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

The honest answer to how to get into University of Notre Dame Law School starts with two numbers. According to Notre Dame Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, the fall 2025 entering class posted an LSAT median of 170 (166 to 171) and a GPA median of 3.89 (3.78 to 3.95). 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 Notre Dame Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report (fall 2025 entering class), the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, and Notre Dame Law's own admissions pages.

Here is the thesis of this page. University of Notre Dame Law School is one of the few schools outside the very top of the rankings that produces a genuinely national outcome, and its numbers prove it two ways. First, the class scatters: in the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, Notre Dame Law's single largest job market, Illinois, took only 21.9% of graduates, and the top three markets together took just 45.5%, one of the most dispersed placement patterns of any school in this comparison set. Second, the clerkship pipeline is outsized: 17.1% of Notre Dame Law graduates went into federal clerkships, the third-highest federal-clerkship share in this comparison set, behind only Yale and Harvard. Notre Dame Law is a national Catholic draw whose graduates fan out across the country and into the federal courts at a rate almost no peer matches. One thing it does not offer is an early-decision lever: Notre Dame Law eliminated binding Early Decision in 2022, so every applicant competes in one regular pool.

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

Notre Dame Law is a national private law school with a selective admit rate and a dispersed graduate outcome. According to Notre Dame Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, the fall 2025 class had a 170 LSAT median, a 3.89 GPA median, and a 16.07% acceptance rate. Full-time tuition and fees run $73,950. The table below collects the core University of Notre Dame law admissions numbers for quick reference.

MetricUniversity of Notre Dame Law School (fall 2025 entering class)LSAT (25th / 50th / 75th)166 / 170 / 171GPA (25th / 50th / 75th)3.78 / 3.89 / 3.95Acceptance rate16.07%Applications3,579Offers of admission575Matriculants from the pool182First-year class185Full-time tuition and fees$73,950 (tuition $73,430 + fees $520)Living expenses$25,990Share receiving grants92%Median grant$30,000Conditional scholarshipsNoFirst-time bar passage89.44%Employed at ten months96.3% (180 of 187)

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

You really need a 170 LSAT and a 3.89 GPA to sit at the center of Notre Dame Law's class. Notre Dame Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure puts the University of Notre Dame law LSAT median at 170, inside a 166 to 171 band, and the GPA median at 3.89, inside a tight 3.78 to 3.95 band. Below either 25th percentile, the other number must compensate.

Start with the GPA, because at Notre Dame Law it is the less forgiving of the two numbers. Notre Dame Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure reports a University of Notre Dame law GPA of 3.78 at the 25th percentile, 3.89 at the median, and 3.95 at the 75th percentile. That is a compressed band: the distance from the 25th percentile to the median is only 0.11 of a grade point. In practical terms, Notre Dame Law's admitted students cluster high on the undergraduate scale, and there is little room to be a low-GPA admit. A GPA under 3.78 is a real headwind that the LSAT has to answer for.

The LSAT gives more room. Notre Dame Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure puts the LSAT 25th percentile at 166, the median at 170, and the 75th percentile at 171. Note how tight the top of that band is: only a single point separates the median from the 75th percentile. But the bottom stretches down to 166, a four-point gap from the median, which means Notre Dame Law will accept a wider spread of LSAT scores than GPA figures. That asymmetry is the key to reading University of Notre Dame law requirements correctly: the test is where you have room to be below median, and the GPA is where you do not.

So what does a realistic profile look like? A 170 LSAT and a 3.89 GPA place an applicant exactly at both of Notre Dame Law's medians, per its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, and at a 16.07% acceptance rate that is a solid, competitive position rather than a lock. Below the 166 LSAT or the 3.78 GPA, an applicant needs a clear compensating strength on the other number. A 165 LSAT applicant realistically wants a GPA at or near the 3.95 upper quartile, while an applicant with a 3.7 GPA needs an LSAT pressing toward or above the 171 top quartile to reassure Notre Dame Law's readers.

On the splitter question, Notre Dame Law is reverse-splitter friendly. Notre Dame Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure shows a GPA 25th-to-median spread of just 0.11 and an LSAT spread of 4 points, and that combination is the definition of a reverse-splitter school. 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. Notre Dame Law does the latter: because its GPA band is tight and its LSAT band is wider, a high-GPA applicant with an LSAT in the 166 to 168 range is a viable University of Notre Dame law admissions profile, while a high-LSAT applicant with a sub-3.78 GPA has the harder path.

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

Not quite. Notre Dame Law's national reputation is earned by its outcomes, not by an extreme admit rate. Notre Dame Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure reports a 16.07% acceptance rate, which is genuinely selective, but among the leading national schools within two LSAT points of its 170 median, Notre Dame Law is on the more forgiving side, 19th most selective of 25.

To size up Notre Dame Law fairly, you compare it only against schools with a similar academic profile. Among the 25 leading national law schools whose median LSAT falls within two points of Notre Dame Law's 170, that is, a median of 168 to 172, ranked by acceptance rate, Notre Dame Law ranks 19th most selective of the 25, per Notre Dame Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. In other words, most schools reporting an LSAT median at Notre Dame Law's level admit a smaller share of their applicants than Notre Dame Law does. Its 16.07% rate is a real bar, but it is not, relative to its academic band, an extreme one.

Ranked from most to least selective by acceptance rate, the band runs from the University of Michigan at 8.6% near the top, through the University of Southern California at 11.0%, the University of North Carolina at 11.2%, UCLA at 12.1%, Boston University at 12.1%, Texas A&M University at 12.1%, 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%, and George Mason University (Scalia) at 16.0%, before reaching Notre Dame Law at 16.07% and then Fordham University at 16.2%, Brigham Young University (BYU) at 22.8%, Ohio State University (Moritz) at 25.0%, the University of Minnesota at 26.7%, and George Washington University at 27.2%. One entry needs an asterisk: Boston College reports an 8.5% acceptance rate that would slot near the top of this band, but Boston College reports its offers on a narrower basis than the other schools, so it is not a true selectivity peer and is set aside here.

The honest read is that Notre Dame Law's prestige outruns its admit rate, and that is a compliment, not a criticism. The school earns its national standing through where its graduates land, the federal clerkships and the dispersed BigLaw placements documented later on this page, rather than through an ultra-low acceptance rate. For an applicant, the practical consequence is encouraging: a strong file at Notre Dame Law's medians has a better statistical shot than the school's reputation might lead you to fear.

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

No. Notre Dame Law does not offer Early Decision. According to Notre Dame Law's own admissions page, the school eliminated its binding Early Decision program in 2022, and applicants now go through a single regular cycle with a March 1 deadline on a rolling basis. There is no early round and no binding commitment to weigh.

Notre Dame Law used to run a binding Early Decision program, but it does not anymore. According to Notre Dame Law's own admissions page, Notre Dame Law eliminated binding Early Decision in 2022, so there is currently no early-decision option, no early deposit, no binding withdrawal requirement, and no scholarship trade-off tied to committing early. Those terms simply do not exist at Notre Dame Law today, and it would be dishonest to quote any. Every applicant is read in the same regular pool.

This absence changes the strategy in a specific way. At schools that still offer binding Early Decision, a borderline applicant can sometimes improve the read by signaling total commitment. Notre Dame Law has removed that lever entirely, which means there is no shortcut and no way to buy a small admissions edge with a binding pledge. The upside is fairness and flexibility: because Notre Dame Law reviews on a rolling basis, per its own admissions page, an applicant who submits a complete file early in the cycle is read early, which is its own timing advantage without any binding string attached. The clear instruction for applicants is to apply early in the rolling cycle for the best odds, not to look for a binding round that no longer exists.

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

Notre Dame Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure lists full-time tuition and fees at $73,950 and living expenses at $25,990, with no single cost-of-attendance total printed. Aid is broad: 92% of Notre Dame Law students receive grants, the median grant is $30,000, and scholarships are not conditional on grades.

Start with the sticker. Notre Dame Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure lists full-time tuition and fees of $73,950, made up of $73,430 in tuition plus $520 in fees, and separately lists living expenses of $25,990. That 509 does not print a single combined cost-of-attendance total, so any all-in annual figure quoted elsewhere is someone's arithmetic, not a number Notre Dame Law reports, and this page will not invent one. As a private school, Notre Dame Law charges the same tuition to every student regardless of residency, so there is no in-state discount to chase.

The aid picture softens that sticker considerably. According to Notre Dame Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, 92% of students receive grant aid, with grant amounts at the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles of $20,000, $30,000, and $50,000. Those grants include both merit and need-based aid. A 92% grant share means that walking away from Notre Dame Law with no scholarship at all is the exception, and the $50,000 75th-percentile award shows that the upper end of the grant table is large relative to the $73,950 tuition line.

The top of the scale is real but limited. Notre Dame Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure reports 24 full-tuition awards and 11 awards above full tuition, a combined 35 grants at or above full tuition. Those 11 above-full awards are meaningful, because a grant larger than tuition helps cover living costs as well, but with a first-year class of 185 they go to a small slice of the student body. Most Notre Dame Law recipients hold a partial grant in the tens of thousands. Importantly, Notre Dame Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure confirms that its scholarships are not conditional, so an award cannot be cut or revoked for landing low in the class after the first year. The grant you are quoted is the grant you keep.

For a typical grant recipient, the math works out like this. Against the $73,950 sticker for tuition and fees, a student receiving Notre Dame Law's median grant of $30,000 nets about $43,950 in tuition and fees before living costs, using figures from Notre Dame Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. To reach the larger awards in that grant table, the practical target is to clear both medians and press above them: because Notre Dame Law's GPA band is tight, a high GPA above 3.89 paired with an LSAT at or above 170 is the profile most likely to draw a top-quartile grant.

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

Moderate, and the math frames it. Notre Dame Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure shows 575 offers against 182 matriculants from the pool, an implied yield of 31.7%. No ABA disclosure publishes waitlist admits, but a yield near a third means Notre Dame Law over-admits relative to its seats and keeps a working waitlist in reserve.

Here is the reasoning in full. Notre Dame Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure reports 575 offers of admission and 182 matriculants drawn from that applicant pool, which is an implied yield of 31.7%. No ABA disclosure, Notre Dame 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 is direct: when a school enrolls only about 32 of every 100 students it admits, it is sending far more offers than it has seats because it expects most admits to enroll elsewhere, and a school in that position keeps a waitlist active to backfill as summer decisions land.

Notre Dame Law's 31.7% yield is moderate, which means the waitlist is a real but uncertain path. It is not the near-zero-movement situation you see at the very highest-yield schools, where almost every admit enrolls and the waitlist barely opens. Nor is it a heavy-churn regional safety school that returns to its waitlist every year. Notre Dame Law sits in between: it sends 575 offers to build a first-year class of 185, per its 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, so there is genuine slack between offers and seats, and waitlist activity in a given cycle depends on how its admits break against competing schools. A waitlisted applicant to Notre Dame Law should submit a concise letter of continued interest and stay reachable, because movement is plausible but not guaranteed.

One honest note on the class figures. Notre Dame Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure lists 182 matriculants from the applicant pool but a first-year class of 185. 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 31.7% implied yield is computed from the 182 pool matriculants against the 575 offers, which is the correct comparison for reasoning about this cycle's waitlist odds at Notre Dame Law.

Where do University of Notre Dame Law School graduates actually work?

Almost everywhere, which is the point. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, Notre Dame Law's largest single market, Illinois, took only 21.9% of graduates, and the top three markets took just 45.5%, one of the most dispersed patterns in this comparison set. Large firms hired 47.6%, and 17.1% took federal clerkships, the third-highest clerkship share here.

The most distinctive fact about Notre Dame Law's employment outcomes is the absence of a dominant home market. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, Notre Dame Law placed 41 graduates in Illinois, 28 in New York, and 16 in Indiana, its three largest markets. Illinois, the largest, absorbed only 21.9% of the class, and the top three markets together took 45.5%, per the same ABA Employment Summary. Compare that with a regional school where a single state can claim 60 or 70 percent of a class, and Notre Dame Law's dispersion stands out. Notably, the school sits in Indiana, yet Indiana is only its third-largest market, behind the Chicago and New York corridors, which underscores how national the degree is in practice.

By employer type, Notre Dame Law is a strong large-firm feeder. The ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows 89 Notre Dame Law graduates, or 47.6%, taking jobs at large firms of 101 or more lawyers, and 74 of those, 39.6% of the class, at the very largest firms of 501 or more lawyers. So nearly half of a Notre Dame Law class goes into BigLaw, and the vast majority of those land at the biggest firms in the market rather than mid-sized ones. That is a materially higher large-firm share than a typical regional school reports.

What truly sets Notre Dame Law apart is the clerkship pipeline. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, 32 Notre Dame Law graduates, 17.1% of the class, went into federal clerkships, the third-highest federal-clerkship share in this comparison set, behind only Yale and Harvard. More than one in six new Notre Dame Law graduates spent their first year out of school clerking for a federal judge, a rate that signals both the caliber of the class and the standing of the school with the federal bench. Overall placement is strong as well: the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows 180 of 187 Notre Dame Law graduates employed at the ten-month mark, a 96.3% rate, and Notre Dame Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure reports first-year academic attrition of 1.0%. The reason to weigh Notre Dame Law on dispersion and clerkships rather than on the headline employment rate is that those two features, national reach and a federal-court pipeline, are exactly what distinguish this degree from a strong regional one.

When are University of Notre Dame Law School's application deadlines?

Notre Dame Law runs one regular cycle. According to Notre Dame Law's own admissions page, the application deadline is March 1, with supporting documents due by March 10, and the school reviews files on a rolling basis. There is no Early Decision round. Cycle dates shift from year to year, so confirm current dates on Notre Dame Law's site. This reflects the 2025 to 2026 cycle.

Notre Dame Law keeps a single regular calendar. According to Notre Dame Law's own admissions page, the application deadline is March 1, with supporting documents accepted through March 10, and Notre Dame Law reviews applications on a rolling basis rather than holding every file for one decision date. Because the review is rolling and there is no Early Decision alternative, the practical advantage goes to applicants who complete their files early in the cycle, when the most seats and the most scholarship money remain available. There is no earlier binding date to plan around at Notre Dame Law.

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 March 1 deadline and March 10 supporting-document date stated here reflect the 2025 to 2026 cycle as published on Notre Dame Law's own admissions page and verified in August 2026. Before relying on them, confirm the current dates on Notre Dame 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 Notre Dame Law School

Is a 170 LSAT good enough for Notre Dame Law?

A 170 is exactly Notre Dame Law's LSAT median, per Notre Dame Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, so it is good enough to be competitive when paired with a strong GPA. Half of the fall 2025 class scored at or above 170, inside a 166 to 171 middle range. At a 16.07% acceptance rate, a 170 applicant to Notre Dame Law still needs a GPA near the 3.89 median to feel secure.

What GPA do you need to get into Notre Dame Law?

Notre Dame Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure reports a GPA median of 3.89, with a 25th percentile of 3.78 and a 75th percentile of 3.95. That band is tight, only 0.11 from the 25th percentile to the median, so Notre Dame Law expects a high GPA and forgives a low one grudgingly. Realistically you want at least a 3.78, and anything below it needs an LSAT near the 171 top quartile to offset.

What is Notre Dame Law's acceptance rate?

Notre Dame Law's acceptance rate is 16.07%, computed as 575 offers against 3,579 applications in Notre Dame Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. That is genuinely selective, but among the leading national schools within two LSAT points of its 170 median, Notre Dame Law is on the more forgiving side, 19th most selective of 25. Roughly one in six applicants receives an offer from Notre Dame Law in a given cycle.

How many people apply to Notre Dame Law each year?

Notre Dame Law received 3,579 applications for its fall 2025 entering class, according to Notre Dame Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. From that pool, Notre Dame Law extended 575 offers of admission and enrolled 182 matriculants, building a first-year class of 185. The distance between 3,579 applications and 575 offers is what produces the 16.07% acceptance rate.

Does Notre Dame Law have binding Early Decision?

No. Notre Dame Law eliminated its binding Early Decision program in 2022, according to Notre Dame Law's own admissions page, so there is no early round today. Every applicant competes in a single regular cycle with a March 1 deadline, reviewed on a rolling basis. Because there is no Early Decision at Notre Dame Law, there is no early deposit, no binding withdrawal rule, and no early-commitment scholarship trade-off to weigh.

How much does Notre Dame Law cost per year?

Notre Dame Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure lists full-time tuition and fees at $73,950, made up of $73,430 in tuition plus $520 in fees, and living expenses at $25,990. Notre Dame Law does not publish a single combined cost-of-attendance total in that 509, so this page will not quote one. A student receiving Notre Dame Law's median grant of $30,000 nets about $43,950 in tuition and fees before living costs.

Does Notre Dame Law give merit scholarships?

Yes. Notre Dame Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure reports that 92% of students receive grants, which include merit and need-based aid, with a median grant of $30,000 and a 75th percentile of $50,000. Notre Dame Law funds 24 full-tuition awards and 11 awards above full tuition. Scholarships at Notre Dame Law are not conditional on grades, so an award cannot be cut for finishing low in the class.

What is Notre Dame Law's bar passage rate?

Notre Dame Law's ABA bar-passage report shows a first-time pass rate of 89.44% for the 2025 exam year, with an 87.76% rate in its largest jurisdiction, Illinois. The ultimate pass rate, measured two years out for the 2023 cohort, is 98.18%, per the same report. So while Notre Dame Law's first-time rate sits in the high 80s, nearly every graduate who keeps sitting for a bar exam ultimately passes it.

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

Yes, at a high rate. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, 89 Notre Dame Law graduates (47.6%) took jobs at firms of 101 or more lawyers, and 74 of those (39.6% of the class) landed at firms of 501 or more lawyers. Nearly half of a Notre Dame Law class goes into large-firm practice, weighted heavily toward the biggest firms in the market.

Where do most Notre Dame Law graduates work?

Notre Dame Law graduates spread out more than most. The ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows Illinois taking 41 graduates (21.9%), New York 28, and Indiana 16, so the top three markets account for only 45.5% of the class. A Notre Dame Law degree, in practice, is national: no single market dominates, and the Chicago and New York corridors outdraw the school's home state of Indiana.

Can a splitter get into Notre Dame Law?

A reverse splitter can, more easily than a traditional one. Notre Dame Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure shows a tight GPA band (3.78 to 3.95) and a wider LSAT band (166 to 171), so Notre Dame Law forgives a lower LSAT when the GPA is high. A high-GPA applicant with a 166 to 168 LSAT is a viable profile; a high-LSAT applicant with a sub-3.78 GPA faces the harder road at Notre Dame Law.

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

Notre Dame Law is on the less selective side of its LSAT band. Among the 25 leading national schools with a median LSAT within two points of its 170, ranked by acceptance rate, Notre Dame Law's 16.07% ranks 19th most selective of 25, per Notre Dame Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. Schools like the University of Michigan at 8.6% and Duke University at 12.9% report similar medians but admit a smaller share of applicants than Notre Dame Law.

Is Notre Dame Law worth the cost?

For a student who wants national mobility or a clerkship, yes. Against a $73,950 tuition and fees sticker in Notre Dame Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, 92% of students receive grants, and the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows 96.3% employed at ten months, 47.6% in large firms, and 17.1% in federal clerkships. Those dispersed, high-end outcomes are what make Notre Dame Law's private sticker defensible.

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

Push above both medians, and lead with the GPA. Notre Dame Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure reports grants up to a 75th percentile of $50,000, with a $30,000 median and 92% of students receiving something. Because Notre Dame Law's GPA band is tight, a GPA above 3.89 paired with an LSAT at or above 170 is the profile most likely to earn a top-quartile award. Only 24 full-tuition awards exist, so a full ride is uncommon.

Sources

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

Notre Dame Law 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report (fall 2025 entering class): https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/AnnualQuestionnaire/GenerateIndividualDisclosure509Report?schoolId=53&year=2025

ABA Employment Summary, Class of 2024: https://law.nd.edu/assets/612896/aba_employment_summary_1_.pdf

Notre Dame Law ABA bar-passage report: https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/BarPassageOutcomes/GenerateIndividualBarPassageReport?schoolId=53&year=2025

Notre Dame Law J.D. admissions and apply page: https://law.nd.edu/admissions/apply/

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