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Getting into Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is highly competitive, especially as the school continues to attract one of the largest applicant pools in the country. Georgetown received nearly 14,500 applications for its Fall 2026 entering class, the highest number in the school’s history.
Strong LSAT scores and GPAs matter, but Georgetown Law makes it clear that admissions is about more than numbers.
I spoke with admissions experts on my team to gain insight into the most pressing questions Georgetown Law applicants have, such as how much your GPA and LSAT matter, what makes a strong personal statement, and what characteristics Georgetown Law looks for in its students.
One thing became abundantly clear: Georgetown Law wants you to show both that you can handle the academic demands of law school and that your experiences, interests, and goals would add something meaningful to its community. Georgetown looks for students who will succeed academically, benefit from a Georgetown legal education, and actively contribute to the school.
In this guide, I’ll walk you through Georgetown Law’s latest acceptance rate, LSAT and GPA expectations, application requirements, deadlines, and school-specific strategies for standing out in such a large applicant pool.
If you just need the application requirements, skip to the checklist.
According to the American Bar Association, 15.75% is Georgetown Law School’s acceptance rate. In 2025, Georgetown Law received 13,924 completed applications and extended 2,193 offers of admission. Of those applicants, 629 enrolled.
That makes Georgetown substantially more selective than its 20.13% acceptance rate in 2024, when the school received 11,309 completed applications and made 2,276 offers.
Here’s a closer look at Georgetown Law’s acceptance rates over the last few years:
Getting into Georgetown Law School is very difficult, with 94.25% of applicants rejected in its most recent admissions cycle.
Georgetown Law’s applicant pool is one of the largest law school applicant pools in the country, so you’re competing with a lot of extremely qualified applicants. Georgetown Law is looking for applicants who give the admissions committee a clear reason to choose them beyond simply boasting strong academic credentials.
The median LSAT score for Georgetown Law’s most recently entering class is 171.
Georgetown Law doesn’t require a minimum LSAT score for admission. The school explicitly states that it does not use numerical cutoffs and reviews standardized test scores as part of the overall application.
Use the tool below to compare your score against the recent entering class:
Georgetown Law’s recent entering class had a median undergraduate GPA of 3.93.
Georgetown Law doesn’t require a minimum undergraduate GPA. Instead, the admissions committee considers your academic record in context and doesn’t use a numerical GPA cutoff.
Use the tool below to see where your GPA falls relative to Georgetown Law’s most recent entering class:
Georgetown Law accepts the LSAT, GRE, or GMAT for its full-time JD program and says it doesn’t prefer one test over another. Georgetown Law doesn’t publish median GRE or GMAT scores for its entering class. The admissions committee also does not convert GRE or GMAT scores into estimated LSAT scores when reviewing an application.
Applicants generally need to submit a valid LSAT, GRE, or GMAT score from within the previous five years, although Georgetown offers limited exceptions for certain Evening Program and Early Assurance applicants.
Use your personal statement and optional statement together to show Georgetown both what you hope to accomplish as a lawyer and the experiences that shaped that goal. Georgetown’s motto, “Law is but the means; justice is the end,” and its Jesuit emphasis on cura personalis, or care for the whole person, reflect a school that wants to understand not just the career you want, but the person behind it, and what you hope to accomplish with a legal education beyond just a good job.
In your personal statement, connect the type of law you want to practice to the impact you hope to have. This doesn’t mean you need to write about pursuing public interest law — Georgetown graduates work across private practice, government, business, academia, and public service. Instead, regardless of your area of interest, you need to show the reader that you’ve thought about why your work matters and who it could serve.
For example, if you’re interested in antitrust law, go beyond saying you enjoy competition policy and elaborate on who you hope to help.
Use the optional statement to add something your personal statement and resume don’t already show. Choose an experience or perspective that reveals more about your character, growth, or the way you think and relate to others.
Show Georgetown Law why studying in Washington, D.C., matters for the kind of legal education and career you want and how you plan to take advantage of its location at the heart of the legal world. Georgetown Law School describes itself as a place where legal theory and practice meet, and its location gives students direct access to institutions such as Congress, federal agencies, courts, nonprofits, and the Supreme Court.
The strongest way to make this connection is to name a Georgetown Law program that fits your existing interests. Georgetown Law School operates 17 clinics, and its Supreme Court Institute, for example, prepares advocates appearing before the Court. Students interested in legislative work can mention the Federal Legislation Clinic, where students work with nonprofit clients on legislative priorities before Congress.
Don’t just say you want to go to law school in D.C. Use your written statements to elaborate on what specifically you want to do there. Connect a previous internship, professional experience, academic interest, or career goal to a specific Georgetown Law opportunity to add credibility to your interest in Georgetown Law’s unique identity.
Use your resume to show how your existing experiences could fit one of Georgetown Law’s specialized Scholars Programs. Georgetown offers programs built around a particular academic or professional direction:
Don’t force your background to match a Scholars Program, but if there is a natural connection, make it easy for the admissions committee to see it. Explicitly mentioning one of these programs in your written statements shows that you’ve done your research on Georgetown Law’s unique educational identity and signals a good fit.
In addition to mentioning it in your written statements, make sure your resume reflects past experiences that align with your stated interests. Georgetown recommends a one- to two-page resume that includes your employment, extracurricular and volunteer activities, education, and honors, so use that space to highlight the experiences most relevant to the legal path you want to pursue.
For example, if you’re interested in Global Law Scholars, emphasize language skills and international work. If instead you’re interested in Technology Law & Policy Scholars, highlight technical projects, startup experience, or policy work involving emerging technology.
A competitive Georgetown Law applicant has an LSAT score of at least 171 and a GPA of around 3.92. Reaching or exceeding those numbers puts you in a strong academic position, although Georgetown doesn’t use numerical cutoffs and evaluates applicants through a holistic, personal review process.
Georgetown looks for students who can succeed academically, benefit from its legal education, and contribute meaningfully to the law school community. Beyond your GPA and test score, the admissions committee considers your personal statement, recommendation letter, extracurricular and volunteer involvement, graduate work, and professional experience. Your resume and written materials should reinforce those strengths while showing what has shaped your decision to pursue law and why Georgetown is a strong fit for your goals.
No single background defines a successful Georgetown applicant. The Fall 2026 entering class included students from 49 states and 20 countries, with 1 in 8 identifying as first-generation college graduates. The class also included 27 military members and 73 Evening Program students completing law school while working full-time. That range shows that meaningful work, service, leadership, academic experiences, and other life experiences can all strengthen your candidacy, particularly if your GPA or LSAT falls below the median.
Ultimately, your application should give the admissions committee a clear picture of who you are, what you would bring to Georgetown, and why a Georgetown legal education makes sense for the kind of lawyer you hope to become.
Georgetown Law School’s application requirements include an LSAC application, CAS registration, standardized test scores, a personal statement, a recommendation letter, a resume, and academic transcripts.
You’ll need to submit:
For Fall 2027 admission, Georgetown Law’s Regular Decision and Early Decision applications opened on September 1, 2026. The school strongly recommends submitting either application by March 1, 2027. Georgetown uses rolling admissions, so applying earlier can work to your advantage.
Regular Decision applicants generally receive a decision about eight to 12 weeks after their application becomes complete, while Early Decision applicants typically hear back within four to six weeks.
Georgetown University Law Center ranks #16 among the best law schools in the U.S. in Juris Education’s 2026 law school rankings. Georgetown stands out for its Washington, D.C., location near the U.S. Capitol and Supreme Court, extensive clinical opportunities, and broad curriculum, making it a top law school for students interested in everything from government and public interest work to private practice.
Georgetown Law School reported a 94.55% first-time bar passage rate for 2025 graduates. Of the 679 graduates taking the bar exam for the first time, 642 passed, placing Georgetown well above the ABA weighted average for graduates taking the bar in the same jurisdictions.
Georgetown Law School offers full-time and evening JD programs, as well as numerous joint and dual-degree options. JD students can combine their law degree with programs in business, public policy, foreign service, public health, government, philosophy, and other fields. Georgetown currently offers 18 joint-degree programs overall.
Georgetown also offers five accelerated JD/LLM options in Environmental and Energy Law, International Business and Economic Law, National and Global Health Law, National Security Law, and Taxation.
Image Citation: Photo by Xp040407 via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped from the original.
Co-Founder of Juris Education, Dartmouth College
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