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

How to get into University of Pennsylvania Law School starts with two numbers. Penn Carey Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure reports an LSAT median of 173, with the middle 50% from 167 to 174, and a GPA median of 3.95, spanning 3.77 to 4.0. Hit both and you are competitive; below 167 or 3.77, the other number must carry you.

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 Penn Carey Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report (fall 2025 entering class), the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, and University of Pennsylvania Law School's own admissions pages.

University of Pennsylvania Law School, branded Penn Carey Law, is the cleanest BigLaw-and-money bet on the East Coast. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, 99.7% of Penn Carey Law graduates were employed at ten months and 69.4% went into firms of 101 or more lawyers, one of the highest large-firm shares in the T14. On price, Penn Carey Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure reports 96 full-tuition grants, the deepest full-ride pool in the T14. Add a reverse-splitter-friendly admissions profile that reaches down to a 167 LSAT at the 25th percentile, and the thesis of this page is simple: if your goal is a large firm in New York or Philadelphia with a real shot at a full ride, University of Pennsylvania Law School is built for you.

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

University of Pennsylvania Law School is one of the most selective law schools in the country. According to Penn Carey Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure, the fall 2025 class posted a 173 LSAT median, a 3.95 GPA median, and an 8.05% acceptance rate. Full-time tuition and fees run $84,492. The table gathers the core numbers.

MetricPenn Carey Law (fall 2025 entering class)LSAT (25th / 50th / 75th)167 / 173 / 174GPA (25th / 50th / 75th)3.77 / 3.95 / 4.0Acceptance rate8.05%Applications8,074Offers of admission650Matriculants from the pool254First-year class265Full-time tuition and fees$84,492 (tuition $78,348 + fees $6,144)Living expenses$31,640Share receiving grants59%Median grant$42,246Conditional scholarshipsNoFirst-time bar passage96.7%Employed at ten months99.7% (303 of 304)

Source: Penn Carey Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report (fall 2025 entering class), University of Pennsylvania Law School's ABA bar-passage report, and the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024. Tuition and living expenses are printed separately in the 509, which does not publish a single combined cost-of-attendance total.

What LSAT and GPA do you really need to get into University of Pennsylvania Law School?

You realistically need a 173 LSAT and a 3.95 GPA to sit at the center of University of Pennsylvania Law School's class. Penn Carey Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure puts the LSAT middle at 167 to 174 and the GPA middle at 3.77 to 4.0. That wide LSAT band rewards a strong GPA.

University of Pennsylvania Law School reports an LSAT 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile of 167, 173, and 174, and a GPA spread of 3.77, 3.95, and 4.0, in Penn Carey Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. The LSAT distribution is lopsided: the median of 173 sits just one point below the 174 upper quartile but a full six points above the 167 lower quartile. In other words, University of Pennsylvania Law School packs most of its class at 173 to 174 while keeping a long tail of admits down at 167, which is unusual for a school this selective.

That lopsided band is the tell of a reverse-splitter-friendly school. Because the University of Pennsylvania law LSAT median is 173 but a quarter of the class sits at or below 167, Penn Carey Law is clearly willing to reach down on the test for applicants who are strong elsewhere, and the most common way to be strong elsewhere is a high GPA. The GPA side tells the mirror story: the University of Pennsylvania law GPA runs 3.77 at the 25th percentile to a perfect 4.0 at the 75th, per Penn Carey Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure, a wide range that still keeps its median at a lofty 3.95.

So what does a realistic University of Pennsylvania Law School profile look like? A 173 LSAT and a 3.95 GPA place an applicant at both medians, per Penn Carey Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure, which is the center of the class at an 8.05% acceptance rate. Below the 167 LSAT or the 3.77 GPA, an applicant needs a clear compensating strength on the other number. Because Penn Carey Law reaches down to 167 on the LSAT, a reverse splitter with a 3.95-plus GPA and a 168 to 170 LSAT is genuinely viable here in a way it would not be at a school with a tighter LSAT band.

On the splitter question, University of Pennsylvania Law School is reverse-splitter friendly. The GPA spread from the 25th percentile to the median is 0.18 and the LSAT spread is 6 points, per Penn Carey Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure, so the test carries much more forgiveness than the transcript does. A reverse-splitter-friendly school forgives a lower LSAT when the GPA is high; a splitter-friendly school forgives a lower GPA when the LSAT is high. Penn Carey Law leans firmly toward the former, so a high-GPA applicant with a slightly soft LSAT should treat University of Pennsylvania Law School as one of the best T14 targets on the board. This is the heart of University of Pennsylvania law admissions.

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

Yes, meaningfully. Penn Carey Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure reports an 8.05% acceptance rate, the third lowest among the seventeen leading schools clustered around its 173 LSAT median. Only Yale and Stanford admit a smaller share. University of Pennsylvania Law School is harder to get into than its everyday reputation implies.

To size up University of Pennsylvania Law School's selectivity fairly, compare it only against schools with a similar academic profile. Among the seventeen leading national law schools whose median LSAT falls within two points of Penn Carey Law's 173, that is a median of 171 to 175, ranked by acceptance rate, Penn Carey Law is the third most selective. Ranked from most to least selective, the band runs: Yale University at 4.1%, Stanford University at 6.1%, the University of Pennsylvania (Carey) at 8.05%, the University of Michigan at 8.6%, Harvard University at 9.2%, the University of Chicago at 9.7%, the University of Virginia at 10.2%, Columbia University at 11.8%, UCLA at 12.1%, Northwestern University (Pritzker) at 12.3%, Duke University at 12.9%, New York University at 13.4%, the University of Texas at Austin at 14.0%, Georgetown University at 15.8%, Cornell University at 18.2%, Washington University in St. Louis at 19.0%, and the University of Minnesota at 26.7%.

Here is the honest read. In casual conversation University of Pennsylvania Law School is often filed a notch below Harvard, Columbia, and NYU, yet on the one metric that measures how hard an offer is to win, Penn Carey Law sits ahead of all three. Its 8.05% acceptance rate, from Penn Carey Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, is lower than Harvard University's 9.2%, Columbia University's 11.8%, and New York University's 13.4%. Only Yale University and Stanford University, the two most selective schools in the country, admit a smaller share than University of Pennsylvania Law School. The takeaway for an applicant is to stop treating Penn Carey Law as a safety within the T14; by admit rate it is a reach for almost everyone, third only to Yale and Stanford in its band.

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

Yes. University of Pennsylvania Law School offers binding Early Decision in two rounds. According to Penn Carey Law's own admissions pages, Round 1 closes around November 15 and Round 2 around January 7, and admission is a binding commitment to enroll. Penn Carey Law does not publish its deposit or withdrawal terms.

University of Pennsylvania Law School runs a binding Early Decision program in two rounds, according to Penn Carey Law's own admissions pages. Round 1 applications are due around November 15 and Round 2 around January 7, and in both rounds an admitted applicant is bound to enroll at Penn Carey Law and to withdraw competing applications. Binding Early Decision is not a casual box to check: an applicant should only choose it if University of Pennsylvania Law School is a clear, researched first choice, because the commitment is real and enforceable.

Here honesty requires naming a gap. Penn Carey Law's own admissions pages state that Early Decision is binding, but they do not publish the specific deposit amount, the exact withdrawal deadline, or any scholarship consequence tied to the binding commitment, so this page will not invent those terms. What can be said is strategic. Because University of Pennsylvania Law School is reverse-splitter friendly and awards generous merit aid, a high-GPA applicant who commits through binding Early Decision is signaling exactly the yield certainty Penn Carey Law values, and for the right candidate that is a genuine lever. Confirm the current deposit and withdrawal rules directly with University of Pennsylvania Law School before committing.

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

Penn Carey Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure lists full-time tuition and fees at $84,492 and living expenses at $31,640, with no combined cost-of-attendance total printed. University of Pennsylvania Law School awards both merit and need-based grants, and 59% of students receive one. The median grant is $42,246.

Start with the sticker. Penn Carey Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure lists full-time tuition and fees at $84,492, made up of $78,348 in tuition and $6,144 in fees, and separately lists living expenses at $31,640. 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 University of Pennsylvania Law School reports, and this page will not invent one.

Now the aid, and here University of Pennsylvania Law School is far more generous than the need-only schools at the top of the tier. Penn Carey Law awards both merit and need-based grants, so a strong LSAT and GPA can translate directly into scholarship dollars. According to Penn Carey Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure, 59% of students receive grant aid, with grant amounts at the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles of $29,512, $42,246, and $60,000. Those are large awards, and the fact that the 75th percentile grant reaches $60,000 tells you University of Pennsylvania Law School uses money aggressively to win the students it wants.

The headline is the full-ride pool. Penn Carey Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure reports 96 full-tuition awards and 9 awards above full tuition, the deepest full-ride pool in the T14. Very few peer schools hand out anywhere near 96 full-tuition grants, and that single figure is the strongest reason a numbers-strong applicant should keep University of Pennsylvania Law School near the top of the list. A full-tuition award at Penn Carey Law erases the entire $78,348 tuition line.

For a typical grant recipient, the math runs like this. Against the $84,492 sticker for tuition and fees, a student receiving Penn Carey Law's median grant of $42,246 nets about $42,246 in tuition and fees before living costs, essentially cutting the price in half, using figures from Penn Carey Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure. University of Pennsylvania Law School also reports that its scholarships are not conditional, so a grant cannot be reduced for landing in the bottom of the class curve, per the same disclosure. The award an admitted student is quoted at Penn Carey Law is the award they keep for all three years.

The strategic consequence is the opposite of the need-only schools. Because University of Pennsylvania Law School awards merit aid, a higher LSAT and GPA do more than improve admission odds; they improve the size of the offer. An applicant with numbers above Penn Carey Law's 173 and 3.95 medians is in real contention for one of those 96 full-tuition awards, and a competing merit offer from a peer school can sometimes be used to negotiate. That is a lever that simply does not exist at Harvard or Yale, and it is central to why University of Pennsylvania Law School is such a strong value play.

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

Better than at most elite peers. Penn Carey Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure records 650 offers and 254 matriculants from the pool, an implied yield of 39.1%. No ABA disclosure publishes waitlist admits, so that yield is the honest proxy: a moderate yield means University of Pennsylvania Law School likely works its waitlist.

Here is the reasoning in full. Penn Carey Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure reports 650 offers of admission and 254 matriculants drawn from that applicant pool, which is an implied yield of 39.1%. No ABA disclosure, University of Pennsylvania 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 a school converts only 39.1% of its offers into enrollments, it is sending well over two offers for every seat and expecting most admitted students to go elsewhere.

That moderate yield is good news for a waitlisted applicant. A school that keeps only 39.1% of its admits has to plan for heavy melt, and University of Pennsylvania Law School fills the resulting gaps in part from its waitlist. Compared with a school like Harvard, which yields 59.2%, or Yale, at 77.4%, Penn Carey Law leans harder on later rounds to complete its class, so a waitlist spot at University of Pennsylvania Law School carries more real hope of conversion than one at the very highest-yield schools. It is still not a coin flip, but it is a live possibility rather than a long shot.

One honest note on the class figures. Penn Carey Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure lists 254 matriculants from the applicant pool but a first-year class of 265. The small gap reflects students who arrive through paths other than this single cycle's pool, such as admits who deferred from a prior year. The 39.1% implied yield is computed from the 254 pool matriculants against the 650 offers, which is the correct comparison for reasoning about this cycle's waitlist odds at University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Where do University of Pennsylvania Law School graduates actually work?

Overwhelmingly in large firms, and overwhelmingly in the Northeast. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, New York took 38.8% of Penn Carey Law graduates and the top three markets 71.7%. Firms of 101-plus lawyers hired 69.4%, one of the highest large-firm shares in the T14.

The most useful fact about University of Pennsylvania Law School's employment outcomes is how concentrated they are. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, Penn Carey Law placed 118 graduates in New York, 59 in Pennsylvania, and 41 in the District of Columbia, its three largest markets. New York alone absorbed 38.8% of the class, and the top three markets together took 71.7%, per the same ABA Employment Summary. That top-three share is the highest of the schools profiled in this series, which means a University of Pennsylvania Law School degree points hard at the Northeast corridor rather than spreading nationally.

By employer type, University of Pennsylvania Law School is a large-firm machine. The ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows 211 Penn Carey Law graduates, 69.4%, taking jobs at firms of 101 or more lawyers, and 195 of those, 64.1% of the class, at the very largest firms of 501 or more lawyers. Roughly two of every three Penn Carey Law graduates walk straight into BigLaw, and almost all of that is at the biggest firms in the market. If a large-firm salary is the goal, University of Pennsylvania Law School converts on it as reliably as any school in the country.

The trade-off shows in clerkships. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, 25 Penn Carey Law graduates, 8.2% of the class, went into federal clerkships, a smaller share than at Harvard, which sends 18.0%, or Duke, at 10.5%. That is not a weakness so much as an identity: University of Pennsylvania Law School channels its class toward firm practice rather than the federal courts. An applicant whose heart is set on a clerkship-heavy path should weigh that Penn Carey Law's strength is BigLaw placement, not the judiciary.

Overall placement is essentially perfect. The ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows 303 of 304 Penn Carey Law graduates employed at the ten-month mark, a 99.7% employment rate, the highest of the schools in this series, and Penn Carey Law's 2025 ABA 509 disclosure reports first-year academic attrition of 0.0%. Practically no one who starts at University of Pennsylvania Law School fails to finish or fails to find work.

The reason to weigh University of Pennsylvania Law School on concentration rather than the headline rate is that its 99.7% employment figure looks like everyone else's at the top of the market, while its mix does not. Penn Carey Law's specific answer to where a degree leads is a large firm, most likely in New York or Philadelphia, with a strong secondary pull to Washington. An applicant who wants exactly that is buying the most efficient BigLaw pipeline on the East Coast; an applicant who wants clerkships, public-interest depth, or a West Coast base should recognize that University of Pennsylvania Law School is optimized for something else.

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

University of Pennsylvania Law School runs binding Early Decision and a regular cycle. According to Penn Carey Law's own admissions pages, Early Decision Round 1 closes around November 15 and Round 2 around January 7. Cycle dates shift year to year, so confirm the current deadlines on University of Pennsylvania Law School's site.

University of Pennsylvania Law School gives applicants two binding Early Decision windows plus the regular cycle. According to Penn Carey Law's own admissions pages, Early Decision Round 1 is due around November 15 and Round 2 around January 7, and both are binding commitments to enroll at Penn Carey Law if admitted. An applicant certain that University of Pennsylvania Law School is the first choice can use one of those rounds; everyone else applies in the regular cycle, which Penn Carey Law does not reduce to a single fixed date this page can pin down beyond the Early Decision anchors.

One caveat applies to every date on this page. Application cycle timelines shift from year to year, and a November 15 or January 7 date correct for one cycle can move in the next. The Early Decision windows stated here reflect Penn Carey Law's own admissions pages as verified in August 2026. Before relying on them, confirm the current deadlines directly on University of Pennsylvania Law School'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 Pennsylvania Law School

Is a 173 LSAT good enough for Penn Carey Law?

A 173 is exactly Penn Carey Law's LSAT median in the University of Pennsylvania Law School 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, so it makes you competitive, not safe. Half of the fall 2025 class scored 173 or higher, within a 167 to 174 middle range. At an 8.05% acceptance rate, a 173 applicant to University of Pennsylvania Law School still needs a strong GPA or a distinctive file to convert.

What GPA do you need to get into Penn Carey Law?

Penn Carey Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure reports a GPA median of 3.95, a 25th percentile of 3.77, and a 75th percentile of a perfect 4.0. Because University of Pennsylvania Law School is reverse-splitter friendly, a strong GPA carries real weight, and a 3.95-plus transcript can offset an LSAT in the high 160s. Realistically you want a GPA at or above 3.77 to sit inside Penn Carey Law's middle band.

What is Penn Carey Law's acceptance rate?

University of Pennsylvania Law School's acceptance rate is 8.05%, computed as 650 offers against 8,074 applications in Penn Carey Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. That is the third lowest among the seventeen leading schools within two LSAT points of its 173 median, behind only Yale and Stanford. Roughly eight applicants in every hundred receive an offer from University of Pennsylvania Law School.

How many people apply to Penn Carey Law each year?

University of Pennsylvania Law School received 8,074 applications for its fall 2025 entering class, according to Penn Carey Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. From that pool, Penn Carey Law extended 650 offers and enrolled 254 matriculants, building a first-year class of 265. The distance between 8,074 applications and 650 offers is what produces the 8.05% acceptance rate at University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Does Penn Carey Law have binding Early Decision?

Yes. University of Pennsylvania Law School offers binding Early Decision in two rounds, with Round 1 due around November 15 and Round 2 around January 7, according to Penn Carey Law's own admissions pages. Admission binds the applicant to enroll and withdraw other applications. Penn Carey Law does not publish the deposit amount or withdrawal deadline, so confirm those terms with University of Pennsylvania Law School before committing.

How much does Penn Carey Law cost per year?

Penn Carey Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure lists full-time tuition and fees at $84,492, which is $78,348 in tuition plus $6,144 in fees, and living expenses at $31,640. University of Pennsylvania Law School does not publish a single combined cost-of-attendance total, so this page will not quote one. A student receiving Penn Carey Law's median grant of $42,246 nets about $42,246 in tuition and fees before living costs.

Does Penn Carey Law give merit scholarships?

Yes. Unlike the need-only schools at the top of the tier, University of Pennsylvania Law School awards both merit and need-based grants. Per Penn Carey Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, 59% of students receive grants, with quartiles of $29,512, $42,246, and $60,000, plus 96 full-tuition awards and 9 above full tuition. A high LSAT and GPA can directly win scholarship money at University of Pennsylvania Law School.

What is Penn Carey Law's bar passage rate?

Penn Carey Law's ABA bar-passage report shows a first-time pass rate of 96.7% for the 2024 exam year, with a 97.73% rate in its largest jurisdiction, New York. The ultimate pass rate, measured two years out for the 2022 cohort, is 97.66%. In short, nearly every University of Pennsylvania Law School graduate who sits for a bar exam ends up passing it.

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

Yes, more reliably than almost anywhere. In the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024, 211 Penn Carey Law graduates (69.4%) took jobs at firms of 101 or more lawyers, and 195 of those (64.1% of the class) landed at firms of 501 or more lawyers. Large-firm practice is by far the most common outcome for University of Pennsylvania Law School graduates.

Where do most Penn Carey Law graduates work?

Most University of Pennsylvania Law School graduates work in the Northeast. The ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows New York taking 118 graduates (38.8%), Pennsylvania 59, and the District of Columbia 41, so the top three markets account for 71.7% of the class. A Penn Carey Law degree points hardest at New York, with Philadelphia and Washington as the strong secondary markets.

Can a splitter get into Penn Carey Law?

A reverse splitter can, comfortably. University of Pennsylvania Law School is reverse-splitter friendly, with a GPA 25th-to-median spread of 0.18 and an LSAT spread of 6 points in Penn Carey Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure. That means a high GPA can offset an LSAT down toward the 167 lower quartile. A traditional splitter with a high LSAT and low GPA has a harder time at Penn Carey Law than a reverse splitter does.

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

University of Pennsylvania Law School is the third most selective school in its LSAT band. Among the seventeen leading national schools with a median LSAT within two points of Penn Carey Law's 173, ranked by acceptance rate, its 8.05% trails only Yale at 4.1% and Stanford at 6.1%, and sits below Michigan at 8.6% and Harvard at 9.2%. Few academic peers admit a smaller share than University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Is Penn Carey Law worth the cost?

For most admitted students, strongly yes. Against an $84,492 tuition and fees sticker in Penn Carey Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, 59% of students receive grants, including 96 full-tuition awards, and the ABA Employment Summary for the Class of 2024 shows 99.7% of University of Pennsylvania Law School graduates employed at ten months, with 69.4% in large firms. The BigLaw placement and deep aid make Penn Carey Law's cost defensible.

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

Numbers above the medians. Because University of Pennsylvania Law School awards merit aid, an LSAT above 173 and a GPA above 3.95, per Penn Carey Law's 2025 ABA Standard 509 disclosure, put an applicant in real contention for one of its 96 full-tuition awards or a grant toward the $60,000 upper quartile. At Penn Carey Law, unlike at Harvard or Yale, stronger numbers buy both admission and money.

Sources

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

Penn Carey Law 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report (fall 2025 entering class): https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/AnnualQuestionnaire/GenerateIndividualDisclosure509Report?schoolId=130&year=2025

ABA Employment Summary, Class of 2024: https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/EmploymentOutcomes/GenerateIndividualEQSummaryReport?schoolId=130&year=2024

Penn Carey Law ABA bar-passage report: https://backend.abarequireddisclosures.org/api/BarPassageOutcomes/GenerateIndividualBarPassageReport?schoolId=130&year=2025

University of Pennsylvania Law School how-to-apply page: https://www.law.upenn.edu/admissions/how-to-apply.php

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