J.D. Application Instructions
Note: The Law School will begin accepting applications Sept. 1.
How Applications Are Reviewed
Each year, many highly qualified college graduates apply for the necessarily limited number of places in the first-year class. Our admissions process aims to select from the applicant pool an entering class of students who will contribute to this academic community during their three years of residency and, ultimately, to society and the legal profession. To that end, the admissions committee considers many factors. These include not only intellectual aptitude and academic achievement, but also individual accomplishments and experiences — such as dedication or a constructive response to adversity — that predict success, as well as geographic, racial, ethnic, economic and ideological diversity.
Rigid standards based simply on a combination of an LSAT score and cumulative undergraduate grade-point average cannot be the only criteria for selecting an entering class. Members of our admissions committee, assisted by admissions professionals, assess each applicant as an individual. This assessment takes into account not only LSAT scores and undergraduate grades, but also the strength of an applicant’s undergraduate or graduate curriculum, trends in grades, the maturing effect of experiences since college, the nature and quality of any work experience, significant achievement in extracurricular activities in college, service in the military, contributions to campus or community through service and leadership, and personal qualities displayed. An applicant’s experiences surmounting economic, social or educational difficulties with grace and courage, demonstrating the capacity to grow in response to challenge and showing compassion for the welfare of others can play a role in the admissions decision.
Early Decision option: If the University of Virginia is your first choice for law school, you may apply under the Early Decision option. Early Decision applicants commit to enrolling if admitted and must withdraw all applications to other law schools once notified of Early Decision admission. Early Decision applicants must ensure that we have received a completed application by Dec. 1, 2008. A completed Early Decision application includes the signed Early Decision Agreement; the application; any attachments required as part of the application, including the personal statement; the LSAT/LSDAS report; two letters of recommendation; and the $75 application fee. Please note that it can take 10-14 days for an application submitted through the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC) electronic application service to reach us. If you are applying as an in-state candidate, you also must submit the Application for In-State Educational Privileges with the application. A decision to admit, deny or wait list will be mailed by Dec. 15, 2008. An Early Decision applicant who is held for reconsideration is free to maintain or file new applications to other law schools and is not obligated to enroll at the University of Virginia if offered admission later in the admissions season.
Regular application deadline: Applicants should ensure that we have received a completed application by March 2, 2009. A completed application includes the application; any attachments required as part of the
application, including the personal statement; the LSAT/LSDAS report; two letters of recommendation; and the $75 application fee. Please note that it can take 10-14 days for an application submitted through the LSAC electronic application service to reach us. If you are applying as an in-state candidate, you also must submit the Application for In-State Educational Privileges with the application. A decision will be mailed by April 15, 2009. Late applications will be accepted and reviewed, but applicants are not guaranteed an admissions decision by April 15. We strongly encourage you to submit your application using the LSDAS electronic application service, which is included with your Law School Data Assembly Service (LSDAS) registration.
In addition to the completed, signed application form, you must submit the following items before your application will be forwarded to the Admissions Committee for review:
- Law School Admission
Test (LSAT) score
- Transcript of
prior academic record, submitted through the Law School Data
Assembly Service
- Two letters of recommendation
- Personal Statement
- $75 application fee
- Application for In-State
Educational Privileges, if seeking classification as a resident
student
Law School Admission Test Score
Applicants must submit an LSAT score. Applicants should arrange to take the LSAT early, preferably by June or October of the year preceding the year for which admission to the School of Law is sought. Results from the December test are acceptable for applicants applying under the regular application option only. Applicants who submit February LSAT scores may be at a disadvantage, since many places in the class will have been filled by the time February scores are received.
We will accept LSAT scores that can be reported to us on the standard LSAT/LSDAS report. LSAC will report any scores earned within the last five test years, and with payment of a special fee will retrieve and report scores between five and 10 years old.
Transcript of Prior Academic Record
You must register with the LSDAS. LSDAS will receive your undergraduate and any graduate transcripts, copy them, and forward the transcripts to the law schools to which you apply.
Do not send your academic transcripts directly to the Admissions Office. If you are accepted for admission and choose to enroll, you will be asked to submit an official copy of your final undergraduate transcript, showing award of your undergraduate degree, directly to the School of Law.
For more information about the LSAT or LSDAS service, go to www.lsac.org
Letters of Recommendation
Applicants must provide two letters of recommendation. Recommenders should evaluate your potential as a law student, so letters from members of your college or graduate school faculty who can discuss your academic performance are particularly helpful. If you have been out of school for several years and have difficulty securing an academic reference, you may substitute letters from employers or others who have worked closely with you. In any event, letters should address the skills necessary for rigorous, advanced academic work: the ability to read complex textual material closely, to analyze it carefully, and to present reasoned conclusions in writing and orally; maturity; self-discipline; commitment and professionalism.
The School of Law strongly encourages applicants to submit letters through the LSAC Letter of Recommendation service. This service is included with your LSDAS subscription. Letters submitted through the LSAC Service are copied and sent to us along with your LSAT/LSDAS report. Updated reports are sent immediately if letters are received after your initial LSDAS report has been sent. To use this service, follow the instructions online at www.lsac.org. Be sure to provide each recommender a Letter of Recommendation form, available on the LSAC Web site.
Personal Statement
Include with your application a personal statement that will give the Admissions Committee any information you believe relevant to the admissions decision that is not elicited elsewhere in the application. The statement is your opportunity to tell us about yourself. It may address your intellectual interests, significant accomplishments, obstacles overcome, personal or professional goals, educational achievements, or any way in which your perspective, viewpoint, or experiences will add to the richness of the educational environment of the School of Law or to the diversity of the academic community.
Application Fee
Applications must include the nonrefundable $75 application fee. Checks should be made payable to the University of Virginia. Your canceled check will be your receipt.
If you are applying using the LSDAS electronic application service, you may pay your application fee using a credit card through the LSAC secure server. Follow the instructions on the LSAC Web site. You may also elect to print out the certification letter included with the LSDAS electronic application and mail it to the School of Law with a $75 check for the application fee.
Application for In-State Educational Privileges
If you are claiming entitlement to in-state educational privileges, you must submit the Application for Virginia In-State Educational Privileges with your application for admission. Failure to submit the application, or to supply any supplemental information that may be requested by the Virginia Status Office, may delay consideration of your application or result in your classification as a nonresident candidate.
For further information concerning
Virginia residency status, see:
FAQs on Virginia
Residency
Application Information for International or Foreign-Educated Students
Transcripts of postsecondary work completed at a college or university outside the United States or Canada must be submitted through the LSAC J.D. Credential Assembly Service (JD CAS). The one exception to this requirement is for work completed outside the United States or Canada through a study abroad, consortium or exchange program sponsored by a U.S. or Canadian institution, where the work is clearly indicated as such on the home campus transcript. The JD CAS service is included in the LSDAS subscription fee. A Foreign Credential Evaluation will be completed by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers and incorporated into your LSDAS report.
We do not require TOEFL scores from J.D. applicants. (For information about TOEFL score requirements for LL.M. applicants, go to the LL.M. Program Web site.) However, applicants should be aware that competency in English is critical to success in the study of law at the University of Virginia, and that demonstrated fluency in English is an important consideration in evaluating applications. Should you choose to submit a TOEFL score, you must contact the Educational Testing Service (ETS) and request that your TOEFL score be sent to LSAC. LSAC's TOEFL code for the JD CAS is 0058. Your score will be included in the Foreign Credential Evaluation document that will be included in your LSDAS law school report.
Questions about the JD Credential Assembly Service can be directed to LSAC at (215) 968-1001, or lsacinfo@lsac.org.
Importance of Full Disclosure
Lawyers are held to high ethical standards. Failure to disclose an act or event is often more significant, and can lead to more serious consequences, than the act or event itself. Once the application has been submitted, you have a continuing duty to inform the Admissions Office of any changes in the information in the application, or of any new information without which the application as previously submitted would be inaccurate or incomplete. Your duty to inform the Admissions Office of any changes continues until the time you receive a final admissions decision and, if admitted, until the time you matriculate as a student at the University of Virginia School of Law. False, misleading or incomplete answers or statements made in this application, or in any materials submitted to the Admissions Office or the Financial Aid Office, could constitute a basis for denial of admission, recision of an offer of admission or denial of admission to the practice of law, and may be reported to the Law School Admission Council for investigation of misconduct in the admissions process.
Students seeking to engage in the practice of law are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the rules for admission to the bar of the state in which they intend to seek admission, especially those rules relating to character, fitness and other qualifications for practice.
Tuition and Fees
Student budgets are set by the
University’s Financial Aid Committee and may also be governed
by federal student aid regulations. Modifications are possible
but are limited to meeting the educational costs of attending
law school, including tuition and fees, books and supplies, and
nondiscretionary maintenance expenses.
| Tuition
and Fees: |
$36,800 |
$41,800 |
| Housing: |
6,502 |
6,502 |
| Personal Expenses: |
7,222 |
7,222 |
| Health Insurance: |
1,976 |
1,976 |
| Books
and Supplies: |
1,800 |
|
| Loan Fees: |
800 |
800 |
| Totals: |
$55,100 |
$60,100 |
The Law School Financial Aid
Office will grant an additional allotment, up to $2,500, for
the purchase of a laptop computer. Upon written request, accompanied
by supporting documentation, the Financial Aid Office may also
include additional allowances for students with disabilities,
child care expenses, or health care expenditures.
Deferral and Reapplication to the School of Law
Students are accepted for admission only for the class currently being selected, with the exception of candidates admitted to a combined-degree program who elect not to begin in the School of Law. However, applicants who are reasonably certain they will enroll the following year may, after paying all required confirmation deposits, request a deferral. Applicants who do not wish to commit to the University of Virginia may reapply in a subsequent year. Admission to one class does not guarantee admission to a subsequent class. Candidates reapplying for admission must submit all required materials, as we will no longer have the original documents on file.
Transfer Students
Students who have completed one year of work at an ABA-accredited law school may apply for admission with advanced standing. Up to 32 credit hours may be transferred toward the J.D. from the University of Virginia. Applicants for transfer admission must submit all materials required for application as a first-year student, along with a transcript of the entire first year of work in law school, a statement of rank in class as of the end of the second semester and a letter of good standing from the dean or other appropriate official stating that the applicant is a student in good standing and is eligible to return. Transfer applicants must furnish two letters of recommendation, at least one of which should be from a faculty member at the current law school. More
Students with Disabilities
Prospective students who have questions concerning accommodations for physical disabilities, learning disabilities, or other disabling conditions should contact Assistant Dean for Student Affairs Martha Ballenger at (434) 924-3737. Students accepted for admission are asked to contact Dean Ballenger, regardless of whether they provided information concerning disabilities in the admissions process, regarding their conditions and any appropriate accommodations the School of Law needs to make to assure access to the school’s academic programs and examinations. All information will be confidential except to the extent necessary to make
accommodations.
Visiting Virginia
The School of Law encourages prospective students and applicants to visit the David A. Harrison III Law Grounds. Student-guided tours are available during the week while classes are in session. Admissions information sessions are held on most Friday afternoons during the summer months and through the fall semester.
FOR Schedule INFORMATION, see Visits
and Tours
Contact Us
lawadmit@virginia.edu
www.law.virginia.edu/admissions
Phone: (434) 924-7351
FAX: (434) 982-2128
580 Massie Road
Charlottesville, VA 22903-1738
Admissions Home