Law School Placement

Colleges and Universities A-Z Princeton University
1

<p>Hi Ya'll!
I was wondering if anyone could direct me towards statistics showing me how successful Princetonians are in getting into top law schools such as Harvard and Yale.
Also, do you think the unique grading policy at Princeton could adversely affect prospective law students?</p>

2

<p>Just as is the case with medical school admissions, Princeton does extremely well with law school admissions. I had a wide choice when I graduated and decided to attend Harvard Law School.</p>

<p>While a slightly smaller percentage of Princeton graduates tend to apply to law school those who do apply do very well indeed. Here’s why. The following are recent numbers for the LSAT averages among graduates from Princeton and some of its peers. The numbers vary from year-to-year given the small total number of applicants and this study is from several years ago and taken from self-reported data so its value is limited. It’s difficult to find the statistics from the universities themselves. They tend not to publish them.</p>

<p>Average LSAT scores for college graduates</p>

<p>166 Harvard
165 Princeton / Yale
164 Stanford
163 Brown / Columbia / Dartmouth / Duke / MIT / Penn
162 Chicago</p>

<p>Many of the top schools (including Harvard) do not publish law school acceptance rates for their graduating seniors but at Harvard, Princeton and Yale, acceptance rates of these graduates to the top 10 law schools in the country average about 35%, typically three times the average acceptance rate for all applicants.</p>

<p>Acceptance Rates in 2011 for Princeton Applicants</p>

<p>Law School----------------% of Princeton Applicants Accepted</p>

<p>Yale Law School---------------------------26%
Harvard Law School----------------------26%
Columbia Law School--------------------43%
Stanford Law School---------------------23%
U. of Chicago Law School---------------26%
NYU Law School---------------------------50%</p>

<p>These numbers are very similar to those from Princeton’s peers but it’s often difficult to find the statistics online. The most recent figures I can find published for Yale graduates applying to these same schools is for the entering class of 2007 and would thus not be truly comparable. However, at that time Yale College applicants were accepted at a 22% rate into Yale Law School and a 30% rate into Harvard Law School.</p>

<p>Acceptance Rates in 2007 for Yale Applicants</p>

<p>Law School----------------% of Yale Applicants Accepted (data from four years ago)</p>

<p>Yale Law School---------------------------22%
Harvard Law School----------------------30%
Columbia Law School--------------------41%
Stanford Law School---------------------31%
U. of Chicago Law School---------------38%
NYU Law School---------------------------48%</p>

<p>One thing to keep in mind is that it is actually getting easier recently to be admitted to the top law schools. These days there is a glut of attorneys and law school applications are dropping.</p>

3

<p>Don’t go to law school</p>