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 UWisconsin
Median scholarship (chose UWisconsin)
Median scholarship (chose WFU)
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Trend · UWisconsin's share
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Admissions
Rankings, LSAT/GPA, acceptance & yield 2025 ABA 509
Financial
Sticker price, scholarships, and debt burden 2025 ABA 509
Employment & outcomes
Post-graduation placement and bar passage 2024 ABA Employment
Cross-admit by cycle
How preferences shifted over recent cyclesRelated comparisons
Other popular cross-admit matchups
Overview
About UWisconsin vs WFU
Across 20 applicants admitted to both schools and self-reporting on LSD, 60% enrolled at University of Wisconsin and 40% at Wake Forest University. 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 University of Wisconsin and Wake Forest University 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.
University of Wisconsin is located in Madison, Wisconsin, while Wake Forest University is in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. 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 24.5% of graduates into large law firm positions, compared to 12.5% for the other school. This 12 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 93.5% (UWisconsin) and 97.4% (WFU), 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.