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Harvard Law School Acceptance Rate, LSAT Scores, & Application Components — 2025

March 25, 2025

harvard law school acceptace rate LSAT score

Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard Law School (HLS) is one of the best law programs in the United States. Ranked #4 in the country, HLS boasts first-time bar passage rate of 98.5%. It shouldn’t be surprising to hear that in 2024, Harvard Law accepted just under 800 of its over 8000 applicants. Though Elle Woods may have made the cut with her , we recommend a more thorough approach. Continue reading for information on the acceptance process, LSAT scores, GPA, and more.

What is Harvard Law School’s Acceptance Rate?

Harvard Law School’s acceptance rate is just 9.6%, and once you dive into their program, it’s easy to see why so many students are clambering to attend. With over 500 courses and seminars, 47 clinics, 88 student organizations, and a wide range of interest areas, Harvard Law School 鈥渁dvances the cause of justice all over the world through excellence and leadership in legal education and scholarship.鈥� HLS is also famous for its legal clinics, which are among the largest of any law school in the world.

With an emphasis on real-world skills, students work on cases from their first year onward. These cases range from helping musicians understand copyright law to representing prison inmates at disciplinary hearings. Students also complete at least 40 hours of pro bono or volunteer work before graduating, and can even take advantage of study abroad options through a joint program with the University of Cambridge.

Some of HLC’s top areas of law? Business/Corporate Law, Constitutional Law, Dispute Resolution, Criminal Law, Contracts/Commercial Law, International Law, and Health Care Law. Besides Elle Woods, famous alumni include US presidents, Supreme Court justices, and other government luminaries.

Although the annual tuition is a pricey $75,008, HLS does have a , which helps students manage loans.

What Are the Admissions Requirements for Harvard Law?

So, how does one get into this top law school? Main components of the HLS admissions process include:

Resume: You should limit this to 1-2 pages. Click for some examples from the Harvard Admissions website.
Transcripts: This includes all undergraduate and graduate transcripts.
LSAT Scores: Harvard Law does not accept the GRE.
Recommendation Letters: HLS asks for 2-3 letters of recommendation. At least one of these letters should be academic, since their admissions officers want to see that you can succeed in a rigorous academic learning environment. However, if you have been out of school for a number of years and cannot secure a letter from an academic source, HLS recommends asking your professional references to comment on skills that can apply in an academic context.
Written Statements: This includes a Statement of Purpose (what motivates you to pursue law?) and a Statement of Perspective (how have your experiences, background, and/or interests shaped you and how will they shape your engagement with the HLS community?) Students can use these essays to convey important or unique aspects of their character or communicate deep intellectual interest in certain topics. Starting with a story can help!
Interview: During the application process, you may be invited to interview with a member of the admissions committee via Zoom. If you are wondering how to prepare for this interview, HLS admissions recommends that you consider these three questions ahead of time: 1) why you?听2) why Harvard Law School?听and 3) why now?

What LSAT and GRE Scores Do You Need for Harvard?

A major part of applying for any law school will be studying for the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT). Your odds of getting into any of the T14 Law Schools, Harvard included, will be much higher if you score over 170 (out of 180) on the LSATs. Harvard鈥檚 median LSAT score of entering students is 174. That being said, HLS’s LSAT range was 171-176 in 2024, so you’re going to need to bring your A-game.

The LSAT has four sections, and the number of questions you answer correctly across these sections leads to your raw score. Then, based on results from all test-takers, LSAT graders decide how these raw scores correspond with scaled scores, which range from 120-180. A number of factors go into this, including the difficulty of the questions in a given year. Lastly, your scaled score translates to a percentile score, which is essentially how many test takers scored lower than you (averaged over several years). For example, if you scored in the 90th percentile, that means that 90% of other LSAT test takers scored lower than you over the past three years. Most accepted Harvard Law School students scored in the 99th percentile, which means that they scored higher than 99% of test takers over the past three years.

Can I submit GRE scores instead?

Harvard Law School does accept GRE scores. For the class of 2027, the 50th percentile of students scored 165 on the GRE Verbal (out of 170), 165 on the GRE Quantitative (out of 170), and 5.5 on the GRE Writing (out of 6).

What GPA Will I Need for Harvard Law?

Harvard Law School will also be looking for a high undergraduate GPA. Harvard Law School鈥檚 median GPA is 3.95, with the lower 25th percentile at 3.89 and upper 75th percentile at 4.0. So, if you鈥檙e beginning your undergraduate degree and want to increase your chances, it will be essential that you keep your grades up in all of your coursework. It鈥檚 important to note that although you must maintain a high GPA, your grades need not come from a major in pre-law or political science. Many successful law school students applied from across diverse humanities, social sciences, and STEM majors.

More Tips for Applying to Harvard Law School

Apply early.

Harvard Law School admissions are rolling, which means the earlier you get your application in, the more available spots there will be. The application to begin law school in the fall of 2026 will open in mid-September 2025 and will close in mid-February 2026. (HLS aims to notify all applicants of their admission decisions by early April).

Diversify your resume.

According to the Harvard Law School report for the class of 2027, entering students did not all look the same, and they certainly did not all take straightforward pre-law tracks. Many students play musical instruments, speak multiple languages, majored in STEM, edited their undergraduate newspapers, taught in schools, completed military service, and competed in competitions from mock trial to marathon running to chess. Harvard is looking for a diverse student body, so you鈥檙e better off following your passions than shaping yourself to be what you think a law school admissions committee will want to see.

Take a year鈥r four.

You don’t need to go straight from undergraduate to law school in order to get into a top program like Harvard Law School! HLS admissions reports that 79% of the class of 2027 took at least a year between college graduation and entering law school, 66% took two or more years, and 15% took four or more years. This data suggests that it could even improve your chances if you take some time after graduation. Possibilities for how to spend years between undergrad and law school could include:

working to save money or pay off already-accumulated loans, especially if you can find a job that can prepare you for what you may want to do after law school (this could include work at a nonprofit, at a tech firm, or in the health sector, for example)
completing a fellowship or other prestigious program (a number of entering class members have completed programs such as Fulbright, Rhodes, or AmeriCorps)
getting a master鈥檚 degree (in philosophy, sociology, or history, for example)
volunteering or organizing for a cause you care about
traveling

Final Thoughts — Harvard Law School Acceptance Rate

With all this in mind, it’s clear that getting into Harvard Law School is no easy feat. At the same time, it is possible for excellent students with the right combination of LSAT score, undergraduate GPA, extracurriculars, and strong written application. Even with all of these factors, you may not get in due to the extremely low admissions rate. If this is the case, don鈥檛 be too hard on yourself! There are plenty of great law schools that can set you up for success in the legal field. Check out this article for more information on law school percentiles.

For further reading on strategies for getting into a top law school, check out the links below:

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Graduate & Professional School Admissions

Sarah Mininsohn

With a BA from Wesleyan University and an MFA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Sarah is a writer, educator, and artist. She served as a graduate instructor at the University of Illinois, a tutor at St Peter鈥檚 School in Philadelphia, and an academic writing tutor and thesis mentor at Wesleyan鈥檚 Writing Workshop.