The University of Colorado at Boulder Law School

Requirements and Standards for Admission

The small size of the Law School—approximately 170 in each entering class—and the large number of applicants require an extremely selective admission process.

• First-year students are admitted only in the fall semester and only as full-time day students. They may not take outside work during their critical first year of study.
  
• An applicant must have received a bachelor’s degree from an institution that is accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the Department of Education. Admissions decisions are based heavily on undergraduate grade point average (GPA) and the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) score.
  
• Other indicators of ability, motivation, and achievement are taken into account as well. In the faculty’s judgment, a diverse student body improves the overall educational experience. Accordingly, the Admissions Committee seeks ethnic, cultural, and other diversity of the student body. For these reasons, an applicant’s personal history, essay, and resume can provide important information to the admissions committee.
  
• The University of Colorado is a public institution and has a slight preference for residents of Colorado. The majority of the applicants in any given year are nonresident, and competition for nonresident positions may be somewhat more intense. See the discussion of resident status below.
  
• The Law School utilizes Law Services, which administers the LSAT and coordinates the Law School Data Assembly Service (LSDAS). All applicants must take the LSAT and register for the LSDAS. The LSAT is given in June, October, December, and February of each year at locations throughout the world. The February test is the last one we will accept. The June LSAT that follows the application deadline is too late for consideration. The LSAT scores are valid only for five years preceding matriculation at the school. See www.lsac.org for more information.
  
• LSDAS provides LSAT scores, copies of letters of recommendation, a summary of undergraduate grades by year, a cumulative grade point average, and copies of all transcripts. Applicants must arrange to have official transcripts of all their undergraduate and graduate work submitted to Law Services. This obviates the need for applicants to submit transcripts to every school to which they apply. Applicants who are currently attending college should provide transcripts showing their fall term grades as soon as they are available.
  
• LSAT/LSDAS registration materials may be obtained from Law Services or www.LSAC.org.
  
• We accept applications that have been prepared using the Law School Admission Council’s LSACD on the Web. Please submit your application electronically through LSAC. LSAC will then send both printed and electronic versions of your application to our office.
  
• In evaluating students for admission, the Admissions Committee relies on the completed application form and the report of LSAT scores and transcripts received from LSDAS. It also considers written personal essays submitted by applicants and recommendations from persons who have had an opportunity to observe the applicant’s ability and performance. For current students and recent graduates, recommendations from faculty members are particularly effective. Two recommendations are required. We prefer that you submit your recommendations through the Law School Data Assembly Service (LSDAS). Alternatively, you may submit them with your application, or your recommenders may send the letters directly to our office.
  
• The required essay should by typed, double-spaced, and no more than 1,000 words. Please see the application for the essay topic.
  
• While the staff in the admissions office is happy to talk with you, answer your questions, and have you visit our school, formal interviews cannot be scheduled due to the large number of applicants seeking admission.
  
• Applications for admission to the first-year class must be submitted to the Law School, with essay, evaluation letters, and a nonrefundable application fee, no earlier than October 1, and no later than March 15. This is a postmark deadline.
  
• Applications received after the due date will be accepted, but will be considered only after all of the timely applications. Only the strongest late applicants have any substantial chance of admission.