W&L Law Welcomes Impressive Law Class of 2026 The class includes 125 students from 21 states and six countries, representing 83 different undergraduate institutions.

By Law Communications
August 23, 2023

On Tuesday, August 22, Washington and Lee University School of Law enrolled 125 students in the J.D. Class of 2026.

“We are delighted to welcome these outstanding new community members to W&L Law,” said Dean Melanie Wilson. “Their potential is limitless, and I look forward to watching them develop intellectually, personally, and professionally with the guidance of our exceptional and talented faculty and staff.”

The entering class boasts the strongest academic profile the law school has seen in more than 10 years. The median LSAT score for the class is 165, and the class’s median undergraduate grade point average is 3.72. The members of the class earned undergraduate degrees from 83 different institutions.

Fifty-nine percent of the class worked for a year or more before entering law school in fields such as business, politics, the Peace Corps and the military. Eight members of the class already hold graduate degrees from other institutions, and seven members have military service experience.

The average age of class members is 24, with ages ranging from 20 to 41. The class is 46 percent female, and 37 percent of the class identifies as racially or ethnically diverse. Twenty-one percent are first-generation college students, and 76 percent are the first in their immediate family to attend law school.

The first-year students hail from 21 states, the District of Columbia, and six foreign countries, including Bahamas, China, Israel, Pakistan, South Korea, and Venezuela. The U.S. state with the greatest representation is Virginia, followed by Texas, California, and Florida.

A number of the members of the Class of 2026 have worked abroad and traveled extensively. Consistent with this international orientation, members of the class speak a variety of languages including American Sign Language, Ancient Greek, Arabic, Bosnian, Cantonese, French, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Kazakh, Kikuyu, Korean, Latin, Latvian, Mandarin Chinese, Montenegrin, Patios, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Serbian, Shanghainese, Sindhi, Spanish, Swahili, Urdu, and Vietnamese.