applications within three days, but ED applicants are eligible for need-based grants only, not merit money.

George Washington Law School's binding Early Decision is a genuine commitment device. Per George Washington Law School's own J.D. application-options page, the deadline is February 1, an admitted applicant agrees to enroll, and within three days of admission the applicant must withdraw every other pending application and stop applying elsewhere. A nonrefundable seat deposit locks the commitment. So far this is a standard binding ED, and for an applicant certain George Washington Law School is the top choice, it signals commitment and can help at the margin.

The catch is the money, and it changes the strategy entirely. George Washington Law School's own J.D. application-options page states that Early Decision applicants are eligible for need-based grants only, and the school explicitly tells applicants who would require merit aid to enroll not to apply through the binding round. That is the single most important planning fact on this page for a high scorer. Because George Washington Law School's grants include a substantial merit component in the regular round, up to and including full-tuition awards, a strong-numbers applicant who binds themselves through Early Decision forecloses exactly the merit scholarships that their LSAT and GPA would otherwise command. The stance this page takes is unambiguous: if you have a 170-plus LSAT and expect merit offers, do not apply to George Washington Law School Early Decision. Stay in the regular round, let the school compete for you, and use rival offers as leverage. Binding Early Decision at George Washington Law School makes sense mainly for an applicant whose aid case is need-based, or who values certainty over the chance at merit money.

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

George Washington Law School's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure lists full-time tuition and fees at $75,420 and living expenses at $25,240, with no single cost-of-attendance total printed. George Washington Law School awards grants to 77% of students, the median grant is $28,000, and awards include both merit and need money, with 27 full-tuition awards on the books.

Start with the sticker. George Washington Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure lists full-time tuition and fees at $75,420 and separately lists living expenses at $25,240, a comparatively contained living figure for a major-city law school. That 509 does not print a single combined cost-of-attendance total, so any all-in annual number quoted elsewhere is someone's arithmetic rather than a figure George Washington Law School reports, and this page will not invent one.

Now the aid. According to George Washington Law School's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure, 77% of students receive grant aid, with grant amounts at the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles of $20,000, $28,000, and $40,000. George Washington Law School's grants include both merit and need-based money, so a strong-numbers applicant can and should expect these awards to respond to their LSAT and GPA, provided they compete for them in the regular round rather than binding themselves through need-only Early Decision.

The top of George Washington Law School's award structure is where a high scorer should aim. George Washington Law School's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure reports 27 full-tuition awards and one award above full tuition. Those 27 full-tuition scholarships are the prize the strongest applicants are really chasing, and they exist only for applicants who keep their merit eligibility alive, which again means applying in the regular round. Most recipients hold partial grants below full tuition, spread across the $20,000 to $40,000 middle range, but the existence of a real full-tuition tier is what makes a strong file worth negotiating at George Washington Law School.

For a typical grant recipient, the math works out like this. Against the $75,420 sticker for tuition and fees, a student receiving George Washington Law School's median grant of $28,000 nets about $47,420 in tuition and fees before living costs, using figures from George Washington Law School's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure. George Washington Law School also reports that its scholarships are not conditional, meaning they cannot be reduced or revoked for missing a class-rank or GPA threshold, per the same disclosure. That protection matters: the grant an admitted student is quoted at George Washington Law School is the grant they keep for all three years, with no first-year curve risk attached.

What are your real chances off the George Washington Law School waitlist?

Better than at most elite schools, and the math shows why. George Washington Law School's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure shows 2,644 offers and 595 matriculants from the pool, an implied yield of 22.5%. No ABA disclosure publishes waitlist admits, but a yield that low means George Washington Law School must lean on its waitlist to shape the class.

Here is the reasoning in full. George Washington Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure reports 2,644 offers of admission and 595 matriculants drawn from that applicant pool, which is an implied yield of 22.5%. No ABA disclosure, George Washington Law School's included, publishes how many applicants are offered spots off the waitlist or how many accept, so implied yield is the honest proxy for waitlist movement. The logic is direct: when a school enrolls only about 22 of every 100 applicants it admits, it has to extend a very large number of offers relative to its seats, and it routinely uses a waitlist to backfill as admitted students choose other schools.

Put in context, a 22.5% yield is low, and that is encouraging for a waitlisted applicant to George Washington Law School. A high-yield elite that keeps 70 percent or more of its admits fills its class from first-round offers and barely touches its waitlist; George Washington Law School is the opposite, sending 2,644 offers against 9,718 applications per its 2025 ABA 509 disclosure and keeping fewer than a quarter. There is meaningful churn in a class built that way, and a strong candidate held on the George Washington Law School waitlist has a realistic, if never guaranteed, chance of being pulled up as deposits settle.

One honest note on the class figures. George Washington Law School's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure lists 595 matriculants from the applicant pool but a first-year class of 612, which includes 576 full-time and 36 part-time students. The gap reflects students who arrive through paths other than this single cycle's pool, such as admitted students who deferred enrollment from a prior year, plus the structure of the part-time division. The 22.5% implied yield is computed from the 595 pool matriculants against the 2,644 offers, which is the right comparison for reasoning about this cycle's waitlist odds at George Washington Law School.

Where do George Washington Law School graduates actually work?

In Washington, overwhelmingly. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, the District of Columbia took 45.3% of George Washington Law School graduates and the top three markets took 71.6%. Large firms of 101 or more lawyers hired 38.4%, and 2.9% took federal clerkships. The degree is a Washington credential first.

The single most useful fact about George Washington Law School's employment outcomes is its concentration in the nation's capital. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, George Washington Law School placed 249 graduates in the District of Columbia, 84 in New York, and 61 in Virginia, its three largest markets. The District alone absorbed 45.3% of the class, and the top three markets, all clustered in the Washington-to-New York corridor, together took 71.6%, per the same ABA Employment Summary. A George Washington Law School degree is, in practice, a Washington, DC credential, tightly wired into the region's legal market, its regulatory bodies, and the DC offices of national firms.

By employer type, the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows 211 George Washington Law School graduates, or 38.4%, taking jobs at large firms of 101 or more lawyers, and 165 of those, 30.0% of the class, at the very largest firms of 501 or more lawyers. Large-firm practice, what applicants usually mean by BigLaw, is therefore the most common single private-sector destination for a George Washington Law School graduate, and it skews toward the biggest firms, many of which staff major DC regulatory and litigation practices.

Federal clerkships are a smaller channel here. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, 16 George Washington Law School graduates, 2.9% of the class, took federal clerkships, a modest share that tells an applicant George Washington Law School is a working-market feeder, especially into DC firms and institutions, rather than a clerkship pipeline. Overall placement is excellent: the same summary shows 535 of 550 George Washington Law School graduates employed at the ten-month mark, a 97.3% employment rate, one of the strongest in its tier, and George Washington Law School's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure reports first-year academic attrition of just 1.0%. The reason to weigh George Washington Law School on concentration rather than the headline rate is that its answer to where a degree leads is unusually specific: Washington, DC, big firms, and the surrounding corridor.

When are George Washington Law School's application deadlines?

George Washington Law School's one firm published date is its binding Early Decision deadline of February 1, per George Washington Law School's own J.D. application-options page. The sources on this page do not fix George Washington Law School's regular decision deadline, and cycle dates shift from year to year, so confirm the current calendar on George Washington Law School's site.

George Washington Law School publishes a clear binding early date. According to George Washington Law School's own J.D. application-options page, the binding Early Decision deadline is February 1, notably later than the fall Early Decision deadlines many schools use, and an applicant who chooses that route commits to enroll if admitted. That is the one deadline this page can state from George Washington Law School's own sources. Because George Washington Law School's Early Decision is need-based only, a high-scoring applicant chasing merit should note this date mainly as the one to avoid, and instead target the regular round.

Beyond the Early Decision deadline, the sources gathered for this page do not specify George Washington Law School's regular decision deadline, so this page will not quote one rather than invent it. Application cycle dates also shift from year to year, and a date that is correct in one cycle can move in the next. The February 1 Early Decision deadline stated here reflects George Washington Law School's own J.D. application-options page as verified in August 2026. Before relying on it or on any regular-round date, confirm the current calendar directly on George Washington 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 George Washington Law School

Is a 168 LSAT good enough for George Washington Law School?

Yes. A 168 is exactly George Washington Law School's LSAT median, per George Washington Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, which puts the middle range at 162 to 170. At a 27.21% acceptance rate, a median LSAT paired with a GPA anywhere near the 3.55 floor makes an applicant genuinely competitive. A 168 is comfortably in range at George Washington Law School and, in the regular round, strong enough to compete for merit money.

What GPA do you need to get into George Washington Law School?

George Washington Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure reports a GPA median of 3.86, with a 25th percentile of 3.55 and a 75th percentile of 3.93. That 3.55 floor is low for a 168-LSAT school, which is exactly why George Washington Law School is friendly to high-LSAT splitters. Realistically a GPA in the mid-3.5s can work at George Washington Law School if the LSAT sits at or above the 168 median.

What is George Washington Law School's acceptance rate?

George Washington Law School's acceptance rate is 27.21%, computed as 2,644 offers against 9,718 applications in George Washington Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. That places George Washington Law School near the bottom of its LSAT band for selectivity, meaning it admits a larger share of applicants than most similarly ranked schools. Roughly one in every 3.7 applicants receives an offer from George Washington Law School.

How many people apply to George Washington Law School each year?

George Washington Law School received 9,718 applications for its fall 2025 entering class, according to George Washington Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, one of the larger applicant pools in the country. From that pool, George Washington Law School extended 2,644 offers of admission and enrolled 595 matriculants, building a first-year class of 612, including a part-time evening division of 36 students.

Does George Washington Law School have binding Early Decision?

Yes, with a catch. George Washington Law School offers binding Early Decision with a February 1 deadline, and admitted applicants must pay a nonrefundable seat deposit and withdraw other applications within three days, per George Washington Law School's own J.D. application-options page. Critically, Early Decision applicants at George Washington Law School are eligible for need-based grants only, so high scorers who want merit aid should not apply this way.

How much does George Washington Law School cost per year?

George Washington Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure lists full-time tuition and fees at $75,420 and living expenses at $25,240 for the year. George Washington Law School does not publish a single combined cost-of-attendance total in that 509, so this page will not quote one. A student receiving George Washington Law School's median grant of $28,000 nets about $47,420 in tuition and fees before living costs are added.

Does George Washington Law School give merit scholarships?

Yes. George Washington Law School's grants include both merit and need-based aid, 77% of students receive a grant, and the school reports 27 full-tuition awards, per George Washington Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. Grant amounts run $20,000, $28,000, and $40,000 at the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles. The important catch is that merit aid is available in the regular round only, not through need-based Early Decision.

What is George Washington Law School's bar passage rate?

George Washington Law School's ABA bar-passage report shows a first-time pass rate of 90.22% for the 2024 exam year, with a 92.39% rate in its largest jurisdiction, the District of Columbia. The ultimate pass rate, measured two years out for the 2022 cohort, is 95.43%, per the same report. In short, the large majority of George Washington Law School graduates pass on the first attempt, and nearly all pass eventually.

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

Yes. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, 211 George Washington Law School graduates (38.4%) took jobs at firms of 101 or more lawyers, and 165 of those (30.0% of the class) landed at firms of 501 or more lawyers. Large-firm practice is the most common private-sector destination for George Washington Law School graduates, much of it in the DC offices of national firms.

Where do most George Washington Law School graduates work?

Most George Washington Law School graduates work in Washington, DC. The ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows the District taking 249 graduates (45.3%), New York taking 84, and Virginia taking 61, so the top three markets account for 71.6% of the class. A George Washington Law School degree points overwhelmingly toward the capital and the surrounding Washington-to-New York corridor.

Can a splitter get into George Washington Law School?

Yes. George Washington Law School is one of the more splitter-friendly schools in its tier. Its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure shows a GPA 25th-to-median spread of 0.31 and an LSAT spread of six points, and its 3.55 GPA 25th percentile confirms it regularly admits high-LSAT applicants with softer transcripts. A 170-plus LSAT with a GPA in the 3.5s is a realistic profile at George Washington Law School.

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

George Washington Law School is one of the least selective schools in its LSAT band. Among the 28 leading national schools with a median LSAT within two points of George Washington Law School's 168, ranked by acceptance rate, its 27.21% ranks 26th most selective, per its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. Only the University of Illinois (32.9%) and Emory University (38.7%) admit a larger share of applicants at that LSAT level.

Is George Washington Law School worth the cost?

For most admitted students, yes, especially with merit aid. Against a $75,420 tuition and fees sticker in George Washington Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, 77% of students receive grants, and the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows 97.3% of graduates employed at ten months, with 38.4% in large firms. Strong DC placement and a real merit tier make the cost of George Washington Law School defensible for a high scorer who negotiates.

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

Numbers above George Washington Law School's medians give the best shot: a 170 LSAT at the 75th percentile paired with a GPA near 3.93 positions an applicant for the top of the range and a run at one of the 27 full-tuition awards, per George Washington Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. Just as important, apply in the regular round, because Early Decision at George Washington Law School is need-based only.

Does George Washington Law School have an evening or part-time program?

Yes. George Washington Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure reports a first-year class of 612 made up of 576 full-time and 36 part-time students, so it operates a part-time evening division alongside the full-time program. That part-time division is one reason George Washington Law School's class is among the largest in the top tier, giving working and nontraditional applicants a route in.

Sources

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

George Washington Law School 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report (fall 2025 entering class): https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/AnnualQuestionnaire/GenerateIndividualDisclosure509Report?schoolId=31&year=2025

ABA Employment Summary, Class of 2024: https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/EmploymentOutcomes/GenerateIndividualEQSummaryReport?schoolId=31&year=2024

George Washington Law School ABA bar-passage report: https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/BarPassageOutcomes/GenerateIndividualBarPassageReport?schoolId=31&year=2025

George Washington Law School J.D. application-options page: https://www.law.gwu.edu/jd-application-options

Get your free GW Law admissions profile evaluation