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Getting into the University of Virginia School of Law (UVA Law) requires strong academics and an application that shows how you would contribute to its community.
I spoke with several of the former law school admissions officers on my team and asked them UVA law applicants’ most pressing admissions questions, including what the admissions committee is looking for, ideal personal statement topics, how to get great recommendations, and what a compelling resume contains.
One thing became clear: UVA Law School places special emphasis on collegiality. Its admissions process explicitly seeks students who will thrive in a collaborative, academically demanding environment. This means that the UVA Law School admissions committee looks for examples of how you listen, collaborate, and take responsibility for others in addition to your individual accomplishments.
Your LSAT score and GPA are important indicators of academic readiness, but UVA Law also places value on the experiences and personal qualities that shape you.
In this guide, I’ll walk you through UVA Law’s latest acceptance rate, LSAT and GPA expectations, application requirements, deadlines, and strategies for strengthening your application.
If you just need the application requirements, skip to the checklist.
UVA Law School’s acceptance rate is 10.17%. According to the American Bar Association, UVA received 6,734 completed applications for its 2025 entering class and extended 685 offers of admission. The school enrolled 309 first-year students, including 7who deferred admission from the previous year.
Here’s a closer look at UVA Law’s acceptance rates over the last few years:
Getting into UVA Law School is very difficult, with roughly 9 in 10 applicants receiving a rejection in the 2025 admissions cycle. Its Fall 2026 entering class also sets a high academic benchmark, with a median LSAT score of 173 and a median undergraduate GPA of 3.99.
Since UVA Law has very competitive admissions, strong numbers are an important part of a successful application. However, the admissions committee considers a number of different factors, including your coursework, work experience, leadership, service, and personal qualities. You’ll also need written materials and recommendations that give the committee specific reasons to admit you beyond your grades and test scores.
UVA Law School’s median LSAT score is 173 for its Fall 2026 entering class. The 25th-percentile score is 168, and the 75th-percentile score is 175.
Use the tool below to compare your score against the recent entering class:
UVA Law School’s median undergraduate GPA is 3.99 for its Fall 2026 entering class. The 25th-percentile GPA is 3.82, and the 75th-percentile GPA is 4.04.
Use the tool below to see where your GPA falls relative to UVA Law’s most recent entering class:
UVA Law School accepts the GRE for JD admission, but it doesn’t publish median GRE scores.
UVA also accepts the GMAT. If you submit GRE or GMAT results, you have to report all scores earned on that test within the past five years. Any reportable LSAT scores will appear automatically in your Credential Assembly Service (CAS) report.
Use UVA Law’s optional prompt about your interest in the school to connect your experiences and goals to specific opportunities at UVA. The application gives you space to explain that interest separately from your personal statement, so make each statement add something new.
Choose a clinic or program that fits the interests you have already described in your application and name it directly. UVA offers clinics in areas including criminal defense and immigration law, while its Program in Law and Public Service requires fellows to spend at least one summer working for a government agency or nonprofit. Explicitly naming a program and providing a meaningful explanation as to how it aligns with your goals as a future lawyer shows the admissions committee a lot. It demonstrates that you have a real interest in UVA Law specifically, have done your research, and would be a good fit for their educational program.
For example, if you worked in a public defender’s office, explain how that experience shaped your interest in the Criminal Defense Clinic and what you hope to learn through it. If your goals involve public service, discuss how the Program in Law and Public Service would help you pursue them. You don’t need to name several programs. One thoughtful connection can say more about your interest in UVA than a list of opportunities.
Use specific examples in your resume, recommendations, and personal statement to show UVA’s admissions committee your collaborative abilities. UVA explicitly looks for students who will thrive in a collegial, academically rigorous environment, so make collaboration a prominent part of the story you’re telling in your application.
Consider times when you helped a team succeed, supported a colleague who was having a hard time, experienced something that changed how you listen or respond to people with different perspectives, or worked through a disagreement. If a recommender witnessed one of those moments, ask directly if they’re willing to discuss it in their letter of recommendation alongside your other strengths.
Use your written statements to reflect on these kinds of experiences in your own words. Describe a moment that reveals something meaningful about your strength when it comes to working with others; then explain what you learned and how it affects the way you collaborate.
On your resume, make clear your role in shared accomplishments. For example, if you trained new employees in a managerial role, state that explicitly instead of just listing “teamwork” as a skill.
Use your resume to list the responsibilities you took on and the people you helped through your work, and use your written statements to expand on them. UVA Law considers contributions to campus and community through service and leadership as part of its admissions review, so give the committee concrete examples of those contributions.
Simply listing a title doesn't tell the admissions committee much. Instead of stopping at “Vice President, Pre-Law Society,” describe the workshop you organized, the students you supported, or the resources you helped make available. Include numbers when they accurately convey the scope of your work.
In your personal statement, consider focusing on a moment when you took responsibility for a problem, made a difficult decision, or followed through on a commitment to others. Explain what you did, why it mattered, and what the experience taught you. You don’t need a prestigious leadership position or legal experience to tell a strong story. What matters is making your contribution clear.
To be a competitive UVA Law School applicant, aim for an LSAT score of 173 or higher and a GPA of 3.99 or higher to put yourself at or above the Fall 2026 entering class medians. Scores closer to the 75th percentiles of 175 and 4.04 put you in an even stronger academic position, although no combination guarantees admission.
UVA School of Law also considers the difficulty of your coursework, trends in your grades, work experience, extracurricular achievements, military service, leadership, and community contributions. No single background defines a successful applicant. Among the Fall 2026 entering class, 74% had prior work or postgraduate experience, showing that students bring a range of experiences beyond college to UVA Law.
Use your application materials to tell a cohesive story, while making sure each piece adds something new. Your resume should make your responsibilities and accomplishments clear, while your personal statement should explain the experiences that shaped your decision to pursue law. Choose recommenders who can support your strengths with specific examples, and use the optional interest statement to explain why UVA fits your goals. Together, these materials should help the committee understand how you would handle demanding legal study and contribute to UVA’s collaborative community.
Your UVA Law application will need to include the following:
Applications open September 1, 2026, and are due March 1, 2027. UVA reviews applications on a rolling basis. Binding Expedited Decision applicants receive a decision within 21 business days of completion and must enroll if admitted, regardless of their financial aid award.
UVA Law School ranks No. 9 in Juris Education’s law school rankings. It’s a top school for placing graduates directly into 500+ attorney firms, federal clerkships, and Supreme Court clerkships. UVA Law also holds a 100% ultimate bar passage rate.
UVA Law School’s first-time bar passage rate was 95.11% in 2025, according to its ABA report. Of the school’s 307 first-time test takers, 292 passed. That rate exceeded the weighted average of 84.85% for graduates of ABA-accredited schools taking the exam in the same jurisdictions. UVA also reported a 100% two-year ultimate bar passage rate for its 2023 graduates who took the exam.
UVA Law School interviews selected applicants as part of its admissions process. The admissions office contacts applicants to arrange interviews, and applicants can’t request one. An interview invitation gives you another opportunity to explain your interest in UVA and discuss the experiences and goals behind your application.
UVA Law School offers JD, LLM, and SJD degrees. You can also pursue combination degrees, such as the JD/MBA, JD/MD, JD/Master of Public Policy, and JD/Master of Public Health. Some students also pair the JD with graduate study in fields such as philosophy, history, English, accounting, and urban and environmental planning.
Citation/Attribution: Photo: Patrickneil / Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Cropped from the original.
Co-Founder of Juris Education, Dartmouth College
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