Top Law Schools

Given that U.S. News & World Report seems to only track 25th/75th percentiles for GPA and LSAT, I'm wondering the extent to which median GPA/LSAT factors into a school's admissions decisions. Obviously, other things being equal, a higher GPA or LSAT will always be preferred. But in terms of law schools making admissions decisions with an eye towards their U.S. News rankings, does it matter where an applicant falls in relation to the median GPA/LSAT, or is it really all about whether he/she is below the 25th, above the 75th, or in between?

You realize that it is the median number that goes into the USNWR ranking formula, right?

Well that's embarrassing. I did not.

Does U.S. News use that number but just not report it? I'm on U.S. News right now, and I'm only seeing 75th/25th percentile numbers.

I guess those numbers are behind the paywall?

They do use the number. http://www.usnews.com/education/best-gr ... ology-2012

The information might be behind their paywall though.

Yeah, it looks like it's behind the paywall. Which is unfortunate.

Almost every school will publish their median LSAT on their website. It's usually not difficult to find.

But yes, this is the number you should be concerned about. If you're above it but below the 75th percentile, then boosting your LSAT above the 75th percentile won't help you that much in terms of admission. The 75th percentile is somewhat important to schools, mostly for bragging rights, but is not nearly as important as the median which goes into the USNWR formula.

Granted, schools will often give you a boost in scholarship if you can crack the 75th percentile, so it could be useful for this. Schools don't disclose their scholarship formulas, though, and they're quite difficult to figure out even looking at applicants on LSN.

jd5 wrote:Yeah, it looks like it's behind the paywall. Which is unfortunate.

Here are the most up-to-date compiled medians for many t1 schools:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... &p=4694840

HTH.