Top Law Schools

Recently I’ve seen several posts in the A/D/W threads asking about the chances of getting admitted off the waitlist at a given school, so I figured it would be interesting to take a look at what data is available about waitlists from LSN. All the standard caveats about self-reported LSN data apply (and then some –- not everyone indicates when they withdraw from waitlists, some people may count holds as waitlists, etc).

I was initially pulling data from MyLSN for the sake of convenience, but I realized it would be more useful to pull the data directly from LSN. This data includes all applicants on LSN who indicated a decision (so not those who left their status as “Pending”) with some cycle corrections based on checking submit/complete/decision dates. So these numbers are a bit different from what I posted earlier and they also give some indication of how many applicants withdrew from the waitlist.

Percent of applicants remaining on waitlist eventually admitted, past thee cycles:
1. NYU: 32.2% (214 applicants on LSN did not withdraw from the waitlist, 69 eventually admitted)
2. Berkeley: 25% (80 applicants on LSN did not withdraw from the waitlist, 20 eventually admitted)
3. Harvard: 23.7% (312 applicants on LSN did not withdraw from the waitlist, 74 eventually admitted)
4. Georgetown: 20.4% (392 applicants on LSN did not withdraw from the waitlist, 80 eventually admitted)
5. Duke: 17.7% (288 applicants on LSN did not withdraw from the waitlist, 51 eventually admitted)
6. Northwestern: 17% (223 applicants on LSN did not withdraw from the waitlist, 38 eventually admitted)
7. Cornell: 12.1% (206 applicants on LSN did not withdraw from the waitlist, 25 eventually admitted)
8. Chicago: 11.5% (314 applicants on LSN did not withdraw from the waitlist, 36 eventually admitted)
9. Stanford: 10.8% (148 applicants on LSN did not withdraw from the waitlist, 16 eventually admitted)
10. Yale: 10% (70 applicants on LSN did not withdraw from the waitlist, 7 eventually admitted)
11. UVA: 7.6% (580 applicants on LSN did not withdraw from the waitlist, 44 eventually admitted)
12. Michigan: 7.3% (330 applicants on LSN did not withdraw from the waitlist, 24 eventually admitted)
13. Penn: 5.8% (346 applicants on LSN did not withdraw from the waitlist, 20 eventually admitted)
14. Columbia: 3.2% (464 applicants on LSN did not withdraw from the waitlist, 15 eventually admitted)

Percent of applicants remaining on waitlist eventually admitted, 2012-2013 cycle:
1. Berkeley: 45% (40 applicants on LSN did not withdraw from the waitlist, 18 eventually admitted)
2. NYU: 42.6% (61 applicants on LSN did not withdraw from the waitlist, 26 eventually admitted)
3. Harvard: 26.7% (101 applicants on LSN did not withdraw from the waitlist, 27 eventually admitted)
4. Northwestern: 21.4% (84 applicants on LSN did not withdraw from the waitlist, 18 eventually admitted)
5. Duke: 19.2% (99 applicants on LSN did not withdraw from the waitlist, 19 eventually admitted)
6. Georgetown: 18.5% (130 applicants on LSN did not withdraw from the waitlist, 24 eventually admitted)
7. Stanford: 14.8% (54 applicants on LSN did not withdraw from the waitlist, 8 eventually admitted)
8. Cornell: 13.4% (67 applicants on LSN did not withdraw from the waitlist, 9 eventually admitted)
9. UVA: 12.3% (162 applicants on LSN did not withdraw from the waitlist, 20 eventually admitted)
10. Yale: 11.5% (26 applicants on LSN did not withdraw from the waitlist, 3 eventually admitted)
11. Michigan: 9.9% (91 applicants on LSN did not withdraw from the waitlist, 9 eventually admitted)
12. Penn: 5.4% (149 applicants on LSN did not withdraw from the waitlist, 8 eventually admitted)
13. Chicago: 5% (100 applicants on LSN did not withdraw from the waitlist, 5 eventually admitted)
14. Columbia: 3.8% (158 applicants on LSN did not withdraw from the waitlist, 6 eventually admitted)

Some other waitlist-related metrics...

Percent of all waitlisted applicants who are eventually admitted, past three cycles:
1. NYU: 22% (314 waitlists on LSN, 69 eventually admitted)
2. Harvard: 19.3% (383 waitlists on LSN, 74 eventually admitted)
3. Berkeley: 16.9% (118 waitlists on LSN, 20 eventually admitted)
4. Georgetown: 14.5% (550 waitlists on LSN, 80 eventually admitted)
5. Northwestern: 11.4% (333 waitlists on LSN, 38 eventually admitted)
6. Duke: 10.2% (501 waitlists on LSN, 51 eventually admitted)
7. Cornell: 7.9% (315 waitlists on LSN, 25 eventually admitted)
8. Yale: 7.1% (98 waitlists on LSN, 7 eventually admitted)
9. Stanford: 7% (230 waitlists on LSN, 16 eventually admitted)
10. Chicago: 6.6% (545 waitlists on LSN, 36 eventually admitted)
11. UVA: 4.3% (1016 waitlists on LSN, 44 eventually admitted)
12. Michigan: 4.1% (583 waitlists on LSN, 24 eventually admitted)
13. Penn: 3% (672 waitlists on LSN, 20 eventually admitted)
14. Columbia: 2.3% (651 waitlists on LSN, 15 eventually admitted)

Percent of acceptances coming from the waitlist, past three cycles:
1. Harvard: 15.6% (74 of 473 acceptances on LSN came from the waitlist)
2. Stanford: 8% (16 of 199 acceptances on LSN came from the waitlist)
3. UVA: 7.3% (44 of 603 acceptances on LSN came from the waitlist)
4. Yale: 7.1% (7 of 98 acceptances on LSN came from the waitlist)
5. NYU: 6.8% (69 of 1,019 acceptances on LSN came from the waitlist)
6. Chicago: 6.8% (36 of 526 acceptances on LSN came from the waitlist)
7. Northwestern: 6.7% (38 of 563 acceptances on LSN came from the waitlist)
8. Georgetown: 6.1% (80 of 1,314 acceptances on LSN came from the waitlist)
9. Duke: 5.3% (51 of 962 acceptances on LSN came from the waitlist)
10. Berkeley: 3.9% (20 of 511 acceptances on LSN came from the waitlist)
11. Penn: 3.7% (20 of 535 acceptances on LSN came from the waitlist)
12. Cornell: 3.3% (25 of 753 acceptances on LSN came from the waitlist)
13. Michigan: 2.9% (24 of 829 acceptances on LSN came from the waitlist)
14. Columbia: 2.2% (15 of 668 acceptances on LSN came from the waitlist)

Percent of applicants waitlisted, past three cycles:
1. UVA: 46.4% (1016 of 2,189 applicants on LSN were waitlisted)
2. Penn: 42.7% (672 of 1,575 applicants on LSN were waitlisted)
3. Columbia: 41.7% (651 of 1,560 applicants on LSN were waitlisted)
4. Chicago: 40% (545 of 1,363 applicants on LSN were waitlisted)
5. Michigan: 33.6% (583 of 1,735 applicants on LSN were waitlisted)
6. Harvard: 29.4% (383 of 1,303 applicants on LSN were waitlisted)
7. Northwestern: 29.3% (333 of 1,135 applicants on LSN were waitlisted)
8. Duke: 29% (501 of 1,729 applicants on LSN were waitlisted)
9. Stanford: 26.4% (230 of 870 applicants on LSN were waitlisted)
10. Cornell: 25% (315 of 1,262 applicants on LSN were waitlisted)
11. Georgetown: 24.3% (550 of 2,265 applicants on LSN were waitlisted)
12. NYU: 19% (314 of 1,654 applicants on LSN were waitlisted)
13. Yale: 16.7% (98 of 587 applicants on LSN were waitlisted)
14. Berkeley: 6.8% (118 of 1,723 applicants on LSN were waitlisted)

Percent of waitlisted applicants who withdrew from the waitlist, past three cycles:
1. Penn: 48.5% (326 of 672 waitlisted applicants on LSN withdrew)
2. Michigan: 43.4% (253 of 583 waitlisted applicants on LSN withdrew)
3. UVA: 42.9% (436 of 1016 waitlisted applicants on LSN withdrew)
4. Duke: 42.5% (213 of 501 waitlisted applicants on LSN withdrew)
5. Chicago: 42.4% (231 of 545 waitlisted applicants on LSN withdrew)
6. Stanford: 35.7% (82 of 230 waitlisted applicants on LSN withdrew)
7. Cornell: 34.6% (109 of 315 waitlisted applicants on LSN withdrew)
8. Northwestern: 33% (110 of 333 waitlisted applicants on LSN withdrew)
9. Berkeley: 32.2% (38 of 118 waitlisted applicants on LSN withdrew)
10. NYU: 31.8% (100 of 314 waitlisted applicants on LSN withdrew)
11. Columbia: 28.7% (187 of 651 waitlisted applicants on LSN withdrew)
12. Georgetown: 28.7% (158 of 550 waitlisted applicants on LSN withdrew)
13. Yale: 28.6% (28 of 98 waitlisted applicants on LSN withdrew)
14. Harvard: 18.5% (71 of 383 waitlisted applicants on LSN withdrew)

School-Specific Data

YALE:
• During the past three cycles, 38 applicants on LSN at/above that cycle’s LSAT median and at/above that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 23 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 4 withdrew from the waitlist and 4 were eventually admitted (21.1% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 27 applicants on LSN at/above that cycle’s LSAT median and below that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 34 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 11 withdrew from the waitlist and 1 were eventually admitted (4.3% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 10 applicants on LSN below that cycle’s LSAT median and at/above that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 17 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 8 withdrew from the waitlist and 1 were eventually admitted (11.1% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 10 applicants on LSN below that cycle’s LSAT median and below that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 22 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 5 withdrew from the waitlist and 1 were eventually admitted (5.9% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 12 applicants on LSN URM were straight admits while 18 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 7 withdrew from the waitlist and 0 were eventually admitted (0% staying on waitlist were admitted).

STANFORD:
• During the past three cycles, 94 applicants on LSN at/above that cycle’s LSAT median and at/above that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 87 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 34 withdrew from the waitlist and 7 were eventually admitted (13.2% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 37 applicants on LSN at/above that cycle’s LSAT median and below that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 53 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 23 withdrew from the waitlist and 3 were eventually admitted (10% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 25 applicants on LSN below that cycle’s LSAT median and at/above that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 49 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 13 withdrew from the waitlist and 2 were eventually admitted (5.6% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 24 applicants on LSN below that cycle’s LSAT median and below that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 30 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 9 withdrew from the waitlist and 1 were eventually admitted (4.8% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 45 applicants on LSN URM were straight admits while 35 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 14 withdrew from the waitlist and 0 were eventually admitted (0% staying on waitlist were admitted).

HARVARD:
• During the past three cycles, 150 applicants on LSN at/above that cycle’s LSAT median and at/above that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 25 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 4 withdrew from the waitlist and 12 were eventually admitted (57.1% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 112 applicants on LSN at/above that cycle’s LSAT median and below that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 115 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 17 withdrew from the waitlist and 24 were eventually admitted (24.5% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 80 applicants on LSN below that cycle’s LSAT median and at/above that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 102 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 18 withdrew from the waitlist and 24 were eventually admitted (28.6% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 48 applicants on LSN below that cycle’s LSAT median and below that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 128 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 30 withdrew from the waitlist and 12 were eventually admitted (12.2% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 66 applicants on LSN URM were straight admits while 58 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 18 withdrew from the waitlist and 9 were eventually admitted (22.5% staying on waitlist were admitted).

CHICAGO:
• During the past three cycles, 167 applicants on LSN at/above that cycle’s LSAT median and at/above that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 38 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 20 withdrew from the waitlist and 2 were eventually admitted (11.1% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 177 applicants on LSN at/above that cycle’s LSAT median and below that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 267 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 132 withdrew from the waitlist and 22 were eventually admitted (16.3% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 80 applicants on LSN below that cycle’s LSAT median and at/above that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 72 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 19 withdrew from the waitlist and 6 were eventually admitted (11.3% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 53 applicants on LSN below that cycle’s LSAT median and below that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 152 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 54 withdrew from the waitlist and 3 were eventually admitted (3.1% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 74 applicants on LSN URM were straight admits while 68 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 33 withdrew from the waitlist and 2 were eventually admitted (5.7% staying on waitlist were admitted).

COLUMBIA:
• During the past three cycles, 368 applicants on LSN at/above that cycle’s LSAT median and at/above that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 61 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 31 withdrew from the waitlist and 2 were eventually admitted (6.7% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 146 applicants on LSN at/above that cycle’s LSAT median and below that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 109 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 32 withdrew from the waitlist and 9 were eventually admitted (11.7% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 84 applicants on LSN below that cycle’s LSAT median and at/above that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 252 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 82 withdrew from the waitlist and 1 were eventually admitted (0.6% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 38 applicants on LSN below that cycle’s LSAT median and below that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 193 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 36 withdrew from the waitlist and 3 were eventually admitted (1.9% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 65 applicants on LSN URM were straight admits while 105 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 29 withdrew from the waitlist and 1 were eventually admitted (1.3% staying on waitlist were admitted).

NYU:
• During the past three cycles, 473 applicants on LSN at/above that cycle’s LSAT median and at/above that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 28 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 16 withdrew from the waitlist and 3 were eventually admitted (25% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 231 applicants on LSN at/above that cycle’s LSAT median and below that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 77 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 21 withdrew from the waitlist and 31 were eventually admitted (55.4% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 168 applicants on LSN below that cycle’s LSAT median and at/above that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 123 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 39 withdrew from the waitlist and 18 were eventually admitted (21.4% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 50 applicants on LSN below that cycle’s LSAT median and below that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 79 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 22 withdrew from the waitlist and 14 were eventually admitted (24.6% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 105 applicants on LSN URM were straight admits while 55 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 20 withdrew from the waitlist and 6 were eventually admitted (17.1% staying on waitlist were admitted).

PENN:
• During the past three cycles, 208 applicants on LSN at/above that cycle’s LSAT median and at/above that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 26 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 16 withdrew from the waitlist and 2 were eventually admitted (20% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 203 applicants on LSN at/above that cycle’s LSAT median and below that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 370 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 205 withdrew from the waitlist and 6 were eventually admitted (3.6% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 57 applicants on LSN below that cycle’s LSAT median and at/above that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 110 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 43 withdrew from the waitlist and 9 were eventually admitted (13.4% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 30 applicants on LSN below that cycle’s LSAT median and below that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 144 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 53 withdrew from the waitlist and 3 were eventually admitted (3.3% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 49 applicants on LSN URM were straight admits while 111 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 60 withdrew from the waitlist and 4 were eventually admitted (7.8% staying on waitlist were admitted).

UVA:
• During the past three cycles, 139 applicants on LSN at/above that cycle’s LSAT median and at/above that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 124 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 86 withdrew from the waitlist and 0 were eventually admitted (0% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 257 applicants on LSN at/above that cycle’s LSAT median and below that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 470 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 224 withdrew from the waitlist and 24 were eventually admitted (9.8% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 107 applicants on LSN below that cycle’s LSAT median and at/above that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 174 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 50 withdrew from the waitlist and 17 were eventually admitted (13.7% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 32 applicants on LSN below that cycle’s LSAT median and below that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 215 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 67 withdrew from the waitlist and 2 were eventually admitted (1.4% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 72 applicants on LSN URM were straight admits while 120 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 54 withdrew from the waitlist and 4 were eventually admitted (6.1% staying on waitlist were admitted).

BERKELEY:
• During the past three cycles, 259 applicants on LSN at/above that cycle’s LSAT median and at/above that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 46 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 24 withdrew from the waitlist and 6 were eventually admitted (27.3% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 146 applicants on LSN at/above that cycle’s LSAT median and below that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 40 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 11 withdrew from the waitlist and 9 were eventually admitted (31% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 44 applicants on LSN below that cycle’s LSAT median and at/above that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 12 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 1 withdrew from the waitlist and 3 were eventually admitted (27.3% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 25 applicants on LSN below that cycle’s LSAT median and below that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 12 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 1 withdrew from the waitlist and 1 were eventually admitted (9.1% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 87 applicants on LSN URM were straight admits while 15 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 2 withdrew from the waitlist and 4 were eventually admitted (30.8% staying on waitlist were admitted).

MICHIGAN:
• During the past three cycles, 333 applicants on LSN at/above that cycle’s LSAT median and at/above that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 155 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 96 withdrew from the waitlist and 5 were eventually admitted (8.5% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 282 applicants on LSN at/above that cycle’s LSAT median and below that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 226 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 101 withdrew from the waitlist and 8 were eventually admitted (6.4% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 110 applicants on LSN below that cycle’s LSAT median and at/above that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 99 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 33 withdrew from the waitlist and 6 were eventually admitted (9.1% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 51 applicants on LSN below that cycle’s LSAT median and below that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 81 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 17 withdrew from the waitlist and 5 were eventually admitted (7.8% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 101 applicants on LSN URM were straight admits while 67 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 29 withdrew from the waitlist and 2 were eventually admitted (5.3% staying on waitlist were admitted).

DUKE:
• During the past three cycles, 475 applicants on LSN at/above that cycle’s LSAT median and at/above that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 64 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 39 withdrew from the waitlist and 5 were eventually admitted (20% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 289 applicants on LSN at/above that cycle’s LSAT median and below that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 197 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 84 withdrew from the waitlist and 24 were eventually admitted (21.2% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 90 applicants on LSN below that cycle’s LSAT median and at/above that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 150 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 56 withdrew from the waitlist and 16 were eventually admitted (17% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 37 applicants on LSN below that cycle’s LSAT median and below that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 80 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 32 withdrew from the waitlist and 4 were eventually admitted (8.3% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 91 applicants on LSN URM were straight admits while 81 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 40 withdrew from the waitlist and 6 were eventually admitted (14.6% staying on waitlist were admitted).

NORTHWESTERN:
• During the past three cycles, 178 applicants on LSN at/above that cycle’s LSAT median and at/above that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 28 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 15 withdrew from the waitlist and 1 were eventually admitted (7.7% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 234 applicants on LSN at/above that cycle’s LSAT median and below that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 121 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 46 withdrew from the waitlist and 28 were eventually admitted (37.3% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 81 applicants on LSN below that cycle’s LSAT median and at/above that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 90 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 26 withdrew from the waitlist and 8 were eventually admitted (12.5% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 16 applicants on LSN below that cycle’s LSAT median and below that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 82 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 21 withdrew from the waitlist and 0 were eventually admitted (0% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 43 applicants on LSN URM were straight admits while 48 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 18 withdrew from the waitlist and 5 were eventually admitted (16.7% staying on waitlist were admitted).

CORNELL:
• During the past three cycles, 388 applicants on LSN at/above that cycle’s LSAT median and at/above that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 44 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 26 withdrew from the waitlist and 4 were eventually admitted (22.2% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 190 applicants on LSN at/above that cycle’s LSAT median and below that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 116 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 43 withdrew from the waitlist and 14 were eventually admitted (19.2% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 82 applicants on LSN below that cycle’s LSAT median and at/above that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 69 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 19 withdrew from the waitlist and 5 were eventually admitted (10% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 40 applicants on LSN below that cycle’s LSAT median and below that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 78 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 20 withdrew from the waitlist and 1 were eventually admitted (1.7% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 113 applicants on LSN URM were straight admits while 70 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 21 withdrew from the waitlist and 0 were eventually admitted (0% staying on waitlist were admitted).

GULC:
• During the past three cycles, 498 applicants on LSN at/above that cycle’s LSAT median and at/above that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 65 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 38 withdrew from the waitlist and 11 were eventually admitted (40.7% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 444 applicants on LSN at/above that cycle’s LSAT median and below that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 174 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 57 withdrew from the waitlist and 43 were eventually admitted (36.8% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 194 applicants on LSN below that cycle’s LSAT median and at/above that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 126 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 30 withdrew from the waitlist and 16 were eventually admitted (16.7% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 58 applicants on LSN below that cycle’s LSAT median and below that cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 165 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 31 withdrew from the waitlist and 6 were eventually admitted (4.5% staying on waitlist were admitted).
• During the past three cycles, 141 applicants on LSN URM were straight admits while 87 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 24 withdrew from the waitlist and 11 were eventually admitted (17.5% staying on waitlist were admitted).

Good work.

Danke sehr.

oxie wrote:Recently I’ve seen several posts in the A/D/W threads asking about the chances of getting admitted off the waitlist at a given school, so I figured it would be interesting to take a look at what data is available about waitlists from LSN. All the caveats about self-reported LSN data apply (and then some –- lots of people withdraw from waitlists, some people may count holds as waitlists, etc).

Percent of waitlisted applicants eventually admitted for the past three cycles:
1. NYU: 22.3% (278 waitlists on LSN, 62 eventually admitted)
2. Harvard: 18.62% (349 waitlists on LSN, 65 eventually admitted)
3. Berkeley: 18.27% (104 waitlists on LSN, 19 eventually admitted)
4. Georgetown: 15% (460 waitlists on LSN, 69 eventually admitted)
5. Northwestern: 13.03% (284 waitlists on LSN, 37 eventually admitted)
6. Duke: 10.16% (443 waitlists on LSN, 45 eventually admitted)
7. Cornell: 7.12% (281 waitlists on LSN, 20 eventually admitted)
8. Stanford: 6.6% (212 waitlists on LSN, 14 eventually admitted)
9. Yale: 6.45% (93 waitlists on LSN, 6 eventually admitted)
10. Chicago: 6.35% (488 waitlists on LSN, 31 eventually admitted)
11. Michigan: 4.36% (505 waitlists on LSN, 22 eventually admitted)
12. UVA: 4.23% (875 waitlists on LSN, 37 eventually admitted)
13. Penn: 3.13% (608 waitlists on LSN, 19 eventually admitted)
14. Columbia: 2.1% (571 waitlists on LSN, 12 eventually admitted)

Percent of waitlisted applicants eventually admitted, 2012-2013 cycle:
1. Berkeley: 30.91% (55 waitlists on LSN, 17 eventually admitted)
2. NYU: 26.04% (96 waitlists on LSN, 25 eventually admitted)
3. Harvard: 21.77% (124 waitlists on LSN, 27 eventually admitted)
4. Northwestern: 14.73% (129 waitlists on LSN, 19 eventually admitted)
5. Georgetown: 12.89% (194 waitlists on LSN, 25 eventually admitted)
6. Duke: 11.11% (171 waitlists on LSN, 19 eventually admitted)
7. Stanford: 8.7% (92 waitlists on LSN, 8 eventually admitted)
8. Cornell: 7.34% (109 waitlists on LSN, 8 eventually admitted)
9. UVA: 7.14% (294 waitlists on LSN, 21 eventually admitted)
10. Michigan: 5.26% (171 waitlists on LSN, 9 eventually admitted)
11. Yale: 5.13% (39 waitlists on LSN, 2 eventually admitted)
12. Penn: 3.33% (270 waitlists on LSN, 9 eventually admitted)
13. Columbia: 3.13% (224 waitlists on LSN, 7 eventually admitted)
14. Chicago: 2.38% (168 waitlists on LSN, 4 eventually admitted)

I pulled this data from MyLSN using the broadest possible range of LSATs and GPAs and including URMs and ED applicants, so it should cover everyone on LSN.

Here are a couple other waitlist-related metrics that might be of interest…

Percent of acceptances coming from the waitlist, past three cycles:
1. Harvard: 15.37% (65 of 423 acceptances on LSN came from the waitlist)
2. Stanford: 7.82% (14 of 179 acceptances on LSN came from the waitlist)
3. Northwestern: 7.43% (37 of 498 acceptances on LSN came from the waitlist)
4. UVA: 7.06% (37 of 524 acceptances on LSN came from the waitlist)
5. NYU: 6.8% (62 of 912 acceptances on LSN came from the waitlist)
6. Yale: 6.67% (6 of 90 acceptances on LSN came from the waitlist)
7. Chicago: 6.53% (31 of 475 acceptances on LSN came from the waitlist)
8. Georgetown: 6.14% (69 of 1124 acceptances on LSN came from the waitlist)
9. Duke: 5.36% (45 of 839 acceptances on LSN came from the waitlist)
10. Berkeley: 4.24% (19 of 448 acceptances on LSN came from the waitlist)
11. Penn: 4.03% (19 of 472 acceptances on LSN came from the waitlist)
12. Cornell: 3.03% (20 of 661 acceptances on LSN came from the waitlist)
13. Michigan: 2.95% (22 of 745 acceptances on LSN came from the waitlist)
14. Columbia: 2.03% (12 of 590 acceptances on LSN came from the waitlist)

Percent of applicants waitlisted, past three cycles:
1. UVA: 46.87% (37 of 1867 applicants on LSN were waitlisted)
2. Penn: 44.28% (19 of 1373 applicants on LSN were waitlisted)
3. Columbia: 41.95% (12 of 1361 applicants on LSN were waitlisted)
4. Chicago: 40.77% (31 of 1197 applicants on LSN were waitlisted)
5. Michigan: 33.25% (22 of 1519 applicants on LSN were waitlisted)
6. Harvard: 30.01% (65 of 1163 applicants on LSN were waitlisted)
7. Duke: 29.79% (45 of 1487 applicants on LSN were waitlisted)
8. Northwestern: 29.07% (37 of 977 applicants on LSN were waitlisted)
9. Stanford: 27.01% (14 of 785 applicants on LSN were waitlisted)
10. Cornell: 25.45% (20 of 1104 applicants on LSN were waitlisted)
11. Georgetown: 24.38% (69 of 1887 applicants on LSN were waitlisted)
12. NYU: 19.12% (62 of 1454 applicants on LSN were waitlisted)
13. Yale: 17.61% (6 of 528 applicants on LSN were waitlisted)
14. Berkeley: 7.14% (19 of 1456 applicants on LSN were waitlisted)

Sorry, but could you explain the last section? those percentages don't make sense to me

burtmacklin wrote:

Sorry, but could you explain the last section? those percentages don't make sense to me

It's the number of people that were ultimately waitlisted out of everyone that applied.

sims1 wrote:

burtmacklin wrote:

Sorry, but could you explain the last section? those percentages don't make sense to me

It's the number of people that were ultimately waitlisted out of everyone that applied.

Yeah I get that, I guess I was more questining that the numbers listed don't match the percentages or anywhere even close to it

burtmacklin wrote:Sorry, but could you explain the last section? those percentages don't make sense to me

Whoops -- was pulling the WL numbers on that one from the wrong column in my spreadsheet. Fixed in the OP now -- thanks for catching that!

oxie wrote:

burtmacklin wrote:Sorry, but could you explain the last section? those percentages don't make sense to me

Whoops -- was pulling the WL numbers on that one from the wrong column in my spreadsheet. Fixed in the OP now -- thanks for catching that!

Haha no problem, but this post just knocked me down a peg after I had hopes for my chances from the UVA waitlist lol

burtmacklin wrote:

sims1 wrote:

burtmacklin wrote:

Sorry, but could you explain the last section? those percentages don't make sense to me

It's the number of people that were ultimately waitlisted out of everyone that applied.

Yeah I get that, I guess I was more questining that the numbers listed don't match the percentages or anywhere even close to it

Oh, didn't look at the %'s just the raw numbers. I'm not a math major but you may be onto something here...

burtmacklin wrote:

oxie wrote:

burtmacklin wrote:Sorry, but could you explain the last section? those percentages don't make sense to me

Whoops -- was pulling the WL numbers on that one from the wrong column in my spreadsheet. Fixed in the OP now -- thanks for catching that!

Haha no problem, but this post just knocked me down a peg after I had hopes for my chances from the UVA waitlist lol

Yeah, UVA sure does love waitlisting people!

I think it's important to note,though, that one of the big limitations of the data is that you can't really tell how many people withdrew from the WL. UVA, for example, is pretty well known for YP and I think it's reasonable to assume that a fair number of applicants with strong stats got waitlisted by them and then withdrew but may have been eventually admitted if they had stayed on the WL and written LOCI. Whereas with Harvard, for example, I could see a much higher percentage of people riding the waitlist through the summer, which would help explain why their numbers are relatively high.

oxie wrote: I think it's important to note,though, that one of the big limitations of the data is that you can't really tell how many people withdrew from the WL.

Accurate observation and I'm glad ya made it. Because at first glance I was very discouraged until I realized that the data does not account for that. So what seems like a 9% admitted rate off of an initially larger WL pool could actually be a 50% admit rate.

WOW at the size of Penn and Columbia's WL compared to how many people get in

Solid post Oxie - just wondering if you noticed any differences in applicants who were waitlist--> withdraw. For instance, did UVA have a lot of these so that their eventual waitlist was much smaller than the initial number or anything like that?

lastsamurai wrote:Solid post Oxie - just wondering if you noticed any differences in applicants who were waitlist--> withdraw. For instance, did UVA have a lot of these so that their eventual waitlist was much smaller than the initial number or anything like that?

Unfortunately myLSN doesn't note withdrawals, so you'd have to go to individual applicants LSN pages to see if they withdrew. If I've got some free time later today or this weekend I'll try to add data about that and about the characteristics of WL -> Admit applicants at different schools!

This just eliminated any hope I had of getting off Columbia's reserve group.

blink wrote:This just eliminated any hope I had of getting off Columbia's reserve group.

I know, right? Jeesh...

this also does not include people who do not post on LSN. I would be surprised if more than 50% of applicants post on LSN

Super informative, thanks OP. Looks like getting in off the Chicago waitlist isn't happening

Shortterm12 wrote:Super informative, thanks OP. Looks like getting in off the Chicago waitlist isn't happening

TBF, last year they over-enrolled. The yield was way higher than normal, so very few people got off the WL. My year (the one before), a HUGE chunk of the class got in off the WL.

WheninLaw wrote:

Shortterm12 wrote:Super informative, thanks OP. Looks like getting in off the Chicago waitlist isn't happening

TBF, last year they over-enrolled. The yield was way higher than normal, so very few people got off the WL. My year (the one before), a HUGE chunk of the class got in off the WL.

Yeah, it does seem like there's quite a bit of year-to-year variation at certain schools.

Here's what Chicago had for the past three cycles, for example:
2012-13 cycle: 2.38% of WLs on LSN eventually admitted (168 waitlists on LSN, 4 of whom were eventually admitted)
2011-12 cycle: 12.5% of WLs on LSN eventually admitted (160 waitlists on LSN, 20 of whom were eventually admitted)
2010-11 cycle: 4.38% of WLs on LSN eventually admitted (160 waitlists on LSN, 7 of whom were eventually admitted)

WheninLaw wrote:

Shortterm12 wrote:Super informative, thanks OP. Looks like getting in off the Chicago waitlist isn't happening

TBF, last year they over-enrolled. The yield was way higher than normal, so very few people got off the WL. My year (the one before), a HUGE chunk of the class got in off the WL.

I had no idea, thanks for the info! The hope is back

blink wrote:This just eliminated any hope I had of getting off Columbia's reserve group.

There's me and at least four other CLS 1Ls who can tell you it's not impossible. Read the CLS reserve thread from last year.

I’ve updated the OP based on data pulled directly from LSN rather than through MyLSN, which I think is more accurate and gives some indication of how many applicants who were waitlisted withdrew.

I’ve also broken down the characteristics of WL→Admit applicants for some schools, which I’ll put here. Let me know if there’s any other school you’d like me to post this type of data for!

Harvard:
• During the past three cycles, 150 applicants on LSN at/above their cycle’s LSAT median and at/above their cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 25 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 12 were eventually admitted and 4 withdrew from the waitlist.
• During the past three cycles, 112 applicants on LSN at/above their cycle’s LSAT median and below their cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 115 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 24 were eventually admitted and 17 withdrew from the waitlist.
• During the past three cycles, 80 applicants on LSN below their cycle’s LSAT median and at/above their cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 102 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 24 were eventually admitted and 18 withdrew from the waitlist.
• During the past three cycles, 48 applicants on LSN below their cycle’s LSAT median and below their cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 128 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 12 were eventually admitted and 30 withdrew from the waitlist.
• During the past three cycles, 66 URM applicants on LSN were straight admits while 58 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 9 were eventually admitted and 18 withdrew from the waitlist.

NYU:
• During the past three cycles, 473 applicants on LSN at/above their cycle’s LSAT median and at/above their cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 28 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 3 were eventually admitted and 16 withdrew from the waitlist.
• During the past three cycles, 231 applicants on LSN at/above their cycle’s LSAT median and below their cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 77 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 31 were eventually admitted and 21 withdrew from the waitlist.
• During the past three cycles, 168 applicants on LSN below their cycle’s LSAT median and at/above their cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 123 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 18 were eventually admitted and 39 withdrew from the waitlist.
• During the past three cycles, 50 applicants on LSN below their cycle’s LSAT median and below their cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 79 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 14 were eventually admitted and 22 withdrew from the waitlist.
• During the past three cycles, 105 URM applicants on LSN were straight admits while 55 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 6 were eventually admitted and 20 withdrew from the waitlist.

UVA:
• During the past three cycles, 139 applicants on LSN at/above their cycle’s LSAT median and at/above their cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 124 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 0 were eventually admitted and 86 withdrew from the waitlist.
• During the past three cycles, 257 applicants on LSN at/above their cycle’s LSAT median and below their cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 470 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 24 were eventually admitted and 224 withdrew from the waitlist.
• During the past three cycles, 107 applicants on LSN below their cycle’s LSAT median and at/above their cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 174 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 17 were eventually admitted and 50 withdrew from the waitlist.
• During the past three cycles, 32 applicants on LSN below their cycle’s LSAT median and below their cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 215 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 2 were eventually admitted and 67 withdrew from the waitlist.
• During the past three cycles, 72 URM applicants on LSN were straight admits while 120 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 4 were eventually admitted and 54 withdrew from the waitlist.

This is really interesting, thank you!

oxie wrote: UVA:
• During the past three cycles, 139 applicants on LSN at/above their cycle’s LSAT median and at/above their cycle’s GPA median were straight admits while 124 were waitlisted. Of those waitlisted applicants, 0 were eventually admitted and 86 withdrew from the waitlist.

Woah.