How to Get Into University of Minnesota Law School: LSAT, GPA & Admissions (2026)

The honest answer to how to get into University of Minnesota Law School starts with two numbers. According to Minnesota Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, the fall 2025 entering class posted an LSAT median of 171 (166 to 173) and a GPA median of 3.88 (3.62 to 3.95). Hit both and you are genuinely 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 Minnesota Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report (fall 2025 entering class), the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, and Minnesota Law's own admissions pages.

Here is what makes University of Minnesota Law School unusual, and it is the thesis of this page. Minnesota Law pairs a genuinely elite LSAT median with the most forgiving admit rate of any school at that level. According to Minnesota Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, the University of Minnesota law acceptance rate is 26.7%, and among the leading national schools clustered within two LSAT points of its 171 median, Minnesota Law is the least selective of the group. Yet the outcome data tell a firmly regional story. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, 61.7% of Minnesota Law graduates went to work in Minnesota, and only 26.1% landed at large firms of 101 or more lawyers, the lowest large-firm share in this comparison set. Minnesota Law is a top-median school priced and placed for one state. If you want to practice in Minneapolis or St. Paul, that combination is a rare bargain. If you want national BigLaw or a coastal career, you should read the placement data on this page closely before you commit.

University of Minnesota Law School at a glance: LSAT, GPA, acceptance rate and cost

Minnesota Law is a highly ranked public law school that admits a comparatively large share of its applicants. According to Minnesota Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, the fall 2025 class had a 171 LSAT median, a 3.88 GPA median, and a 26.7% acceptance rate. Full-time tuition and fees run $54,118 for residents. The table below collects the core University of Minnesota law admissions numbers for quick reference.

MetricUniversity of Minnesota Law School (fall 2025 entering class)LSAT (25th / 50th / 75th)166 / 171 / 173GPA (25th / 50th / 75th)3.62 / 3.88 / 3.95Acceptance rate26.7%Applications3,405Offers of admission909Matriculants from the pool225First-year class228Full-time tuition and fees$54,118 resident / $64,523 nonresidentLiving expenses$19,600Share receiving grants94%Median grant$35,000Conditional scholarshipsNoFirst-time bar passage94.09%Employed at ten months97.4% (224 of 230)

Source: Minnesota Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report (fall 2025 entering class), Minnesota Law'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 University of Minnesota Law School?

You really need a 171 LSAT and a 3.88 GPA to sit at the center of Minnesota Law's class. Minnesota Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure puts the University of Minnesota law LSAT median at 171, inside a 166 to 173 band, and the GPA median at 3.88, inside a 3.62 to 3.95 band. Below either 25th percentile, the other number has to compensate.

Start with the test. Minnesota Law reports an LSAT 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile of 166, 171, and 173 in its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. That is a seven-point full range, and the median of 171 is a strong score by any national measure. What makes Minnesota Law distinctive is not the height of the median but how attainable it is: a 171 places you exactly at the middle of the class, a 173 puts you in the top quarter, and a 166 still keeps you inside the middle half. Because the University of Minnesota law acceptance rate is 26.7%, an applicant at or above these medians is not merely competitive, but is a genuine favorite for admission, which is not something you can say at most schools reporting a 171 median.

The GPA tells a similar story. Minnesota Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure puts the University of Minnesota law GPA at a 3.62 25th percentile, a 3.88 median, and a 3.95 75th percentile. The distance from the 25th percentile to the median is 0.26 of a grade point, which is a wide GPA band by the standards of highly ranked schools. That width matters, because it means Minnesota Law regularly admits students well below a 3.88 when the rest of the file supports it. A 3.7 GPA, which would be a liability at a school with a compressed band, sits comfortably inside Minnesota Law's middle half.

So what does a realistic profile look like? A 171 LSAT and a 3.88 GPA place an applicant squarely at both of Minnesota Law's medians, per its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, and at a 26.7% admit rate that is a strong position rather than a coin flip. Below the 166 LSAT or the 3.62 GPA, an applicant needs a clear compensating strength on the other number to offset the shortfall. A 3.5 GPA applicant realistically wants an LSAT at or above the 173 upper quartile to reassure Minnesota Law's readers, while a 165 LSAT applicant needs a GPA near the 3.95 top quartile and a genuinely strong file everywhere else.

On the splitter question, Minnesota Law is splitter friendly. Minnesota Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure shows a GPA 25th-to-median spread of 0.26 and an LSAT 25th-to-median spread of 5 points, and the wider GPA band is the tell. 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. Minnesota Law leans toward the first pattern, which means a high LSAT with a merely good GPA is a viable University of Minnesota law admissions profile. If your numbers are lopsided in favor of the LSAT, Minnesota Law is one of the better bets at its rank.

Is University of Minnesota Law School harder to get into than its reputation?

No. If anything, Minnesota Law is easier to get into than its academic profile suggests. Minnesota Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure reports a 26.7% acceptance rate, and among the leading national schools whose median LSAT sits within two points of its 171, Minnesota Law admits the largest share of applicants. Its reputation runs ahead of its selectivity.

To size up Minnesota Law fairly, you compare it only against schools with a similar academic profile, not against the whole country. Among the 26 leading national law schools whose median LSAT falls within two points of Minnesota Law's 171, that is, a median of 169 to 173, ranked by acceptance rate, Minnesota Law is the least selective of the group. Its 26.7% rate, from Minnesota Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, sits at the very bottom of the band. That is the single most important fact about University of Minnesota law requirements: the school reports numbers that look like a hard admit, but the admit rate is the most forgiving among its academic peers.

Ranked from most to least selective by acceptance rate, the band runs from Stanford University at 6.1% at the top, down through the University of Pennsylvania (Carey) at 8.1%, the University of Michigan at 8.6%, and the University of Virginia at 10.2%, into a dense cluster in the low teens: the University of Southern California at 11.0%, Columbia University at 11.8%, UCLA at 12.1%, Boston University at 12.1%, Texas A&M University at 12.1%, Northwestern University (Pritzker) at 12.3%, the University of Georgia at 12.7%, Duke University at 12.9%, Vanderbilt University at 13.3%, New York University at 13.4%, the University of Texas at Austin at 14.0%, UC Berkeley at 14.8%, the University of Florida at 14.9%, UC Irvine at 14.9%, Georgetown University at 15.8%, George Mason University (Scalia) at 16.0%, the University of Notre Dame at 16.1%, and Cornell University at 18.2%, before the field opens up to Brigham Young University (BYU) at 22.8% and finally Minnesota Law at 26.7%. Minnesota Law admits a larger share of its applicants than every other school in that group.

The lesson for an applicant is not that Minnesota Law is easy, because a 171 median is a real bar to clear, but that Minnesota Law converts strong numbers into an offer far more reliably than a Columbia University or a Northwestern University with a comparable median. A student who assumes Minnesota Law is as hard to enter as its ranking implies is overestimating it. For a numerically strong applicant, especially one with Minnesota ties, this is one of the most favorable risk-adjusted applications in the national tier.

Does University of Minnesota Law School have Early Decision, and is it binding?

Yes. Minnesota Law offers a binding Early Decision program with a December 31 deadline. According to Minnesota Law's own admissions page, an Early Decision admit must commit to matriculate, withdraw all other applications, and start no new ones. Early Decision applicants receive the same scholarship consideration as regular candidates, with no special ED guarantee.

Minnesota Law runs a genuinely binding early round, and the terms are strict. According to Minnesota Law's own how-to-apply page, an applicant who is admitted through Early Decision is required to enroll at Minnesota Law, to withdraw every other law school application already submitted, and to refrain from starting any new applications elsewhere. That is the full binding commitment: an Early Decision offer from Minnesota Law ends your cycle. The deadline to apply Early Decision is December 31, per the same Minnesota Law admissions page.

What Minnesota Law does not do is sweeten the deal financially. Minnesota Law's own admissions page states that Early Decision applicants are considered for scholarships on the same basis as regular applicants, with no special guarantee attached to applying early. That is an honest and unusual disclosure, and it changes the strategic calculus. At some schools an early binding commitment is effectively a trade: you surrender your leverage to negotiate aid in exchange for a better admissions read. At Minnesota Law, you surrender the leverage without a promised scholarship offset, so you should only apply Early Decision if Minnesota Law is your clear first choice and you are comfortable enrolling at whatever aid the school offers. Given that Minnesota Law is already the least selective school in its LSAT band, most strong applicants do not need the binding round to secure an offer, which weakens the case for using it.

How much does University of Minnesota Law School cost, and how much scholarship money will you get?

Minnesota Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure lists full-time tuition and fees at $54,118 for residents and $64,523 for nonresidents, with living expenses of $19,600 and no single cost-of-attendance total. Aid is broad: 94% of Minnesota Law students receive grants, the median grant is $35,000, and scholarships are not conditional on grades.

Start with the sticker. Minnesota Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure lists full-time tuition and fees of $54,118 for Minnesota residents and $64,523 for nonresidents, and separately lists living expenses of $19,600. That 509 does not print a single combined cost-of-attendance total, so any all-in annual number quoted elsewhere is someone's arithmetic, not a figure Minnesota Law reports, and this page will not invent one. The resident rate is the headline: at $54,118, Minnesota Law is materially cheaper for in-state students than the private schools in its academic band.

The aid picture is where Minnesota Law is genuinely generous. According to Minnesota Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, 94% of students receive grant aid, with grant amounts at the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles of $25,000, $35,000, and $48,528. Those grants include both merit and need-based aid. A 94% grant share means that receiving some scholarship money at Minnesota Law is close to the norm rather than the exception, and the median award of $35,000 is substantial against either the resident or nonresident tuition line.

The top of the award scale is thinner. Minnesota Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure reports 7 full-tuition awards and 0 awards above full tuition. So while nearly everyone at Minnesota Law gets something, a true full ride is rare, and no student receives a grant that exceeds tuition to help cover living costs. The realistic expectation for a strong applicant is a partial grant in the tens of thousands, not a free education. Importantly, Minnesota Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure confirms that its scholarships are not conditional, meaning they cannot be cut or revoked for missing a class-rank or GPA threshold after the first year. The grant you are quoted is the grant you keep, which removes a real risk that exists at schools with conditional awards.

For a typical grant recipient, the math works out like this. Against the $64,523 nonresident sticker for tuition and fees, a student receiving Minnesota Law's median grant of $35,000 nets about $29,523 in tuition and fees before living costs, using figures from Minnesota Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. For a resident starting from the $54,118 in-state rate, the same $35,000 median grant leaves a substantially smaller balance, which is the core of Minnesota Law's value proposition for in-state students. To get into scholarship range, the practical target is to clear both medians: an applicant above the 171 LSAT and 3.88 GPA is best positioned for the larger awards in Minnesota Law's grant table.

What are your real chances off the University of Minnesota Law School waitlist?

Better than at most schools in its band, and the math explains why. Minnesota Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure shows 909 offers against 225 matriculants from the pool, an implied yield of 24.8%. No ABA disclosure publishes waitlist admits, but a yield that low means Minnesota Law extends many more offers than it has seats and can lean on its waitlist.

Here is the reasoning in full. Minnesota Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure reports 909 offers of admission and 225 matriculants drawn from that applicant pool, which is an implied yield of 24.8%. No ABA disclosure, Minnesota 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. The logic runs one way: when a school converts fewer than a quarter of its offers into enrollments, it is deliberately over-admitting because it expects most admitted students to choose other schools, and a school in that position routinely returns to its waitlist to finish the class.

Minnesota Law's 24.8% yield is low, and that is good news for a waitlisted applicant. Contrast a school that yields 70 or 80 percent: that school fills its class almost entirely from first-round offers and rarely touches its waitlist. Minnesota Law is the opposite case. It sends 909 offers to build a first-year class of 228, per its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, which tells you that a large fraction of its admits treat Minnesota Law as a strong backup to more selective schools. When those students commit elsewhere over the summer, Minnesota Law has real room to move, and a waitlist spot here is a meaningfully live option rather than a token gesture. A waitlisted applicant to Minnesota Law should stay engaged, submit a letter of continued interest, and treat the waitlist as a genuine path.

One honest note on the class figures. Minnesota Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure lists 225 matriculants from the applicant pool but a first-year class of 228. The small gap of three reflects students who arrive through paths other than this single cycle's pool, such as admitted students who deferred enrollment from a prior year. The 24.8% implied yield is computed from the 225 pool matriculants against the 909 offers, which is the correct comparison for reasoning about this cycle's waitlist odds at Minnesota Law.

Where do University of Minnesota Law School graduates actually work?

Overwhelmingly in Minnesota. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, 61.7% of Minnesota Law graduates worked in Minnesota, and the top three markets took 71.3%. Large firms of 101 or more lawyers hired just 26.1%, the lowest large-firm share in this comparison set, and federal clerkships took 5.2%. Geography, not the raw rate, decides fit here.

The single most useful fact about Minnesota Law's employment outcomes is not the overall placement rate; it is how concentrated the class is in one state. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, Minnesota Law placed 142 graduates in Minnesota, 11 in California, and 11 in Illinois, its three largest markets. Minnesota alone absorbed 61.7% of the class, and the top three markets together took 71.3%, per the same ABA Employment Summary. A Minnesota Law degree, in practice, is a Minnesota degree: the overwhelming majority of graduates stay in the state, and the pipeline out to other markets is thin.

By employer type, Minnesota Law skews away from the largest firms in a way that defines the school. The ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows 60 Minnesota Law graduates, or 26.1%, taking jobs at large firms of 101 or more lawyers, and 37 of those, 16.1% of the class, at the very largest firms of 501 or more lawyers. That 26.1% large-firm share is the lowest in this comparison set, and it is the clearest signal that Minnesota Law is not primarily a BigLaw feeder. Graduates land instead in mid-sized and smaller firms, government, public interest, and business, weighted heavily toward the Twin Cities legal market.

Federal clerkships are a modest share. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, 12 Minnesota Law graduates, 5.2% of the class, took federal clerkships. That is a respectable number for a regional school, but it is not a defining feature the way it is at the national clerkship powerhouses. Overall placement, by contrast, is strong: the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows 224 of 230 Minnesota Law graduates employed at the ten-month mark, a 97.4% employment rate, and Minnesota Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure reports first-year academic attrition of 0.0%, meaning essentially no one who starts washes out. The reason to weigh Minnesota Law on concentration rather than on that 97.4% headline is simple: the rate tells you graduates get jobs, while the concentration tells you where. If your plan is Minnesota, that concentration is a feature. If your plan is New York or California BigLaw, it is a warning.

When are University of Minnesota Law School's application deadlines?

Minnesota Law's clearest published date is its binding Early Decision deadline of December 31, according to Minnesota Law's own admissions page. Minnesota Law's disclosures used for this page do not state a separate regular-decision deadline, so confirm the current regular deadline on Minnesota Law's site. Cycle dates shift from year to year. This reflects the 2025 to 2026 cycle, verified in August 2026.

Minnesota Law's one firmly stated date in the materials behind this page is the binding Early Decision deadline of December 31, per Minnesota Law's own how-to-apply page. That is the date to plan around if you intend to commit early. Beyond it, the disclosures used here do not give this page a separate regular-decision deadline to cite for Minnesota Law, so rather than guess at one, the honest instruction is to confirm the current regular deadline directly on Minnesota Law's admissions site before you build your timeline.

One caveat applies to every deadline on this page. Application cycle dates shift from year to year, and a date that is correct for one cycle can move in the next. The December 31 Early Decision deadline stated here reflects the 2025 to 2026 cycle as published on Minnesota Law's own admissions page and verified in August 2026. Before relying on it, confirm the current dates on Minnesota Law's site, because a page like this one is a planning aid, not the registrar of record.

Frequently asked questions about getting into University of Minnesota Law School

Is a 171 LSAT good enough for Minnesota Law?

Yes. A 171 is exactly Minnesota Law's LSAT median, per Minnesota Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, and because the University of Minnesota law acceptance rate is 26.7%, a 171 paired with a solid GPA makes you a genuine favorite rather than a borderline case. Half of the fall 2025 class scored at or above 171, inside a 166 to 173 middle range. With numbers at the medians, admission to Minnesota Law is a strong bet.

What GPA do you need to get into Minnesota Law?

Minnesota Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure reports a GPA median of 3.88, with a 25th percentile of 3.62 and a 75th percentile of 3.95. That 0.26 spread from the 25th percentile to the median is wide, so Minnesota Law regularly admits students below 3.88 when the LSAT and the rest of the file support it. Aim for 3.88 to sit at the center; a GPA in the high 3.6s remains viable with a strong LSAT.

What is Minnesota Law's acceptance rate?

Minnesota Law's acceptance rate is 26.7%, computed as 909 offers against 3,405 applications in Minnesota Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. That is the least selective rate among the leading national schools within two LSAT points of its 171 median. More than one in four applicants receives an offer from Minnesota Law, which makes it one of the most attainable high-median schools in the country.

How many people apply to Minnesota Law each year?

Minnesota Law received 3,405 applications for its fall 2025 entering class, according to Minnesota Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. From that pool, Minnesota Law extended 909 offers of admission and enrolled 225 matriculants, building a first-year class of 228. The relatively large number of offers against the applicant pool is what produces the forgiving 26.7% acceptance rate, the most accessible in Minnesota Law's LSAT band.

Does Minnesota Law have binding Early Decision?

Yes. Minnesota Law offers a binding Early Decision program with a December 31 deadline, according to Minnesota Law's own admissions page. An Early Decision admit must enroll at Minnesota Law, withdraw all other applications, and start no new ones. Minnesota Law states that Early Decision applicants receive the same scholarship consideration as regular candidates, with no special ED guarantee, so the binding round carries a commitment without a promised aid offset.

How much does Minnesota Law cost per year?

Minnesota Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure lists full-time tuition and fees at $54,118 for residents and $64,523 for nonresidents, with living expenses of $19,600. Minnesota Law does not publish a single combined cost-of-attendance total in that 509, so this page will not quote one. A student receiving Minnesota Law's median grant of $35,000 nets about $29,523 in nonresident tuition and fees before living costs are added.

Does Minnesota Law give merit scholarships?

Yes. Minnesota Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure reports that 94% of students receive grants, which include merit and need-based aid, with a median grant of $35,000 and a 75th percentile of $48,528. Minnesota Law funds 7 full-tuition awards and no awards above full tuition. Scholarships at Minnesota Law are not conditional on grades, so an award cannot be cut for finishing low in the class.

What is Minnesota Law's bar passage rate?

Minnesota Law's ABA bar-passage report shows a first-time pass rate of 94.09% for the 2024 exam year, with a 93.67% rate in its largest jurisdiction, Minnesota. The ultimate pass rate, measured two years out for the 2022 cohort, is 98.22%, per the same report. In practice, nearly every Minnesota Law graduate who sits for a bar exam ends up passing it, which is a strong result for a public school.

Do Minnesota Law graduates get large-firm (BigLaw) jobs?

Some do, but fewer than at most peer schools. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, 60 Minnesota Law graduates (26.1%) took jobs at firms of 101 or more lawyers, and 37 of those (16.1% of the class) landed at firms of 501 or more lawyers. That 26.1% large-firm share is the lowest in this comparison set, so Minnesota Law is not primarily a BigLaw feeder; it points graduates toward the Twin Cities market instead.

Where do most Minnesota Law graduates work?

Most Minnesota Law graduates work in Minnesota. The ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows Minnesota taking 142 graduates (61.7%), with California and Illinois each taking 11, so the top three markets account for 71.3% of the class. A Minnesota Law degree, in practice, is a Minnesota degree, concentrated heavily in the Minneapolis and St. Paul legal market rather than dispersed across the country.

Can a splitter get into Minnesota Law?

Yes, and Minnesota Law is one of the friendlier schools for it. Minnesota Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure shows a GPA 25th-to-median spread of 0.26 and an LSAT spread of 5 points, and the wider GPA band means Minnesota Law forgives a lower GPA when the LSAT is high. A splitter with a 172 or 173 LSAT and a GPA in the 3.6s is a viable University of Minnesota law admissions profile, especially with Minnesota ties.

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

Minnesota Law is the least selective school in its LSAT band. Among the 26 leading national schools with a median LSAT within two points of its 171, ranked by acceptance rate, Minnesota Law's 26.7% is the highest admit rate of the group, per Minnesota Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. Schools like Northwestern University at 12.3% and Columbia University at 11.8% report comparable medians but admit less than half the share Minnesota Law does.

Is Minnesota Law worth the cost?

For a student aiming at a Minnesota career, yes, clearly. Against a $54,118 resident tuition and fees sticker in Minnesota Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, 94% of students receive grants, and the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows 97.4% of Minnesota Law graduates employed at ten months. For a coastal-BigLaw ambition, the value is weaker, because Minnesota Law's 26.1% large-firm share and heavy Minnesota concentration point the degree toward one regional market.

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

Clearing both medians is the practical target. Minnesota Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure reports grant amounts up to a 75th percentile of $48,528, with a $35,000 median, and 94% of students receiving something. An applicant above the 171 LSAT and 3.88 GPA is best positioned for the larger awards, because Minnesota Law's grants reward the numbers that lift its medians. Note that only 7 full-tuition awards exist, so a full ride at Minnesota Law is rare.

Sources

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

Minnesota Law 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report (fall 2025 entering class): https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/AnnualQuestionnaire/GenerateIndividualDisclosure509Report?schoolId=81&year=2025

ABA Employment Summary, Class of 2024: https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/EmploymentOutcomes/GenerateIndividualEQSummaryReport?schoolId=81&year=2024

Minnesota Law ABA bar-passage report: https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/BarPassageOutcomes/GenerateIndividualBarPassageReport?schoolId=81&year=2025

Minnesota Law J.D. how-to-apply and Early Decision page: https://law.umn.edu/admissions/jd/how-apply

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