Head-to-head · 20 cross-admits
When applicants got into both, 60% chose UWisconsin. Side-by-side on admissions, costs, and outcomes — sourced from 20 self-reported decisions and ABA 509 filings.
Choice, not ranking
These are decisions, not opinions. Scholarship offers, location, intended practice, and personal fit are all priced into the split.
Cross-admit decision
Chose WFU
Median scholarship (chose WFU)
Median scholarship (chose UWisconsin)
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Trend · WFU's share
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Admissions
Rankings, LSAT/GPA, acceptance & yield 2025 ABA 509
Financial
Sticker price and scholarship aid 2025 ABA 509
Employment & outcomes
Post-graduation placement and bar passage 2025 ABA Employment
Cross-admit by cycle
How preferences shifted over recent cyclesRelated comparisons
Other popular cross-admit matchups
Overview
About WFU vs UWisconsin
Across 20 applicants admitted to both schools and self-reporting on LSD, 40% enrolled at Wake Forest University and 60% at University of Wisconsin. The split has shifted -38 points across the tracked cycles.
These numbers reflect every factor that goes into a real decision: scholarship offers, geographic preference, intended practice area, and fit. Choosing one school doesn't mean it's "better" — it means the pool of cross-admits, weighing their options, ended up there more often. Pair this with the scholarship distribution and employment outcomes above for full context.
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Detailed comparison narrative
This page compares Wake Forest University and University of Wisconsin across admissions data, cost of attendance, and employment outcomes — plus cross-admit decision data from 20 applicants admitted to both.
Based on 20 applicants admitted to both schools, 60% chose to attend University of Wisconsin. This cross-admit data reflects real enrollment decisions from verified law school applicants on LSD.Law.
Both schools are closely ranked in U.S. News: #26 and #30, separated by just 4 positions, making cross-admit data especially useful for deciding between them.
Wake Forest University is located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, while University of Wisconsin is in Madison, Wisconsin. Regional placement matters: graduates tend to find employment near their law school, so location should factor into your decision alongside rankings and cost.
Employment outcomes differ substantially: Wake Forest University places 26.6% of graduates into large law firm positions, compared to 12.9% for the other school. This 14 percentage point gap is significant for applicants targeting BigLaw careers.
On cost, University of Wisconsin has lower tuition at $36,526 per year compared to $57,920. Combined with employment rates of 98.7% (WFU) and 96.1% (UWisconsin), prospective students should weigh the cost-to-outcome ratio carefully.
Among cross-admitted applicants, University of Wisconsin offered a median scholarship of $150,996 compared to $120,000, a difference of $30,996 that may factor into enrollment decisions.
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