Application Components

A complete first-year application to the JD program includes the electronic application form available on LSAC.org plus the following additional components:

LSAT Score Report

You must have a reportable score on the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) from within the past five testing years. You may submit your application before you have a reportable LSAT score, but your application will not be complete until LSAC releases your score report to us. You must complete at least one LSAT Writing, administered separately, before your LSAT score will be released.

If you would like to withhold your application from review until a future LSAT score release, you must submit a Review Delay Request form, a link to which will be provided to you once your application is verified as complete. In doing so, your application will not reviewed by the Admissions Committee until the future LSAT score release that you select. If the future LSAT score release that you select falls after our priority application deadline of January 15, your application will not be considered to have met the priority deadline. Likewise, if the future LSAT score release that you select falls after our regular application deadline of April 15, your application will not be considered to have met the regular deadline.
 
Once a final decision has been rendered for your application, the Admissions Committee is under no obligation to amend its decision in light of a new LSAT score.

Transcripts

You must submit via CAS your official transcripts from all institutions where you have been enrolled as an undergraduate or graduate student. This includes institutions from which you have not received a degree, such as those where you earned transfer credits or those where you earned dual enrollment credits while in high school. Transcripts for completed academic programs must show all degrees conferred and dates of conferral.

You must receive a bachelor’s degree from an accredited postsecondary academic institution prior to enrolling in the JD program. To check the accreditation status of your institution, please consult the US Office of Postsecondary Education’s Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs.

If you earned your bachelor’s degree by September 2022, your transcripts must show the degree as conferred for your application to be considered complete and ready for review. If you are still undertaking coursework toward your bachelor’s degree, your application will be considered complete and ready for review with “in progress” transcripts, but you must submit updated transcripts via CAS as new grades become available.

Letters of Recommendation

You must submit via CAS at least two letters of recommendation, and you may submit a third letter of recommendation if you so choose. The Admissions Committee expects letters to be academic or professional in nature and strongly encourages any applicant currently or recently enrolled in an academic program to submit at least one letter from a faculty member who has taught the applicant in a traditional classroom setting. Personal letters of recommendation, such as those from friends or family members, are strongly discouraged. Letters of recommendation received via any means other than CAS will not be considered.

Personal Statement

You must include a personal statement with your application. The personal statement is an open-ended essay written on any topic of your choice. It should be two to three double-spaced pages in length, with standard typography and margins, and should demonstrate your capacity for high-quality written work. Ideally, the personal statement provides insight to the Admissions Committee on your personality, experiences or anticipated contributions to our law school community and the legal profession.

Résumé

You must include a current résumé with your application. The résumé should be clearly organized and appropriately formatted, outlining your education and work history as well as other notable achievements and experiences. Most applicants’ résumés can fit on a single page if formatted thoughtfully, though a second page may be reasonable for applicants with significant work histories.

Character and Fitness

In addition to a bar examination, there are character, fitness and other qualifications for admission to the bar in every US jurisdiction. Applicants are encouraged to determine the requirements for any jurisdiction in which they intend to seek admission by contacting the jurisdiction. Addresses for all relevant agencies are available through the National Conference of Bar Examiners.

Many jurisdictions, including Kentucky, require a copy of your law school application to accompany your petition for admission to the bar. The Character and Fitness section of the application requires the disclosure of information pertinent to your character and fitness to study and practice the law. Failure to answer these questions truthfully and completely could affect your eligibility for admission to the bar.

If you answer “Yes” to any of the questions in the Character and Fitness section of your application, you must provide a written explanation for each affirmative answer, including relevant dates, details and outcomes. The Admissions Committee may request clarification or additional information if not sufficiently addressed by your initial disclosure, and review of your application may be suspended until you have provided a sufficient response.

All applicants to the law school have a continuing obligation to disclose pertinent character and fitness information. If your answer to any of the Character and Fitness questions changes from “No” to “Yes” after you have submitted your application, you must immediately contact the Office of Admissions and provide a written explanation for each newly affirmative answer, including relevant dates, details and outcomes.

Diversity Statement (Optional)

To ensure that access to both legal education and the legal profession is visibly open to all qualified members of our heterogeneous society, the Admissions Committee gives serious consideration, as one factor in its analysis, to the ways in which applicants might contribute to a diverse educational environment and broaden the ranks of the legal profession to include those who have been historically underrepresented.

To that end, you may include a diversity statement with your application. The diversity statement should be one to two double-spaced pages (250 to 500 words) in length. Potential topics of focus include but are not limited to: racial and ethnic identity, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, religion, disability status, socioeconomic status, unusual hardships or other unique experiences.

Addendum (Optional)

If you so choose, you may include a brief addendum addressing any aspect of your application that you feel is necessary to explain for the Admissions Committee. The addendum should be no longer than one double-spaced page (250 words) unless exceptional circumstances warrant a longer explanation.