Law school
William & Mary Law School
Williamsburg, VA
#34 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
- 166
- Median GPA
- 3.82
- Admit rate
- 22.0%
- Entering class
- 181
- Applications
- 2,176
- Admitted
- 478
Source: W&M Law — ABA Standard 509 Information Report (2025) · Fall 2025 entering class
How competitive is William & Mary?
Reported for the Fall 2025 entering class.
For the Fall 2025 entering class, William & Mary reported a median LSAT of 166 and a median undergraduate GPA of 3.82.
Its published LSAT band runs 161 / 166 / 167: the 25th percentile sits five points below the median and the 75th sits one point above it.
William & Mary admitted 478 applicants from 2,176 applications, an admit rate of 22.0%.
181 students enrolled.
What LSAT and GPA do you need for William & Mary?
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 161 · median 166 · 75th 167.
Published GPA: 25th 3.53 · median 3.82 · 75th 3.94.
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.
- Application opensSeptember 1
- Priority deadlineApril 1
- Regular decision deadlineAugust 1
Source: William & Mary Law — First-Year J.D., How to Apply · verified August 29, 2026
Essay prompts
2026–27 cycle, quoted from the school. Never summarised, never behind a control.
Personal Statement
Required · 500 words
This personal statement is your opportunity to provide the Admissions Committee with information you believe to be relevant to your admission decision. Topics may include academic interests, significant accomplishments, and educational achievements, and/or any way in which your perspective and experience will enrich the William & Mary Law School community.
Source: William & Mary Law School — JD application instructions
Why W&M Law Statement
Required · 500 words
As the nation's first law school, William & Mary Law School seeks to enroll a class of talented and engaged students committed to advancing our long-standing tradition of achieving and celebrating academic and professional excellence in an inclusive environment. We recognize the challenges of our history and our responsibility to pursue the realization of justice through the rule of law. This statement is your opportunity to share how your experiences, perspectives, values, and future goals align with William & Mary Law School's vision and mission.
Source: William & Mary Law School — JD application instructions
LSAT, GPA, and/or Character & Fitness Addenda
Optional · 1 page
While optional, the following addenda may be beneficial in the evaluation of merit-based scholarship aid. LSAT, GPA, and/or Character & Fitness Addenda: Context around an LSAT score, grade point average, or a more detailed explanation of a "yes" answer to the Character & Fitness section is accepted. We ask that you devote an individual page to each within your application where necessary.
Source: William & Mary Law School — JD application instructions
Class of 2025 employment outcomes
Reported by the school to the American Bar Association, about ten months after graduation.
- Employed in a professional position95.0%189 of 199 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 required92.5%184 of 199 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+ attorneys19.1%38 of 199 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 clerkship6.0%12 of 199 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
- W&M Law — ABA Standard 509 Information Report (2025) — American Bar Association
- William & Mary Law — First-Year J.D., How to Apply — William & Mary Law School
- William & Mary Law School — JD application instructions — William & Mary Law School
- Best Law Schools (2026-27) — U.S. News & World Report
Other schools on Litigator
Schools in VA, and others at a nearby published rank.