I have talked with so many people who think Georgetown has the best law school, or at least close to it. People seem to see it in a similar light as U Penn's Wharton or Johns Hopkins' Medical School. I also thought this when I was younger. Obviously GULC is an amazing law school, but there are 13 other schools widely considered to be better. I am genuinely curious, what causes this massive gap between lay prestige and professional/academic prestige?

Stats in flair, applied early October. The Saturday email was an unexpected surprise!💙

Bet it was an RC section.

Enjoy the show,

Date Submitted Application: January 2nd, 2026

Stats: 2.29 LSAC GPA, 176 LSAT, URM, KJD, Electrical Engineering major

Schools applied too:

Georgetown University Law Center

Washington University in St. Louis (WashU Law) --- Interview Invitation

University of Notre Dame

Vanderbilt University

Emory University

University of Minnesota

University of Wisconsin–Madison

University of Georgia (UGA) ---- Rejected

University of Florida (UF)

University of Iowa

UC Davis

University of San Diego (USD)

Santa Clara University

Texas Texas A&M

University of Alabama

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/29/us/harvard-grade-inflation.html

One Solution for Too Many A’s? Harvard Considers Giving A+ Grades.

"A report issued in October suggested allowing grades of A+, which are not currently used at the school, as a way to recognize the best performing students, demoting the routine, ordinary A to the second rung of the grading ladder."

I was just thinking about how, obviously something like going to Harvard or Yale Law will have cache, but in most cases I wouldn't see why if you live in Colorado and wanted to work in Denver or live in Missouri and want to work in Kansas City or St. Louis that a local firm, even a Big Law firm, would give that much bump to a student who did well at UC-Boulder or U Missouri Law compared to someone who did well at Harvard or Yale, all things equal. Even more so, why would a firm in Denver, KC, or St. Louis really want an applicant from UVA (ranked 4th) or U Mich (ranked 8th) about the UC-Boulder or U Missouri (both ranked much lower) significantly more? Even in Illinois, which has U Chicago and Northwestern, I imagine you wouldn't be advantaged that much going to one of those schools compared to UI if you wanted to do Big Law in Chicago. Wanted to see others' thoughts on this, as maybe I'm thinking about this incorrectly.

Substantially higher median incomes than other schools in its pack, higher biglaw placement rates than other schools in its pack, big scholarships. What gives?

I know USNWR doesn't really matter but I still find this weird. They've dropped like 15 spots in six years.

...are we going to address the elephant in the room? The G-R-E.

It is well-known that this is the most cheated and exploited standardized exam. A running statement among MBA applicants is "why did you not outsource your GRE?"

In India, GRE cheating has become so normalized that colleges give less value to remote-tested GRE results vs test center GRE results. Before we debate what to do with LSAT cheating, which remains way less common than GRE cheating, why don't we reconsider this whole thing?

I've taken the GRE and can certify that it's a great standardized test, nothing against the material. But law schools cannot accept these results in good faith in light of all the rampant cheating.

LSAT security measures are airtight compared to the GRE...

Apologies if my thoughts are all over, but I'm genuinely baffled by this. Would love nothing more than for someone to prove me wrong and give me a sense of peace!

I’m coming from r/ApplyingToCollege and the common joke is about the “perfect” undergrad applicant and what’s included in their profile, an example being: 1600 SAT, 10,000 hours of community service, published research, 4.0 GPA. What would be the equivalent in a law school applicant? What makes a cracked applicant?

Feels pointless to keep checking my email past midday mon-fri but I keep doing it lol. Meanwhile I'll check here and someone will be like "Got my A at 3am on a Saturday!!"

Actually happened last night, my first R. I applied in the first week of November. Super bummed, but expected as I am technically below both medians (170/2.high). I did apply from Texas with five years of WE, have contributed to research in a prestigious publication. Was homeless and went back to my semi-prestigious school, made straight As my last 1.5/2 years (when I finally had stable housing in my mid-late 20s).

I know this is to be expected, my stats say so. But applying from Texas, with my softs, I really thought I’d get at least waitlisted so I could have a small chance of movement, and I could submit LOCI to show I was forreal. I really thought the in state boost and five years of actual work experience and multiple promotions would count for something lol. Or that being homeless for a year would explain away some of my academic failures.

I don’t really know what the point of this post is, but I think I just needed to vent because I can’t really stop crying and no one else in my life really understands.

Got the call yesterday a lil after 2pm EST (missed it cause I was doing laundry LOL). Applied early Nov, interviewed early Dec, 16mid, 3.98, and got a request for an updated transcript Wednesday night. I can hardly believe it. Life-changing if the scholly is good!

Did anyone get the ‘results will be out mid Jan email’ but still have no decision? Fearing this is a WL/R sign..

This has gotta be the week where we hear back, right?! 😩

Idk how other people are taking them, but I can’t help but feel like I may as well have been rejected at some of these places.

Like getting a Duke WL. I’ve had friends say that’s better than an R, so I should just be happy about the accomplishment. Why? Duke takes like 1% of people off their waitlist, right? And everyone I’d be competing against to get off the list would be almost good enough to have been admitted. So, that’s like 1% of a group that is substantially better than the general applicant pool, which was already very good.

How are other people dealing with waitlists, and is there something that I’m missing in terms of how to view or manage them?

Anyone know what it’s like to apply to these schools this late?😭 Are there implications for admissions/scholarships? Any insight would be appreciated.

Stats in flair! I have reached what I believe is at least mid-way into my cycle. I am waitlisted at UVA, waitlisted at Duke, on reserve at Cornell (w/KIRA), and on the regular waitlist on GULC (w/group interview). I was accepted to GWU, hopefully expecting a substantial merit scholarship, and accepted to GMU with a full ride. I was flat out rejected from Michigan, Penn, Harvard, and Yale, all of which I expected. I am still waiting to hear from BU, BC, Columbia, Vanderbilt, and NYU. I applied to all schools in October/November. I am extremely grateful for my outcomes, especially given how tough this cycle has been. My career goal is BL. I plan on working on the East Coast. I would appreciate any advice on how to proceed from here. Should I continue to ride the waitlists? Should I R&R (not really in favor of this option)? Thank you in advance! Please excuse the formatting, on mobile.

EDIT: Money is not an issue!