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

The short answer to how to get into Pepperdine Law School is to hit the medians from Pepperdine Caruso Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure: a 164 LSAT and a 3.85 GPA. The middle 50 percent scored 161 to 167 on the LSAT and 3.61 to 3.94 in GPA. Clear both and you are competitive.

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

Pepperdine Caruso Law is a genuinely selective California school, and its position in its LSAT band is the fact to lead with. Among the 36 ABA law schools whose median LSAT sits within two points of its 164, ranked by acceptance rate, Pepperdine Caruso Law is 11th most selective of 36, per Lovare's analysis of the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures. That places it in the upper third of its band, meaning it is harder to get into than most schools at the same LSAT level. Two facts complete the picture. Pepperdine Caruso Law is splitter friendly, with a wide GPA 25th-to-median spread of 0.24 and a narrow LSAT spread of 3 in its 2025 ABA 509, so a high LSAT can carry a lower GPA. And its graduates concentrate heavily in California: in the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, 72.6 percent of Pepperdine Caruso Law graduates worked in California and 80.2 percent across the top three markets. The thesis of this page is that Pepperdine Law School is a selective, splitter-friendly California school whose network runs deep in its home state, and its numbers reward a high LSAT.

Pepperdine Caruso Law at a glance: LSAT, GPA, acceptance rate and cost

Pepperdine Caruso Law posts a 164 LSAT median, a 3.85 GPA median, and a 23.36 percent acceptance rate in its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. Full-time tuition and fees run $73,550, with living expenses of $33,700 listed separately. The table below collects the headline admissions, cost, and outcome numbers for the school.

MetricPepperdine Caruso Law (fall 2025 entering class)LSAT (25th / 50th / 75th)161 / 164 / 167GPA (25th / 50th / 75th)3.61 / 3.85 / 3.94Acceptance rate23.36%Applications4,272Offers of admission998Matriculants from the applicant pool223First-year class227Full-time tuition and fees$73,550Living expenses$33,700Share receiving grants77%Median grant$30,000Conditional scholarshipsNoFirst-time bar passage86.77%Employed at ten months97.5% (192 of 197)

Source: Pepperdine Caruso Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report (fall 2025 entering class), with employment from the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 and bar passage from Pepperdine'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 reports the components rather than inventing an all-in figure for Pepperdine Caruso Law.

What LSAT and GPA do you really need to get into Pepperdine Caruso Law?

Pepperdine Caruso Law reports an LSAT spread of 161 to 167 and a GPA spread of 3.61 to 3.94 in its 2025 ABA 509. A 164 and a 3.85 sit at both medians. Below the 161 LSAT or the 3.61 GPA, you need a clear compensating strength on the other number to stay competitive.

Pepperdine Caruso Law reports an LSAT 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile of 161, 164, and 167, and a GPA 25th, 50th, and 75th of 3.61, 3.85, and 3.94 for the fall 2025 entering class, per Pepperdine Caruso Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. The median is the fiftieth percentile: half of enrolled students scored above 164 on the LSAT and above 3.85 in GPA, and half below. At Pepperdine Caruso Law both medians are high, and clearing them puts an applicant at the center of the class rather than at its edge.

Read the realistic range this way. A 164 LSAT paired with a 3.85 GPA sits at both medians of Pepperdine Caruso Law, a strong and competitive position. The 25th percentiles, a 161 LSAT and a 3.61 GPA, are real admit territory, but a file at or below one quartile wants the other index at or above the median to carry it. Below the 161 LSAT or the 3.61 GPA, an applicant needs a clear compensating strength, most reliably a higher LSAT, to keep the file live at Pepperdine Caruso Law.

The shape of the two bands makes Pepperdine Caruso Law splitter friendly. Lovare's read of the 509 spreads shows a GPA 25th-to-median spread of 0.24 and an LSAT 25th-to-median spread of three points, so the GPA band runs much wider on the low side than the LSAT band. A splitter-friendly school forgives a lower GPA when the LSAT is high, while a reverse-splitter-friendly school forgives a lower LSAT when the GPA is high. Pepperdine Caruso Law leans splitter: a high LSAT near the 167 upper quartile paired with a GPA in the 3.6 range has a genuine path, more so than a high GPA sitting on an LSAT below 161. If your LSAT is your stronger number, Pepperdine Law School is a school worth targeting.

One consumer-protective fact belongs in this section. Pepperdine Caruso Law reports first-year academic attrition of 8.0 percent in its 2025 ABA 509, which is meaningfully higher than the zero-attrition figures many peer schools post. In plain terms, a nontrivial share of a recent first-year class left for academic reasons. That does not mean the school is unusually punishing, but it does mean the first-year workload at Pepperdine Caruso Law is real, and an applicant should plan to treat the first year as demanding rather than a formality once admitted.

Is Pepperdine Caruso Law harder to get into than its reputation?

Roughly in line with it, and arguably a touch harder. By raw acceptance rate, Pepperdine Caruso Law ranks 11th most selective of the 36 schools within two points of its 164 LSAT median, per Lovare's analysis of the 2025 ABA 509. That upper-third position means Pepperdine Caruso Law is more selective than most schools at its LSAT level.

Reputation places Pepperdine Caruso Law among the strong California private schools, and its 164 LSAT median fits that tier. Its acceptance rate is consistent with that reputation rather than at odds with it. Lovare built a peer band of the 36 ABA law schools whose median LSAT falls within two points of Pepperdine Caruso Law's 164, that is, a median of 162 to 166, then ranked them by acceptance rate from the 2025 ABA 509 disclosures. By that ranking, Pepperdine Caruso Law comes in 11th most selective of the 36, in the upper third of the band.

In plain terms, Pepperdine Caruso Law admits a smaller share of applicants than most schools posting a similar LSAT median. According to Pepperdine Caruso Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure, the school received 4,272 applications, made 998 offers, and enrolled a first-year class of 227, for a 23.36 percent acceptance rate. That large applicant pool, one of the bigger ones in its band, is part of why the admit rate lands where it does: many strong California-focused applicants target Pepperdine Caruso Law, which lets the school be choosier.

The honest verdict is that Pepperdine Caruso Law is genuinely selective and sits a step ahead of the typical school at its LSAT level. For an applicant at or above the medians, it is a realistic target, but not a safety, and the large pool means a strong LSAT and a clean application matter. That large applicant pool also means a polished personal statement and strong letters do real work at the margin, since Pepperdine Caruso Law has many qualified files to choose among. Read Pepperdine Law School as living up to its selective reputation rather than coasting on it.

How much does Pepperdine Caruso Law cost, and how much scholarship money will you get?

Pepperdine Caruso Law charges $73,550 in full-time tuition and fees, per its 2025 ABA 509, plus $33,700 in living expenses. Seventy-seven percent of students receive grants, the median award is $30,000, and a median-grant recipient nets about $43,550 in tuition and fees before living costs. This is a high-sticker school.

Start with the sticker, which is steep. Pepperdine Caruso Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure lists full-time tuition and fees at $73,550, plus $33,700 in living expenses. The 509 prints tuition and living costs 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 Pepperdine Caruso Law reports, and this page will not invent one.

On aid, Pepperdine Caruso Law reaches most but not all of its students. According to the same 509, 77 percent of Pepperdine Caruso Law students receive grant aid, with awards at the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles of $30,000, $30,000, and $55,000. The school reports 1 full-tuition award and 24 awards above full tuition. Because the 25th and 50th percentile awards are both $30,000, a large block of recipients receives right around that figure, while the biggest awards, at and above the $55,000 upper quartile, go to a smaller group of top applicants at Pepperdine Caruso Law.

The math for a typical recipient works out like this. Against the $73,550 sticker, a student receiving Pepperdine Caruso Law's median grant of $30,000 nets about $43,550 in tuition and fees before living costs, per Lovare's read of the 2025 ABA 509 disclosure. That is a substantial net for a private degree, so the cost case at Pepperdine Caruso Law depends heavily on landing an above-median award. One piece of good news on stability: Pepperdine Caruso Law reports that its scholarships are not conditional, so an award is not tied to a first-year GPA or class-rank threshold and cannot be cut if your grades slip. The grant Pepperdine Caruso Law quotes at admission is the grant you keep, even though the school does report meaningful first-year academic attrition.

What are your real chances off the Pepperdine Caruso Law waitlist?

Pepperdine Caruso Law does not disclose waitlist offers or admits, and no ABA report does. The honest proxy is implied yield: 223 matriculants against 998 offers is a 22.3 percent yield, per Lovare's read of the 2025 ABA 509. That relatively low yield suggests the Pepperdine Caruso Law waitlist can move in some cycles.

Here is the reasoning in full. Pepperdine Caruso Law enrolled 223 matriculants from the applicant pool against 998 offers in its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, an implied yield of 22.3 percent. No ABA disclosure, Pepperdine Caruso Law'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 only about a fifth of admitted students enroll, a school extends offers well beyond the seats it needs and often returns to its waitlist to complete the class.

A 22.3 percent yield is on the lower side, which for a waitlisted applicant to Pepperdine Caruso Law is cautiously encouraging. A low yield means the school leans on a larger admitted pool and, in cycles where deposits fall short, on its waitlist. That is different from a school yielding close to half its offers and barely moving its list. Pepperdine Caruso Law's number leaves the door genuinely ajar.

If you land on the Pepperdine Caruso Law waitlist, the play is standard: send a concise letter of continued interest naming Pepperdine Caruso Law as a top choice, add any new LSAT score or grades, and keep another acceptance in hand as your floor. One honest note on the class figures: Pepperdine Caruso Law's 2025 ABA 509 lists 223 matriculants from the pool but a first-year class of 227, a small gap that reflects students who arrive through paths other than this single cycle, such as prior-year deferrals. The 22.3 percent implied yield uses the 223 pool matriculants against the 998 offers, which is the right comparison for reasoning about Pepperdine Caruso Law waitlist odds.

Where do Pepperdine Caruso Law graduates actually work?

In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, Pepperdine Caruso Law placed 72.6 percent of graduates in California and 80.2 percent across its top three markets. Large firms of 101 or more lawyers took 16.2 percent, and 4.1 percent won federal clerkships. Pepperdine Caruso Law is a strongly California-focused school.

Start with concentration, because it is what predicts fit. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, Pepperdine Caruso Law placed 143 of its graduates in California, 11 in Texas, and 4 in Colorado. That is a 72.6 percent top-market share and an 80.2 percent top-three share, describing a school whose network runs deep in California. If you want to practice in Los Angeles or elsewhere in the state, Pepperdine Caruso Law is aimed squarely at your market. If your target is New York, Washington, or the Northeast, that 80.2 percent top-three concentration is a signal that Pepperdine Caruso Law's alumni pull is regional rather than national.

Why lead with geography rather than the raw employment rate? Because the rate barely separates peer schools. Pepperdine Caruso Law reported 192 of 197 graduates employed at ten months, or 97.5 percent, in the same ABA Employment Summary, which is excellent but similar across the tier. Concentration is the number that tells you where a Pepperdine Caruso Law degree actually travels, and here it points overwhelmingly to California.

On firm outcomes, Pepperdine Caruso Law is a solid performer rather than a BigLaw feeder. The ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows 16.2 percent of Pepperdine Caruso Law graduates taking jobs at large firms of 101 or more lawyers, a respectable share but below the national large-firm feeders. Federal clerkships add to the picture: the same summary shows 4.1 percent of Pepperdine Caruso Law graduates entering federal clerkships, a healthy clerkship share. Taken together, the outcomes describe a school that places most of its class into California practice, with a meaningful minority reaching large firms and the federal bench.

When are Pepperdine Caruso Law's application deadlines?

Pepperdine Caruso Law's specific application deadlines and any Early Decision terms are not confirmed here for the current cycle, so confirm them directly on Pepperdine's admissions site. The sources here, the 2025 ABA 509 and the ABA employment and bar reports, do not publish cycle dates. This guidance is dated August 2026.

To be transparent about what this page can and cannot verify: the primary disclosures behind Pepperdine Caruso Law's numbers, namely the 2025 ABA Standard 509 report and the ABA employment and bar-passage reports, do not include application deadlines or the terms of any binding Early Decision program. Rather than state a date this page cannot source, the honest step is to send you to Pepperdine Caruso Law's own admissions page for the current cycle's deadlines and any Early Decision option, verified as of August 2026.

As a general matter in law school admissions, applying earlier in a cycle tends to help, because offers and scholarship funds deplete as a class fills. That general dynamic is consistent with Pepperdine Caruso Law's 22.3 percent implied yield from its 2025 ABA 509, which shows a school that extends many offers to build its class. Because Pepperdine Caruso Law concentrates its biggest awards in a smaller group of above-median grants, submitting a complete, strong application early, well before any posted final deadline you confirm on the school's site, is the lower-risk approach.

Frequently asked questions about getting into Pepperdine Caruso Law

Is a 164 LSAT good enough for Pepperdine Caruso Law?

A 164 is exactly the LSAT median at Pepperdine Caruso Law, per its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, where the middle 50 percent scored 161 to 167. A 164 puts you at the fiftieth percentile, competitive rather than a lock. Pair it with a GPA at or above the 3.85 median and you are a strong candidate at Pepperdine Caruso Law.

What GPA do you need to get into Pepperdine Caruso Law?

Pepperdine Caruso Law reports a GPA median of 3.85, with a 25th to 75th range of 3.61 to 3.94, in its 2025 ABA 509. Aim for 3.85 or higher. Because Pepperdine Caruso Law is splitter friendly, a high LSAT can help carry a GPA in the 3.6 range, so the LSAT is the more forgiving number at Pepperdine Caruso Law.

What is Pepperdine Caruso Law's acceptance rate?

Pepperdine Caruso Law admitted 23.36 percent of applicants for the fall 2025 class, extending 998 offers against 4,272 applications, according to its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. That rate ranks 11th most selective of the 36 schools in its LSAT band, so Pepperdine Caruso Law is more selective than most schools at its LSAT level.

How many people apply to Pepperdine Caruso Law each year?

Pepperdine Caruso Law received 4,272 applications for the fall 2025 entering class, made 998 offers, and enrolled a first-year class of 227, per its 2025 ABA 509. That large pool against a limited number of offers is what produces Pepperdine Caruso Law's 23.36 percent acceptance rate and its upper-third standing in its LSAT band.

How much does Pepperdine Caruso Law cost per year?

Pepperdine Caruso Law lists full-time tuition and fees of $73,550, plus $33,700 in living expenses, in its 2025 ABA 509. Pepperdine Caruso Law 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 Pepperdine Caruso Law.

Does Pepperdine Caruso Law give scholarships?

Yes. Pepperdine Caruso Law reports that 77 percent of students receive grant aid, with awards of $30,000, $30,000, and $55,000 at the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles, plus 1 full-tuition award and 24 above full tuition, per its 2025 ABA 509. The awards are not conditional, so a Pepperdine Caruso Law grant cannot be cut for grades.

What is Pepperdine Caruso Law's bar passage rate?

Pepperdine Caruso Law posted an 86.77 percent first-time bar passage rate for exam year 2024, with California as its largest jurisdiction, according to its ABA bar-passage report. Its ultimate pass rate for the 2022 cohort was 91.12 percent. Both figures are strong for California, where the bar exam is among the toughest, and reflect well on Pepperdine Caruso Law.

Where do most Pepperdine Caruso Law graduates work?

Most stay in California. The ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows Pepperdine Caruso Law placed 143 graduates in California, 11 in Texas, and 4 in Colorado, a 72.6 percent top-market share and 80.2 percent across the top three. Pepperdine Caruso Law has a strongly California-focused placement profile.

Do Pepperdine Caruso Law graduates get large-firm jobs?

Some do. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, Pepperdine Caruso Law sent 16.2 percent of graduates to large firms of 101 or more lawyers, a respectable share but below the national large-firm feeders. Pepperdine Caruso Law also placed 4.1 percent of its class into federal clerkships in the same summary, a healthy clerkship share for its tier.

Can a splitter get into Pepperdine Caruso Law?

A splitter has a real path. Lovare reads Pepperdine Caruso Law as splitter friendly, with a wide GPA 25th-to-median spread of 0.24 but a narrow LSAT spread of three points in the 2025 ABA 509. That means Pepperdine Caruso Law forgives a lower GPA when the LSAT is high, so a high-LSAT applicant with a GPA in the 3.6 range is viable at Pepperdine Caruso Law.

How selective is Pepperdine Caruso Law compared with schools at the same LSAT?

More selective than most. Among the 36 schools whose median LSAT is within two points of Pepperdine Caruso Law's 164, ranked by acceptance rate, Pepperdine Caruso Law is 11th most selective of 36, per Lovare's analysis of the 2025 ABA 509. So Pepperdine Caruso Law admits a smaller share of applicants than most schools at its LSAT level.

Does Pepperdine Caruso Law push out first-year students?

It reports higher first-year attrition than many peers. Pepperdine Caruso Law lists 8.0 percent first-year academic attrition in its 2025 ABA 509, meaning a nontrivial share of a recent first-year class left for academic reasons. That is worth knowing: the first year at Pepperdine Caruso Law is demanding, so plan to work hard from the start rather than treat 1L as a formality.

Is Pepperdine Caruso Law worth it?

For a California career, it can be, with eyes open on cost. Pepperdine Caruso Law pairs a $73,550 sticker with 77 percent grant reach and a $30,000 median award that nets about $43,550 before living costs, per its 2025 ABA 509. Add 97.5 percent employment at ten months from the Class of 2024 summary, and Pepperdine Caruso Law rewards applicants who land above-median aid.

Is Pepperdine Caruso Law a good choice for out-of-state applicants?

It depends on where you plan to practice. Pepperdine Caruso Law placed 72.6 percent of the Class of 2024 in California and 80.2 percent across its top three markets, with 11 graduates in Texas and 4 in Colorado, per the ABA Employment Summary. If your target is New York, the Northeast, or anywhere outside California, weigh Pepperdine Caruso Law's heavy in-state concentration against a school already rooted in the market where you want to build a career.

What LSAT and GPA give the best shot at a Pepperdine Caruso Law scholarship?

A high LSAT above all. Because Pepperdine Caruso Law is splitter friendly and reports a $55,000 upper-quartile grant in its 2025 ABA 509, an LSAT above 164, pushing toward the 167 upper quartile, paired with a GPA at or above 3.85 positions you for the largest awards. A strong LSAT is the surest route to top scholarship money at Pepperdine Caruso Law.

Sources

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

Pepperdine Caruso Law 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report (fall 2025 entering class): https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/AnnualQuestionnaire/GenerateIndividualDisclosure509Report?schoolId=19&year=2025

Pepperdine Caruso Law ABA bar-passage report: https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/BarPassageOutcomes/GenerateIndividualBarPassageReport?schoolId=19&year=2025

ABA Employment Summary, Class of 2024: https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/EmploymentOutcomes/GenerateIndividualEQSummaryReport?schoolId=19&year=2024

Get your free Pepperdine Caruso Law admissions profile evaluation