What Most Applicants Get Wrong About the LSAT vs. GRE
When it comes to law school admissions, most applicants focus on their test scores and GPA. But what actually matters to schools—what affects their rankings and decisions—isn’t just your raw LSAT vs GRE score. It’s where you land relative to everyone else. In other words: your percentile.
Law schools care deeply about two key medians:
- Your GPA median
- Your LSAT/GRE median
But here’s the part most people miss: when U.S. News calculates rankings, it doesn’t use your actual LSAT or GRE score. It converts both to a percentile scale (0–99) and uses that to evaluate how strong a school’s incoming class is.
So when a law school has a published LSAT median of 172, what matters for rankings is that 172 = 97.5th percentile. That percentile—not the score itself—is the benchmark.
Why the GRE Comes Up Short
GRE scores are also converted into percentiles. But even the best possible GRE scores don’t reach LSAT-level percentiles.
Here’s the breakdown:
- Verbal: 170 = 99th percentile
- Quant: 170 = 92nd percentile
- Writing: 6.0 = 99th percentile
Those scores sound amazing. But even when you average the percentiles from all three sections—Verbal, Quant, and Writing—even a perfect GRE performance gives you a 96.5th percentile, which is below the LSAT median percentile at many top-ranked schools.
And that’s with a perfect GRE. A significant number of top GRE scorers land in the 90–94 percentile range, which is even lower.
So:
If you apply with a GRE, you are much more likely to be applying below a school’s combined LSAT/GRE median percentile.
That makes you a reverse splitter by default—someone with a high GPA but a below-median test score.
If your GPA is also below median, you’re now below both medians, which puts you at a major disadvantage.
What About Schools That Don’t Report GRE Scores?
Some schools admit so few GRE applicants that they aren’t required to report those scores to the ABA or U.S. News.
In that case, your GRE becomes a soft factor, not a hard one. It’s similar to how international students without a reportable GPA are considered. The school isn’t penalized for your GRE, but they’re also not incentivized to take you, because your score doesn’t help their medians.
And because they’re only taking a very small number of GRE applicants, your chances are still lower. You’re competing for one of the rare spots that won’t mess with their rankings.
So When Would Applying with the GRE Ever Make Sense?
Almost never. But maybe if:
- You already have a very high GRE score
- You have a very strong GPA
- And you genuinely can’t or won’t take the LSAT
Even then, you’re getting in despite the GRE, not because of it.
Bottom Line
U.S. News ranks schools using median percentiles, not raw scores.
- The LSAT can reach the 97–99th percentile with high but achievable scores.
- The GRE never does.
So when you apply with the GRE, you’re below median by definition at many top-ranked schools.
Unless you’re in a rare, exceptional situation, take the LSAT. The GRE almost never gives you an edge, and usually sets you back.
