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

The honest answer to how to get into Marquette Law School is two numbers. According to Marquette Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, the fall 2025 class posted a 158 LSAT median (156 to 160) and a 3.7 GPA median (3.5 to 3.83). Clear both and you are competitive at Wisconsin's most in-demand law school.

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 Marquette Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report (fall 2025 entering class), employment figures from the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, and the remaining details from Marquette Law School's own pages.

Marquette Law School is harder to get into than its regional reputation suggests, and that is the surprise this page leads with. In Lovare's analysis of the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures, among the 47 ABA law schools whose median LSAT sits within two points of Marquette Law School's 158, Marquette Law School is the single most selective by acceptance rate. Its 22.11% acceptance rate, from Marquette Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, is tighter than every other school at its academic level. The reason is demand rooted in place: in the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, 77.2% of Marquette Law School graduates went to work in Wisconsin, the tightest home-state concentration in this set. Marquette Law School is the dominant law school for the Wisconsin market, applicants know it, and the admit rate reflects it.

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

Marquette Law School is a selective Wisconsin school with an unusually strong hold on its home market. According to Marquette Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, the fall 2025 class had a 158 LSAT median, a 3.7 GPA median, and a 22.11% acceptance rate. Full-time tuition and fees run $51,970. The table below collects the core Marquette University law numbers for quick reference.

MetricMarquette Law School (fall 2025 entering class)LSAT (25th / 50th / 75th)156 / 158 / 160GPA (25th / 50th / 75th)3.5 / 3.7 / 3.83Acceptance rate22.11%Applications2,112Offers of admission467Matriculants from the pool218First-year class218 (216 full-time + 2 part-time)Full-time tuition and fees$51,970Living expenses$22,146Share receiving grants94%Median grant$23,000Full-tuition awards1Conditional scholarshipsNoFirst-time bar passageNot reported for the 2024 exam year in the data pulled hereUltimate bar passage100.0% (2022 cohort)First-year academic attrition0.0%Employed at ten months95.5% (193 of 202)

Source: Marquette Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report (fall 2025 entering class), Marquette 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, so this page does not state one.

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

You really want a 158 LSAT and a 3.7 GPA to sit at the center of Marquette Law School's class. Marquette Law School's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure puts the LSAT middle at 156 to 160 and the GPA middle at 3.5 to 3.83. Below either 25th percentile, the other number has to compensate clearly.

Marquette Law School reports an LSAT 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile of 156, 158, and 160, and a GPA spread of 3.5, 3.7, and 3.83, in its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. A 158 LSAT paired with a 3.7 GPA places an applicant exactly at both of Marquette Law School's medians, which is the middle of the admitted class. The important context is selectivity: because Marquette Law School is the most selective school in its LSAT band at a 22.11% acceptance rate, median numbers make an applicant competitive rather than safe, and the Marquette University law admissions read rewards a file that clears both medians rather than leaning on one.

The LSAT band is tight. Marquette Law School's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure puts the 25th percentile LSAT at 156 and the 75th at 160, a four-point full range with only two points between the 156 floor and the 158 median. A 156 already sits at the bottom quarter of Marquette Law School's class, so an applicant in the mid 150s is inside the range but on its lower edge and should lean on a strong GPA and application. Because the band is narrow, small LSAT gains move an applicant meaningfully at Marquette Law School.

The GPA gives a little more room. Marquette Law School's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure puts the 25th percentile GPA at 3.5 and the median at 3.7, so a transcript in the low-to-mid 3.5s is inside the reported range and not disqualifying. A number below 3.5 starts to need an LSAT at or above the 160 upper quartile to offset it, which is the practical answer to the Marquette University law GPA question applicants ask.

On the splitter question, Marquette Law School is splitter friendly, though modestly. In its 2025 ABA 509 disclosure, the GPA spread from the 25th percentile to the median is 0.2 and the LSAT spread is two points, so the GPA band forgives a bit more than the LSAT band does. Splitter friendly means Marquette Law School will accept a lower GPA when the LSAT is strong; a reverse-splitter-friendly school does the opposite. Because both bands are narrow at Marquette Law School, the splitter advantage is real but small, and an applicant should aim to clear both medians rather than count on the split.

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

Yes, clearly. In Lovare's analysis of the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures, Marquette Law School is the single most selective school of the 47 that cluster at its 158 LSAT median. Its 22.11% acceptance rate is the tightest in that entire band, which makes Marquette Law School meaningfully harder to enter than its regional reputation implies.

To size up Marquette Law School's selectivity fairly, compare it only against schools with a similar academic profile. Among the 47 ABA law schools whose median LSAT falls within two points of Marquette Law School's 158, that is a median of 156 to 160, ranked by acceptance rate, Marquette Law School is the most selective of the group, per Lovare's analysis of the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures. Being first of 47 is the standout fact of this page: at its academic level, no school admits a smaller share of its applicants than Marquette Law School does. An applicant who assumed a mid-150s LSAT band meant an easy admit should reset that assumption for Marquette Law School specifically.

The explanation is demand rather than raw prestige, and it points back to place. Marquette Law School is the dominant feeder into the Wisconsin legal market, and applicants who want to practice in Wisconsin apply to Marquette Law School in numbers that push its admit rate below its peers. That is why Marquette Law School is harder than its reputation: not because its median numbers are unusually high, but because so many well-qualified applicants compete for its seats. The practical lesson is to treat Marquette Law School as a genuine target rather than a safety, and to build a file that clears both medians rather than assuming the band alone will carry it.

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

Marquette Law School's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure lists full-time tuition and fees at $51,970, with living expenses of $22,146 and no single cost-of-attendance total printed. Grants are broad but partial: 94% of students receive one, the median grant is $23,000, and full-tuition awards are rare, so plan for real tuition after aid.

Start with the sticker. Marquette Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure lists full-time tuition and fees at $51,970 and separately lists living expenses at $22,146. That 509 does not print a single combined cost-of-attendance total, so any all-in annual figure quoted elsewhere is someone's arithmetic rather than a number Marquette Law School reports, and this page will not invent one.

Now the aid. According to Marquette Law School's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure, 94% of students receive grant aid, a high participation rate, with grant amounts at the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles of $16,000, $23,000, and $30,000. The honest limit is the size of the award relative to the sticker: Marquette Law School's median grant of $23,000 covers under half of the $51,970 tuition and fees, and Marquette Law School reports just one full-tuition award and zero awards above full tuition in the same disclosure. Grants at Marquette Law School are broad but partial, so most students should budget for a substantial tuition balance even with aid.

For a typical grant recipient, the math works out like this. Against the $51,970 sticker for tuition and fees, a student receiving Marquette Law School's median grant of $23,000 nets about $28,970 in tuition and fees before living costs, using figures from Marquette Law School's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure. Even a top-quartile grant of $30,000 leaves a Marquette Law School student paying about $21,970 in tuition and fees. The value case for Marquette Law School rests less on deep discounting than on its command of the Wisconsin market, so the degree pays back through placement rather than through a near-free sticker.

One reassuring detail rounds out the cost picture. Marquette Law School reports that its scholarships are not conditional, per the same 2025 ABA 509 disclosure, meaning a first-year award cannot be cut or revoked for missing a class-rank or GPA threshold. The grant an admitted Marquette Law School student is quoted is the grant they keep for all three years, which removes the renewal gamble that some schools attach to their awards.

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

Limited. Marquette Law School's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure shows 467 offers and 218 matriculants, an implied yield of 46.7%, the highest in this set. No ABA disclosure publishes waitlist admits, so implied yield is the honest proxy: a yield near 47% means Marquette Law School fills most of its class from first-round offers and reaches into a waitlist less.

Here is the reasoning in full. Marquette Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure reports 467 offers of admission and 218 matriculants, which is an implied yield of 46.7%, per Lovare's analysis of that disclosure. No ABA disclosure, Marquette Law School's included, publishes how many applicants are admitted from the waitlist or how many accept, so implied yield is the honest proxy for waitlist movement. The logic runs like this: when a school converts nearly half of its offers into enrollments, it is filling most of its class from first-round offers and does not need to lean heavily on a waitlist, so waitlist movement tends to be thinner than at a lower-yield school.

Put in context, Marquette Law School's 46.7% yield is high for a school of its profile, and it is consistent with the demand story that also drives its selectivity. When admitted students genuinely want the Wisconsin outcome Marquette Law School offers, they enroll rather than shopping the offer, which lifts yield and shrinks the waitlist. A waitlisted applicant to Marquette Law School should treat the spot as a long shot rather than a likely path: stay in contact and submit a concise letter of continued interest, but keep other options firmly in play.

Where do Marquette Law School graduates actually work?

In Wisconsin, overwhelmingly. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, Wisconsin took 77.2% of Marquette Law School graduates and the top three markets took 84.7%. Large firms of 101 or more lawyers hired 13.4%, and federal clerkships took 0.5%. This is the tightest home-state concentration in this set.

Start with concentration, because it is the defining fact. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, Marquette Law School placed 156 graduates in Wisconsin, 11 in Illinois, and 4 in New York, its three largest markets. Wisconsin alone absorbed 77.2% of the class, and the top three markets together took 84.7%, per the same ABA Employment Summary. A Marquette Law School degree is a Wisconsin credential in the fullest sense: more than three in four graduates stay in state, with Chicago the main out-of-state destination. An applicant who wants to build a career in Wisconsin is buying precisely the network Marquette Law School commands, while an applicant aiming at a distant national market should recognize that the pipeline points squarely at Milwaukee and the rest of Wisconsin.

On employer type, Marquette Law School places a meaningful minority into large firms. The ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows 13.4% of Marquette Law School graduates taking jobs at large firms of 101 or more lawyers, a solid large-firm share for a regional school, alongside a broad mix of smaller-firm, government, public-interest, and business roles. Federal clerkships are a narrow channel: the same summary shows 0.5% of Marquette Law School graduates in federal clerkships, so Marquette Law School is a working-lawyer pipeline into the Wisconsin market rather than a clerkship feeder.

Overall placement is strong, and the retention numbers are excellent. The ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows 193 of 202 Marquette Law School graduates employed at the ten-month mark, a 95.5% employment rate, and Marquette Law School's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure reports first-year academic attrition of 0.0%, meaning essentially no one who starts washes out academically. On the bar, Marquette Law School's ABA bar-passage report in the data pulled for this page does not show a first-time pass rate for the 2024 exam year, so this page does not state one; it does show an ultimate pass rate of 100.0% for the 2022 cohort, measured two years out. Confirm the current first-time rate on Marquette Law School's report.

When are Marquette Law School's application deadlines?

Marquette Law School's specific application deadlines and Early Decision terms are not confirmed here for the current cycle, so the dates and any binding terms should be confirmed directly on Marquette Law School's admissions site. The guidance here is verified as of August 2026 and is meant as a planning aid, not as the registrar of record.

Because the exact calendar is not confirmed here, this page will not state a Marquette Law School deadline or claim that the school does or does not offer a binding Early Decision round. What holds across law school admissions generally is that applying earlier in a cycle usually helps, since seats and scholarship dollars are more plentiful before a class fills, and this matters more at a high-demand school like Marquette Law School, where a 46.7% yield shows the class fills readily. Treat that as general strategy rather than a Marquette Law School specific rule.

The concrete step for a Marquette Law School applicant is to open the school's admissions page, note the current regular deadline and any early-application or Early Decision option along with its binding terms, and build a timeline backward from there, leaving room for the LSAT score and letters to arrive. Everything stated on this page was verified in August 2026, and application dates shift from cycle to cycle, so confirm the current Marquette Law School calendar before relying on any date.

Frequently asked questions about getting into Marquette Law School

Is a 158 LSAT good enough for Marquette Law School?

Yes. A 158 is exactly Marquette Law School's LSAT median, per Marquette Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, which puts the middle range at 156 to 160. Paired with a GPA at or above the 3.5 floor, a median LSAT makes an applicant competitive, though because Marquette Law School is the most selective school in its LSAT band at a 22.11% acceptance rate, median numbers are competitive rather than safe.

What GPA do you need for Marquette Law School?

Marquette Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure reports a GPA median of 3.7, with a 25th percentile of 3.5 and a 75th percentile of 3.83. The middle half of the Marquette Law School class sits between 3.5 and 3.83. Realistically you want a GPA of at least 3.5, and anything below it needs an LSAT near the 160 upper quartile to offset at Marquette Law School.

What is Marquette Law School's acceptance rate?

Marquette Law School's acceptance rate is 22.11%, computed as 467 offers against 2,112 applications in Marquette Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. That is the most selective admit rate of the 47 schools at its LSAT level, so about one in every four or five applicants receives an offer from Marquette Law School. Demand for the Wisconsin outcome is what makes Marquette Law School this selective.

How many people apply to Marquette Law School?

Marquette Law School received 2,112 applications for its fall 2025 entering class, according to Marquette Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, a sizable pool for a regional school. From that pool, Marquette Law School extended 467 offers of admission and enrolled 218 matriculants, building a first-year class of 218, which includes 216 full-time and 2 part-time students.

How much does Marquette Law School cost?

Marquette Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure lists full-time tuition and fees at $51,970 and living expenses at $22,146. Marquette 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 Marquette Law School's median grant of $23,000 nets about $28,970 in tuition and fees before living costs.

Does Marquette Law School give scholarships?

Yes, broadly but partially. Marquette Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure reports that 94% of students receive a grant, with amounts of $16,000, $23,000, and $30,000 at the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles. Marquette Law School reports just one full-tuition award, so most aid is partial, and its scholarships are not conditional, meaning an award cannot be cut for grades.

What is Marquette Law School's bar passage rate?

Marquette Law School's ABA bar-passage report, in the data pulled for this page, does not show a first-time pass rate for the 2024 exam year, so this page does not state one. The report does show an ultimate pass rate of 100.0% for the 2022 cohort, measured two years out, meaning every Marquette Law School graduate in that cohort who sat for the bar ultimately passed. Confirm the current first-time rate on the school's report.

Where do Marquette Law School graduates work?

Overwhelmingly in Wisconsin. The ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows Wisconsin taking 156 Marquette Law School graduates (77.2%), Illinois taking 11, and New York taking 4, so the top three markets account for 84.7% of the class. A Marquette Law School degree is a Wisconsin credential, with Chicago the main out-of-state landing spot for the rest.

Can a splitter get into Marquette Law School?

Modestly. Marquette Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure shows a GPA 25th-to-median spread of 0.2 and an LSAT spread of two points, which makes Marquette Law School splitter friendly, so it forgives a lower GPA when the LSAT is strong. Because both bands are narrow, the splitter advantage at Marquette Law School is real but small, so aim to clear both medians rather than rely on the split.

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

Marquette Law School is the most selective. Among the 47 schools with a median LSAT within two points of Marquette Law School's 158, ranked by acceptance rate, its 22.11% is the tightest of the group, per Lovare's analysis of the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures. No school at Marquette Law School's academic level admits a smaller share of its applicants, which is why it is harder than its reputation.

Is Marquette Law School worth it?

For a Wisconsin-focused applicant, yes. Against a $51,970 tuition and fees sticker in Marquette Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, most grants are partial, but the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows 95.5% of graduates employed at ten months and 77.2% placed in Wisconsin. That command of the home market is what makes the cost of Marquette Law School defensible for a student who wants to practice there.

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

Numbers above Marquette Law School's medians give the best shot: a 160 LSAT at the 75th percentile paired with a GPA near 3.83 positions an applicant for the top of the grant range, which reaches $30,000 at the 75th percentile per Marquette Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. Because Marquette Law School reports only one full-tuition award, even strong numbers usually earn a partial grant rather than a free ride.

What is Marquette Law School's first-year attrition rate?

Marquette Law School reports first-year academic attrition of 0.0%, per its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, meaning essentially no one who starts washes out for academic reasons. That is an excellent retention signal and a point in the school's favor: an admitted Marquette Law School student who does the work is very likely to progress through the first year and continue toward the degree.

Does Marquette Law School have Early Decision?

Marquette Law School's Early Decision terms are not confirmed here for the current cycle, so this page will not state whether the school runs a binding early round or what its terms are. An applicant considering an early application should confirm the current Early Decision or early-application options, and any binding commitment, directly on Marquette Law School's admissions site. The guidance here was verified in August 2026 and is a planning aid only.

Sources

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

Marquette Law School 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report (fall 2025 entering class): https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/AnnualQuestionnaire/GenerateIndividualDisclosure509Report?schoolId=163&year=2025

Marquette Law School ABA bar-passage report: https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/BarPassageOutcomes/GenerateIndividualBarPassageReport?schoolId=163&year=2025

ABA Employment Summary, Class of 2024: https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/EmploymentOutcomes/GenerateIndividualEQSummaryReport?schoolId=163&year=2024

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