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

The short answer to how to get into New York Law School is to reach the medians in New York Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure: a 157 LSAT and a 3.63 GPA. The middle 50 percent of the fall 2025 entering class scored 154 to 160 on the LSAT and held a 3.41 to 3.78 GPA. Clear both numbers and you are a competitive applicant.

By Ali Unar, Georgetown Law, Founder of Lovare Institut. Ali Unar is a Georgetown Law student and the founder of Lovare Institut, an admissions and LSAT-prep practice built on primary-source law school data. Verified August 2026. Every figure on this page comes from New York Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report for the fall 2025 entering class, employment from the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, and New York Law School's own published pages.

Before anything else, a clarification that matters for applicants: New York Law School is an independent law school in Lower Manhattan and is not New York University School of Law. The two are separate institutions with different admissions profiles, and this page is about New York Law School only. With that settled, the most distinctive fact about New York Law School is the pairing of a heavy New York placement with a first-time bar passage rate that beats many of its band peers. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, New York Law School sent 74.8% of its graduates into the New York market, and New York Law School's ABA bar-passage report shows an 81.9% first-time pass rate for exam year 2024, strong for a school at its LSAT level. New York Law School also discounts tuition heavily: according to New York Law School's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure, 85% of students receive grants, with a $40,000 median award against a $73,524 sticker. The thesis of this page is that New York Law School is a splitter-friendly, deeply discounting New York school with an above-band bar record, tempered by zero full-tuition awards and a conditional-scholarship string.

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

New York Law School posts a 157 LSAT median, a 3.63 GPA median, and a 39.7% acceptance rate in New York Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. Full-time tuition and fees run $73,524 a year. The table below gathers the headline numbers for New York Law School in one place.

MetricNew York Law School (fall 2025 entering class)LSAT (25th / 50th / 75th)154 / 157 / 160GPA (25th / 50th / 75th)3.41 / 3.63 / 3.78Acceptance rate39.7%Applications4,114Offers of admission1,632Matriculants409First-year class409 (356 full-time and 53 part-time)Full-time tuition and fees$73,524 a yearLiving expenses$23,759Share receiving grants85%Median grant$40,000Conditional scholarshipsYes (an award can be reduced or lost if grades fall below the school's threshold)First-time bar passage81.9% (exam year 2024, largest jurisdiction New York)Employed at ten months93.9% (324 of 345 graduates, Class of 2024)

Source: New York Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report for the fall 2025 entering class, with employment from the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 and bar passage from New York Law School's ABA bar-passage report. 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 sum them into an invented all-in figure for New York Law School.

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

New York Law School reports an LSAT spread of 154 to 160 and a GPA spread of 3.41 to 3.78 in its 2025 ABA 509. A 157 LSAT and a 3.63 GPA sit at both medians. Below the 154 LSAT or the 3.41 GPA, you need a clear compensating strength on the other number.

New York Law School reports an LSAT 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile of 154, 157, and 160, and a GPA 25th, 50th, and 75th of 3.41, 3.63, and 3.78 for the fall 2025 entering class, according to New York Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. The median is the fiftieth percentile: half of the enrolled class scored above 157 on the LSAT and above 3.63 in GPA, and half scored below. A 157 and a 3.63 sit at the center of the admitted class, so they make you a competitive applicant at New York Law School rather than a reach.

The bands at New York Law School are moderate on both axes, which makes the school plan-able for a wide range of files. The LSAT runs six points from the 154 bottom quartile to the 160 top quartile, and the GPA runs 0.37 across the same range. A 154, the LSAT bottom quartile, is a real admit range at New York Law School, but it wants a GPA at or above the 3.63 median to carry the file. A 3.41, the GPA bottom quartile, is likewise inside the class but leans on an LSAT at or above 157. If you sit below both the 154 LSAT and the 3.41 GPA at once, New York Law School becomes a reach unless something outside the numbers is unusually strong.

That shape makes New York Law School splitter friendly. Lovare's read of the 509 spreads shows a GPA 25th-to-median spread of 0.22 and an LSAT 25th-to-median spread of three points, so the GPA band is proportionally the more forgiving of the two. A splitter-friendly school forgives a lower GPA when the LSAT is high; a reverse-splitter-friendly school forgives a lower LSAT when the GPA is high. New York Law School leans splitter friendly, so a high LSAT paired with a GPA in the low-3.4s has a genuine path, while a strong GPA does not rescue an LSAT far below the band as easily. If your transcript lags but your LSAT is strong, New York Law School is a school worth targeting.

Is New York Law School harder to get into than its reputation?

It sits a bit above the middle of its band. Among the 57 ABA law schools whose median LSAT is within two points of New York Law School's 157, that is 155 to 159, New York Law School ranks 23rd most selective of 57 by acceptance rate, per Lovare's analysis of the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures. That is upper-middle, a touch tighter than its 39.7% headline reads.

Reputation files New York Law School among the regional New York law schools, and its 157 LSAT median fits that framing. Its admit math agrees, leaning slightly to the selective side. Lovare built a peer band of the 57 ABA law schools whose median LSAT falls within two points of New York Law School's 157, a median of 155 to 159, then ranked them by acceptance rate from the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures. By that ranking, New York Law School comes in 23rd most selective of 57, which places it in the upper-middle of a large band rather than at either edge.

According to New York Law School's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure, New York Law School received 4,114 applications, made 1,632 offers, and enrolled 409 students, for a 39.7% acceptance rate. Admitting about two in five applicants is neither unusually selective nor unusually open for a school at this scoring level, and the large 4,114-application pool shows New York Law School draws heavy interest. The offer-to-application ratio also tells you New York Law School extends a broad set of offers to build a sizable class, which is consistent with a large New York school competing for students against nearby options. The honest verdict is that New York Law School is roughly as hard to get into as its reputation implies, maybe a shade harder, so applicants at or near its medians should treat it as a realistic target rather than a stretch.

Two honest notes belong alongside the admit math. First, New York Law School reports a first-year academic attrition rate of 6.0% in its 2025 ABA 509 disclosure, a moderate figure that means a real share of first-year students leave for academic reasons, so the first year should be treated as demanding. Second, and more encouraging, New York Law School's first-time bar passage rate of 81.9% for exam year 2024 runs above many of its band peers. Paired with an ultimate pass rate of 89.31% for the 2022 cohort, that is a genuine strength for a school at this LSAT level, and one of the better reasons to take New York Law School seriously.

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

New York Law School charges $73,524 a year in full-time tuition and fees, per New York Law School's 2025 ABA 509, plus $23,759 in living expenses. Eighty-five percent of students receive grants, with a median award of $40,000. A median-grant recipient nets about $33,524 in tuition and fees before living costs.

New York Law School carries a full-freight private sticker, but it discounts widely and deeply at the median. New York Law School's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure lists full-time tuition and fees at $73,524 a year, plus $23,759 in living expenses. The 509 prints tuition and living separately and does not publish a single combined cost-of-attendance total, so any all-in annual number quoted elsewhere is someone's arithmetic rather than a figure New York Law School reports, and this page will not invent one.

The aid picture at New York Law School is generous in the middle of the distribution. According to the same 509, 85% of New York Law School students receive grant aid, with awards at the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles of $21,300, $40,000, and $55,000. That $40,000 median covers more than half of the $73,524 sticker, so a typical New York Law School student pays substantially less than the list price. One honest caveat sits in the same table: New York Law School reports zero full-tuition awards and only 2 awards above full tuition, so even the 75th-percentile grant of $55,000 leaves a real tuition balance. For a median recipient, a $40,000 grant against the $73,524 sticker nets about $33,524 in tuition and fees before living costs, using figures from New York Law School's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure.

Now the condition, which you must plan around. New York Law School uses conditional scholarships, per its 2025 ABA 509 disclosure, which means a merit award granted at admission can be reduced or lost if your first-year grades fall below the threshold the school sets. Because New York Law School reports a 6.0% first-year academic attrition rate and grades on a curve, a predictable share of students land below any given line, so treat a New York Law School award as money you must defend rather than money you are guaranteed. Losing a $40,000 award for the second and third years would add roughly $80,000 to the cost of the degree at New York Law School. Before you enroll, read the retention terms in your award letter, learn the exact class-rank or GPA threshold, and model your budget if you finish year one just under it.

What are your real chances off the New York Law School waitlist?

New York Law School does not disclose waitlist offers or admits, and no ABA report does. The honest proxy is implied yield: 409 matriculants against 1,632 offers is a 25.1% yield in New York Law School's 2025 ABA 509. That is on the lower side, so New York Law School extends many offers and often keeps its waitlist active.

Here is the reasoning in full. New York Law School enrolled 409 matriculants from 1,632 offers in its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, an implied yield of 25.1%. No ABA disclosure, New York 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 about one in four admitted students enrolls, a school must extend a large number of offers to fill its seats and typically keeps a waitlist active to close the gap between offers and deposits.

A 25.1% yield is on the lower side, which means New York Law School relies on a broad admit pool and, in many cycles, on its waitlist. For a waitlisted applicant to New York Law School, that is modestly encouraging: a lower-yield school is more likely to return to its list when deposits fall short. If you land on the New York Law School waitlist, send a concise letter of continued interest naming New York Law School as a top choice, add any new LSAT score or improved grades, and keep another acceptance in hand as your anchor. Do not build your plan around a New York Law School waitlist spot, but a lower-yield school like New York Law School is exactly the kind where continued interest can pay off.

Where do New York Law School graduates actually work?

In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, New York Law School placed 258 of 345 graduates in New York, a 74.8% top-market share, and 85.5% across its top three markets. Large firms of 101 or more lawyers took 16.8% of the class, and 0.3% won federal clerkships. New York Law School is a New York market school.

Market concentration is the first thing to understand about a New York Law School degree. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, New York Law School placed 258 graduates in New York, 32 in New Jersey, and 5 in California. That is a 74.8% top-market share and an 85.5% top-three share, so three-quarters of the class works in New York and better than four in five stay within the top three markets. If your target is the New York metro, that concentration is a strength, because New York Law School's alumni network and employer relationships cluster there. If your goal is another region, the same concentration is a clear warning that the network is heavily local.

On firm outcomes, New York Law School is solid for its band. The ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows 16.8% of New York Law School graduates taking jobs at large firms of 101 or more lawyers. Roughly one in six graduates entering large-firm practice is a respectable result for a regional school, and it is stronger than many of New York Law School's band peers, though it still trails the elite New York schools, so weigh New York Law School's large-firm share against your specific goal. Expect a meaningful share of the class to land in small and midsize firms, government, and public-interest roles as well.

Federal clerkships and the overall rate complete the picture. The ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows 0.3% of New York Law School graduates entering federal clerkships, a very small share that reflects a market-practice orientation rather than a clerkship pipeline. Overall, New York Law School reported 324 of 345 graduates employed at ten months, or 93.9%, in the same summary, a healthy overall rate. Read the outcomes together and New York Law School reliably places graduates into New York practice, with a stronger-than-average large-firm share for its band and a minimal clerkship footprint.

When are New York Law School's application deadlines?

The sources behind this page do not include New York Law School's application deadlines or the terms of any Early Decision program, so both should be confirmed directly on New York Law School's admissions site. What this page can date is the data: the admissions, cost, and outcome figures here were verified in August 2026 against New York Law School's primary disclosures.

Application cycles reward early, complete files, so even without a published deadline in front of you, the practical advice for New York Law School is to apply as early in the cycle as your strongest LSAT allows. Law school admissions at schools like New York Law School are typically rolling, which means seats and scholarship money are more plentiful earlier and thinner later. Because New York Law School discounts tuition heavily at the median, applying early is also the best way to be in the pool while the deepest awards are still available. Because this page's sources do not specify New York Law School's exact deadlines or whether it offers a binding Early Decision round, confirm the current dates and any binding terms on New York Law School's own admissions pages before you build your timeline around them.

Frequently asked questions about getting into New York Law School

Is New York Law School the same as NYU?

No. New York Law School is an independent law school in Lower Manhattan, and it is a separate institution from New York University School of Law. They share neither admissions offices nor numbers. Every figure on this page, including the 157 LSAT median and 3.63 GPA median from New York Law School's 2025 ABA 509, describes New York Law School alone, not NYU.

Is a 157 LSAT good enough for New York Law School?

A 157 is exactly the LSAT median at New York Law School, per its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, where the middle 50 percent scored 154 to 160. A 157 puts you at the fiftieth percentile, competitive rather than a lock. Pair it with a GPA at or above the 3.63 median and you are a strong candidate at New York Law School.

What GPA do you need for New York Law School?

New York Law School reports a GPA median of 3.63, with a 25th to 75th range of 3.41 to 3.78, in its 2025 ABA 509. Aim for 3.63 or higher to sit at the center of the class. Because New York Law School is splitter friendly, a GPA in the low-3.4s can still work if your LSAT is at or above the 157 median.

What is New York Law School's acceptance rate?

New York Law School admitted 39.7% of applicants for the fall 2025 class, extending 1,632 offers against 4,114 applications, according to its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. Admitting about two in five applicants places New York Law School in the upper-middle of its LSAT band, so applicants near its medians should treat New York Law School as a realistic target school.

How many people apply to New York Law School each year?

New York Law School received 4,114 applications for the fall 2025 entering class, made 1,632 offers, and enrolled 409 students, split into 356 full-time and 53 part-time, per its 2025 ABA 509. That large applicant pool against the offer count is what produces New York Law School's 39.7% acceptance rate.

How much does New York Law School cost per year?

New York Law School lists full-time tuition and fees of $73,524 a year, plus $23,759 in living expenses, in its 2025 ABA 509. New York Law School does not publish a single cost-of-attendance total in the 509, so tuition and living are best read separately rather than summed into an invented all-in figure for New York Law School.

Does New York Law School give scholarships?

Yes, widely. New York Law School reports that 85% of students receive grant aid, with awards of $21,300, $40,000, and $55,000 at the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles, per its 2025 ABA 509. There are no full-tuition awards and only 2 above full tuition, so a median recipient still nets about $33,524 in tuition and fees before living costs at New York Law School.

Can New York Law School take away my scholarship?

Yes, potentially. New York Law School uses conditional scholarships, per its 2025 ABA 509, so a merit award can be reduced or lost if your first-year grades fall below the school's threshold. Because a curved first-year class places a predictable share of students below any cutoff, read the retention terms in your New York Law School award letter before you count on the money.

What is New York Law School's bar passage rate?

New York Law School posted an 81.9% first-time bar passage rate for exam year 2024, with New York as its largest jurisdiction, according to New York Law School's ABA bar-passage report. That is strong for a school at its LSAT level and runs above many band peers. Its ultimate pass rate for the 2022 cohort was 89.31%, so New York Law School graduates pass the bar at a healthy clip.

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

New York Law School reports a first-year academic attrition rate of 6.0% in its 2025 ABA 509 disclosure, a moderate figure meaning a real share of first-year students leave for academic reasons. Because New York Law School ties its scholarships to a first-year grade threshold, that attrition rate is also a reminder that an award is not guaranteed past year one at New York Law School.

Where do New York Law School graduates work?

Mostly in New York. The ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows New York Law School placed 258 graduates in New York, 32 in New Jersey, and 5 in California, a 74.8% top-market share and 85.5% across the top three. New York Law School is anchored firmly in the New York metropolitan market.

Do New York Law School graduates get large-firm jobs?

At a respectable rate for its band. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, 16.8% of New York Law School graduates took jobs at large firms of 101 or more lawyers. About one in six entering large-firm practice is stronger than many band peers, though it trails the elite New York schools, so weigh New York Law School's share against your specific goal.

Can a splitter get into New York Law School?

A splitter has a real path. Lovare reads New York Law School as splitter friendly, with a GPA 25th-to-median spread of 0.22 against an LSAT spread of three points in the 2025 ABA 509. That means New York Law School forgives a lower GPA when the LSAT is high, so a strong-LSAT applicant with a GPA in the low-3.4s is more viable than the reverse at New York Law School.

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

Upper-middle of its band. Among the 57 ABA law schools within two points of New York Law School's 157 median, that is 155 to 159, New York Law School ranks 23rd most selective of 57 by acceptance rate in Lovare's analysis of the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures. So New York Law School sits a shade above the middle of a large peer band.

Is New York Law School worth it?

It depends on the aid and the market. New York Law School pairs a $73,524 sticker with 85% grant reach, a $40,000 median award, an 81.9% first-time bar rate, and a 93.9% overall employment rate in the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, though zero full-tuition awards and conditional scholarships are real caveats. New York Law School is worth it for a New York applicant who wins durable aid.

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

Numbers above the medians. Because merit money tracks the strength of your file, an LSAT above the 157 median and a GPA above 3.63, pushing toward the 160 and 3.78 upper quartiles in New York Law School's 2025 ABA 509, position you for the largest awards, up to the 75th-percentile grant of $55,000. Remember those awards are conditional at New York Law School.

Sources

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

New York Law School 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report (fall 2025 entering class): https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/AnnualQuestionnaire/GenerateIndividualDisclosure509Report?schoolId=104&year=2025

New York Law School ABA bar-passage report: https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/BarPassageOutcomes/GenerateIndividualBarPassageReport?schoolId=104&year=2025

ABA Employment Summary, Class of 2024: https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/EmploymentOutcomes/GenerateIndividualEQSummaryReport?schoolId=104&year=2024

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