10 Law Schools In The U.S With the Lowest Acceptance Rate
These mentioned Law Schools admitted students with an average of just 17.6 percent for fall 2016, shows the U.S News data.
The U.S. News Short List, separate from our overall rankings, is a regular series that boost individual data points in aspiration of providing students and parents a way to find which undergraduate or graduate programs shine or have room to grow in particular areas. Be sure to explore  The Short List:College, The Short List: Grad and The Short List: Online Programs to find data that matter to you in your college or grad school search.
Don’t expect getting into a top law school to be easy.
Among the 196 law schools that submitted acceptance rate data to U.S. News in an annual survey, the average was 49.8 percent. But among the 10 law schools with the lowest acceptance rates, that figure was significantly lower: 17.6 percent.
Nine of the 10 law schools with the lowest acceptance rates also rank within the top 10 in U.S. News’ 2018 version of Best Law Schools. The exception is the University of California—Berkeley, ranked at No. 12.
Yale University – with the law school ranked No. 1 by U.S. News – was the most competitive option for fall 2016, admitting just 9.5 percent of applicants. The No. 2-ranked Stanford University and No. 3-ranked Harvard University law schools follow, with acceptance rates of 10.7 percent and 16.6 percent, respectively.
The only law schools ranked within the top 10 that didn’t make the list are New York University, which admitted 29.8 percent of applicants for fall 2016, and the University of Michigan-Annarbour, at 23.7 percent.
On the opposite end of the spectrum are schools such as Western Michigan University Thomas M.Cooley Law School where 85.8 percent of applicants were admitted, and Loyola University New Orleans which accepted 84.8 percent.
Below is a list of the 10 law schools where the lowest proportion of applicants were admitted for fall 2016. Unranked schools, which did not meet certain criteria required by U.S. News to be numerically ranked, were not considered for this report.
| School (name) (state) | Full-time and part-time applicants (fall 2016) | Full-time and part-time acceptances | Acceptance rate | U.S. News rank |
| Yale University (CT) | 2,735 | 259 | 9.5% | 1 |
| Stanford University (CA) | 3,821 | 409 | 10.7% | 2 |
| Harvard university (MA) | 5,454 | 908 | 16.6% | 3 |
| University of Pennslyvania | 5,593 | 951 | 17% | 7 |
| North Western University (IL) | 4,625 | 823 | 17.8% | 10 (tie) |
| University of Virginia | 4,794 | 952 | 19.9% | 8 (tie) |
| Duke University | 5,095 | 1,027 | 20.2% | 10 (tie) |
| Columbia University (NY) | 5,877 | 1,191 | 20.3% | 5 |
| University of Chicago | 4,380 | 905 | 20.7% | 4 |
| University of California-Berkeley | 5,336 | 1,228 | 23% | 12 |
Don’t see your school in the top 10? Access the U.S News Law School Compass to find admissions data, complete rankings and much more. School officials can access historical data and rankings, including of peer institutions, via U.S News Academic Insights.
U.S. News surveyed 203 schools for our 2016 survey of law programs. Schools self-reported myriad data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News’ data the most accurate and detailed collection of college facts and figures of its kind. While U.S. News uses much of this survey data to rank schools for our annual Best Law Schools rankings, the data can also be useful when examined on a smaller scale. U.S. News will now produce lists of data, separate from the overall rankings, meant to provide students and parents a means to find which schools excel, or have room to grow, in specific areas that are important to them. While the data come from the schools themselves, these lists are not related to, and have no influence over, U.S. News’ rankings of Best Colleges, Best Law Schools or Best Online Programs. The admissions data above are correct as of May 2, 2017.
