Law school

University of Richmond School of Law

Richmond, VA

#62 in U.S. News & World Report Best Law Schools (2026-27)

Published admissions data for the Fall 2025 entering class, an estimate of where your own numbers land, this cycle's deadlines, the school's own essay prompts and the ABA employment outcomes it reports.

Admissions profile

Median LSAT
164
Median GPA
3.81
Admit rate
39.6%
Entering class
147
Applications
1,738
Admitted
689

Sources: Richmond Law Entering Class Profile (Class of 2028); 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report — University of Richmond School of Law · Fall 2025 entering class

How competitive is Richmond?

Reported for the Fall 2025 entering class.

For the Fall 2025 entering class, Richmond reported a median LSAT of 164 and a median undergraduate GPA of 3.81.

Its published LSAT band runs 159 / 164 / 167: the 25th percentile sits five points below the median and the 75th sits three points above it.

Richmond admitted 689 applicants from 1,738 applications, an admit rate of 39.6%.

147 students enrolled.

What LSAT and GPA do you need for Richmond?

The ABA reports where the entering class landed — three percentiles, not a cut-off. No score is required, and none guarantees anything.

LSAT

Published LSAT: 25th 159 · median 164 · 75th 167.

GPA

Published GPA: 25th 3.66 · median 3.81 · 75th 3.92.

Percentiles: American Bar Association Standard 509 Information Report · Fall 2025 entering class

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See the full analysis

Two numbers only. The full analysis also weighs your softs, your residency, your application round and when you submit.

2026–27 application timeline

Dates the school publishes for this cycle, in the order they fall.

  1. Application opensSeptember 1
  2. Early decision deadlineDecember 1
  3. Scholarship priority deadlineFebruary 1
  4. Priority admission deadlineMarch 1

Source: Richmond Law — Apply: Dates & Deadlines (entering Fall 2027) · verified August 29, 2026

Essay prompts

2026–27 cycle, quoted from the school. Never summarised, never behind a control.

Personal Statement

Required · 3 pages

The personal statement must not exceed a maximum of three (3) typed pages, double-spaced. A strong personal statement will discuss why the applicant is interested in pursuing a legal career or what your anticipated career goals & interests are at this time. We encourage you to provide information about yourself not otherwise found in your application and distinct from any other written statements or addenda to be submitted as part of this application (see below). All written submissions should include headers or titles identifying each separate item.

Source: Richmond Law JD Application Information

Optional Supplemental Statement

We encourage applicants to submit an optional statement discussing how the significant life experiences, challenges, or perspectives that have shaped you as a person have influenced your alignment with the mission and values of Richmond Law. This statement is not required, and no applicant will be penalized for choosing not to submit one. All written submissions should include headers or titles identifying each separate item.

Source: Richmond Law JD Application Information

Optional Addenda

Additional written material may be useful to discuss grade inconsistencies, gaps in work history, or to provide context for the Admissions Committee on any other topic relevant to the holistic review of the application. Addenda should be long enough to fully disclose and explain each topic. All written submissions should include headers or titles identifying each separate item.

Source: Richmond Law JD Application Information

Résumé

Required

The résumé should be formatted appropriately and need not be limited to a single page. It should provide chronological information about your academic background, employment experience, scholastic accomplishments, publications, leadership and service experience, and extracurricular or charitable activities.

Source: Richmond Law JD Application Information

Class of 2025 employment outcomes

Reported by the school to the American Bar Association, about ten months after graduation.

  • Employed in a professional position93.2%109 of 117 graduates

    Bar-admission-required + J.D.-advantage + professional-position + law-school-funded jobs / total graduates, about ten months after graduation. Excludes the ABA's non-professional 'Other Position', 'Undeterminable', and 'Start Date After' rows, so it reads lower than a school's headline employment figure.

    ABA Employment Summary

  • Bar admission required88.9%104 of 117 graduates

    Jobs requiring bar admission / total graduates. The ABA's Bar Admission Required/Anticipated row only — J.D. Advantage is a different measure and is NOT added to it.

    ABA Employment Summary

  • Firms of 501+ attorneys5.1%6 of 117 graduates

    Jobs at law firms of 501+ attorneys / total graduates. Exactly the ABA's 501+ band — not 251+, not 100+, not a private-practice share.

    ABA Employment Summary

  • Federal clerkship2.6%3 of 117 graduates

    Federal clerkships / total graduates. Excludes state, local, territorial, tribal and international clerkships.

    ABA Employment Summary

Share of the whole graduating class, counting every position the ABA reports (full- or part-time, long- or short-term), measured about ten months after graduation.

Sources and methodology

Last verified September 1, 2026.

Where each figure comes from

Admissions figures
Percentiles, admit rate and class size as reported to the American Bar Association under Standard 509, or published by the school in its own class profile. The source for each figure is linked beside it.
Deadlines and essay prompts
Taken from the school's own current-cycle application instructions and quoted exactly. A date or a prompt we have not re-verified for this cycle is withheld rather than carried over from last year.
Employment outcomes
Counts from the school's ABA Employment Summary for the class year shown, over one denominator: every graduate. The share is those two counts divided, and both are printed so it can be checked.
Chance estimate
Litigator One's own model, not school-published data and not a prediction of a decision. It reads your two numbers against this school's published percentiles and its overall admit rate.

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