Law school
USC Gould School of Law
Los Angeles, CA
#26 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
- 169
- Median GPA
- 3.91
- Admit rate
- 11.2%
- Entering class
- 227
- Applications
- 7,205
- Admitted
- 805
Source: USC Gould — JD Class Profile (Class of 2028) · Fall 2025 entering class
How competitive is USC Gould?
Reported for the Fall 2025 entering class.
For the Fall 2025 entering class, USC Gould reported a median LSAT of 169 and a median undergraduate GPA of 3.91.
Its published LSAT band runs 165 / 169 / 170: the 25th percentile sits four points below the median and the 75th sits one point above it.
USC Gould admitted 805 applicants from 7,205 applications, an admit rate of 11.2%.
227 students enrolled.
What LSAT and GPA do you need for USC Gould?
The ABA reports where the entering class landed — three percentiles, not a cut-off. No score is required, and none guarantees anything.
Published LSAT: 25th 165 · median 169 · 75th 170.
Published GPA: 25th 3.73 · median 3.91 · 75th 3.97.
Percentiles: American Bar Association Standard 509 Information Report · Fall 2025 entering class
Add your own numbers — nothing is saved, and no account is needed.
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.
- Priority deadlineFebruary 1
Source: USC Gould School of Law — J.D. Application · 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 is your primary opportunity to discuss who you are beyond the application basics. We are particularly interested in how your background (academic or otherwise) has led to your decision to study law. This is not the place to repeat items on your résumé. The personal statement should be two to three pages, double-spaced and in at least 12-point font. The Admissions Committee values essays that are clear, concise and compelling. The personal statement is a writing sample, and you should pay particular attention to the details of your composition. The statement must be attached electronically.
Source: USC Gould School of Law — J.D. Application
Background and/or Experience Statement
Optional · 2 pages
The USC Gould student body is an exceptional group of individuals working collaboratively, empathetically, and with cultural competency to best serve the various communities they will represent as lawyers. USC Gould aims to generate lawyers that demonstrate an ongoing commitment to leadership, public service, and serving those in need. Please describe how your contributions to the USC Gould student body may be unique by highlighting anything related to your life experiences or personal background that will help us get to know you better. Some examples of this include, but are not limited to the following: - How your upbringing, culture, or other aspects of your life experience have influenced your goals and/or leadership development; - How your experience with discrimination, economic disadvantage, family or personal adversity, or other hardships demonstrates your ability to lead, or serve the public or those in need; - How living in a foreign country, rural or isolated community, or speaking a language other than English at home has better equipped you to attend and flourish in law school; - Any unusual career goals, employment history, or educational background (including graduate study); - Demonstrate unusual courage, determination, or inspiration that stems from overcoming hardship, including violence, illness, or natural disaster; - Any unusual extracurricular achievement (including school or community service). The optional statement should be one to two pages, double-spaced and in at least 12-point font.
Source: USC Gould School of Law — J.D. Application
Addenda
Optional
If you believe any item in your application requires clarification, you are welcome to submit a brief addendum to address the issue. However, an addendum is not another opportunity to submit a personal statement; it should be a concise statement addressing a particular aspect of your application.
Source: USC Gould School of Law — J.D. Application
Class of 2025 employment outcomes
Reported by the school to the American Bar Association, about ten months after graduation.
- Employed in a professional position96.9%220 of 227 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.
- Bar admission required94.7%215 of 227 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.
- Firms of 501+ attorneys58.6%133 of 227 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.
- Federal clerkship3.5%8 of 227 graduates
Federal clerkships / total graduates. Excludes state, local, territorial, tribal and international clerkships.
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.
Cited on this page
- USC Gould — JD Class Profile (Class of 2028) — USC Gould School of Law
- USC Gould School of Law — J.D. Application — USC Gould School of Law
- Best Law Schools (2026-27) — U.S. News & World Report
Other schools on Litigator
Other schools in CA.