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Getting into Albany Law School has become more competitive, with its acceptance rate recently dropping to 37.45%, the lowest in the past five admissions cycles.
When I spoke with several of the former law school admissions officers on my team about what makes a successful Albany Law application, one theme stood out: The school is looking for applicants who can show how they will use a legal education to make a meaningful impact.
Specifically, this school wants students who can show how they will use a legal education to serve others, take on leadership roles, and make a tangible difference in the communities or legal issues they care about.
In this guide, I’ll break down everything you need to know about securing a spot at this law program, including three Albany Law-specific strategies you can use to strengthen your application.
If you’re just here to see the requirements, jump to the application checklist.
In the most recent admissions cycle, Albany Law's acceptance rate was 37.45%, according to the ABA. A total of 2,638 students applied, the school extended 988 offers, and 237 students matriculated.
Here's a look at Albany Law School's admissions statistics from the past five admissions cycles:
Its acceptance rate fell 10.17 percentage points from the previous cycle, from 47.62% to 37.45%. Applications, by contrast, rose significantly by 39.43%, from 1,892 to 2,638.
Albany Law became more selective because applications grew far faster than the size of its entering class, which only increased by 15 seats from 2024 to 2025.
Albany Law School is moderately selective with a 37.45% acceptance rate, meaning the school turned away roughly 6 out of 10 applicants. Over the last five years, the school has averaged a 48.09% acceptance rate, with the most recent admissions cycle being the most selective in that period.
Albany Law's median LSAT percentile for 2025-2026 admissions cycle were:
Enter your LSAT into the tool below to assess its competitiveness compared with the recent matriculating class:
Albany Law's median GPA percentile for 2025-2026 admissions cycle were:
Enter your GPA into the tool below to assess its competitiveness compared with the recent matriculating class:
Albany Law School accepts both the LSAT and the GRE, but almost all matriculants enter with an LSAT score. In the incoming class of 2025, only 4 matriculants submitted GRE scores, compared to 233 who submitted LSAT scores.
Because fewer than 10 matriculants entered using the GRE, the ABA withholds the percentile data, so no public GRE range exists for the most recent entering class.
Albany Law’s optional statement lets applicants explain how they overcame obstacles or hardships and how those experiences shaped their perspective. I recommend writing the optional statement with two things in mind:
Structure your statement in three parts:
Though Albany Law has no required topic for your personal statement, it does suggest answering two things:
Start by answering the first question with a specific experience that led you to pursue law, but ensure it doesn’t overlap with the optional statement if you choose to write it. Once you have answered “why law,” answer the career goals question while mentioning an Albany Law-specific program.
Albany Law’s Pathways Program offers six specializations, including clinics, field placement, and full-time internships. The school also offers 17 concentrations in specific areas of the law. Look for the program or concentration that interests you most, and tie it into your personal statement.
For example, suppose you started your own business after college. Write about how running it exposed you to the legal challenges of contracts, taxes, and regulation, which sparked your interest in business law. You can then connect it to Albany Law’s Business, Tax, and Financial Market Regulation Pathway Program. Explain how the program will give you hands-on experience that prepares you to advise entrepreneurs and businesses facing challenges similar to those you once encountered yourself.
Albany Law values measurable impact, as shown by its emphasis on how the Class of 2025 logged 56,632 hours of pro bono and public service work. On your resume, highlight the impact you’ve made with quantifiable metrics to demonstrate the difference you made in your employment, extracurricular, volunteer work, and community service.
As you write each bullet point in your resume, use strong verbs to demonstrate leadership and numbers to quantify the impact you made. For example, consider the following two bullets:
Notice how the first bullet only names the activity without showing what you actually did in the role. The second gives the admissions committee specific responsibilities and concrete numbers, showing both the scope of your work and the people it affected. Details like these give the committee a much clearer picture of your contribution.
The admissions committee members on my team I’ve spoken to often tell me the first thing they read in an application is the resume, since it serves as a guide to the rest of the application. The resume is your first chance to make a good impression.
A competitive candidate at Albany Law School has a 161+ LSAT score, a 3.75+ GPA, a resume with a strong record of service, and application essays that say how they plan to make a “bigger impact” with a law degree. Those numbers match the 75th percentile of the most recent entering class, and hitting both puts you ahead of most of the entering class in the initial screening phase.
According to Albany Law School's profile of its newest JD class, the residential students who started in 2025 included:
These statistics show that the Albany Law admissions committee aims to create a diverse cohort with different perspectives to spark rich debate in the classroom. More than a quarter of students consider themselves non-traditional, so you don't need a direct path from college to law school to be competitive. What matters more is evidence that you bring real-world experience or a unique background to the law program.
If you want to improve your chances of getting into Albany Law School, Juris coaches provide personalized law school admissions support to help you get into your target schools. Schedule a free consultation with a former admissions officer to receive one-on-one guidance on your applications.
Albany Law School's first-time bar passage rate is 86.71% for students who graduated in 2025, slightly above the 86.02% weighted average for ABA-accredited law schools. Its two-year ultimate bar passage rate reached 91.16% for the Class of 2023.
Albany Law School's application deadlines for its three-year, four-year, and Flex JD programs are March 15 (priority) and June 30 (final) for the Fall 2026 cycle. Albany Law School does not offer early decision, and it admits applicants on a rolling basis, starting in mid-November and finishing most decisions by early June.
No, Albany Law School doesn’t interview JD applicants.
Albany Law School offers several JD formats, LLM programs, dual degrees, and combined bachelor’s/JD pathways. Its main programs include:
Co-Founder of Juris Education, Dartmouth College
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