Reading a School Profile

The Data Explorer pairs an interactive scatter chart with a searchable grid of every self-reported application for the selected cycle. Each dot is one applicant, and dots are color-coded by outcome: accepted (green), waitlisted (yellow), rejected (red), and unknown (grey). The chart overlays the ABA 509 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile lines so you can locate your own stats against the enrolled-class reference.

Both axes are configurable. Beyond LSAT and GPA, you can plot scholarship amount, timeline fields (sent, received, complete, under review, interview, decision), computed metrics like days to decision, or flags like fee waiver and in-state status. Filter pills narrow the view to international, URM, military, early decision, or verified applicants. Click any row in the grid to highlight the matching point on the chart.

The admissions tables show LSAT and GPA at the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles, sourced from the most recent ABA 509 report. These describe the matriculating class — students who actually enrolled — not the broader pool of applicants or admits. The 50th percentile is the median; the 25th-to-75th range (the interquartile range) contains the middle half of the entering class.

Your position relative to this range matters more than your position relative to the median alone. Scoring above the 75th percentile puts you in the top quarter of enrolled students for that stat. Falling between the 25th and 75th means you're squarely within the school's typical class profile. Alongside the ABA row, LSD.Law computes a parallel 25/50/75 from self-reported admits so you can compare the official class profile against the community sample for the current cycle.

Acceptance rate is the percentage of applicants who receive an offer of admission. A 15% acceptance rate means roughly 1 in 7 applicants gets in.

Yield is the percentage of admitted students who actually enroll. A 60% yield means that for every 10 offers extended, 6 students matriculate. Higher yield generally indicates stronger desirability — admits are choosing to attend rather than going elsewhere. The most selective schools tend to have both low acceptance rates and high yields. Both figures are drawn from the ABA 509 report and reflect the prior admissions cycle.

The Outcomes section reports employment status measured 10 months after graduation, as required by ABA disclosure. The headline metrics are the JD-required employment rate, the first-time bar passage rate, and median starting salary in the private sector. BigLaw placement — graduates hired at firms with 501 or more attorneys — is called out separately, as are federal clerkships.

The Employment Quality Matrix breaks graduates into five categories: Bar Required (jobs that require bar passage, the gold standard), JD Advantage (positions where the degree helps but isn't required, e.g., compliance or consulting), Professional, Other, and School-Funded (positions paid for by the school, which can inflate the headline employment rate). Within each category, outcomes are split by timing: Full-Time Long-Term (FTLT) is the quality benchmark, with Full-Time Short-Term, Part-Time Long-Term, and Part-Time Short-Term as progressively weaker tiers. "Bar Required FTLT" is the single figure most closely aligned with what applicants are actually targeting.

The Finance section reports annual tuition (split between in-state and out-of-state for public schools), required fees, estimated cost of living, and a three-year total cost of attendance. Grant data includes the percentage of students receiving any grant, the median grant award, the 25th-to-75th range, and a distribution bar breaking recipients into tiers: less than half tuition, half to full, full tuition, and greater than full tuition.

Debt metrics cover average indebtedness at graduation, the percentage of graduates who borrowed, and a debt-to-salary ratio that divides average debt by median private-sector starting salary. Conditional scholarships are flagged separately, including how many students held them and how many had their award reduced or eliminated — a number worth checking before accepting an offer. All of this comes from ABA 509 disclosures. For school-specific scholarship data reported by LSD.Law users, see the scholarship calculator guide.

The This Cycle section shows live community data for the currently selected cycle: how many LSD.Law users have reported applying, how their decisions have broken down (attending, accepted-deciding, accepted-withdrew, rejected, withdrew, unknown), and how those numbers compare to the prior cycle. A waitlist flow breaks out holds and movement off the waitlist. Unlike the ABA 509 data in the other sections, these numbers update in real time as users report their outcomes. To compare the current cycle against historical benchmarks across the T14, see the cycle tracker guide.