Admission Criteria
Admission Procedure
Early Decision Program
Transfer Students—Admission with Advanced Standing
General Policies

Admission Criteria

All applicants seeking admission to the School of Law must have received a bachelor's or equivalent degree from an approved college or university and must take the Law School Admission Test (LSAT). The school does not require applicants to take any particular subjects or to pursue any special course of study in college as a prerequisite for admission. However, at least 90 credit hours of an applicant's undergraduate course work must be in academic courses rather than in skills-training courses. Applicants are encouraged to acquire a broad academic background and precision in written and oral expression.

In recent years, the number of applicants has exceeded the number of available spaces by as many as 10 to 1. Admission, therefore, is highly selective. The median LSAT score of enrolled students has been at or near the 86th percentile and the median undergraduate grade point average in the 3.4-3.5 range for the past several years. The selective admissions process has historically resulted in a very low academic attrition rate.

An Admissions Committee, composed of the dean of admissions and a group of faculty and students, selects the members of the entering class. The quality and size of the applicant pool forces the Admissions Committee to rely heavily on the undergraduate grade point average and the LSAT score. However, numerical indicators are not the only considerations used in evaluating applications. The committee considers quality of the applicant's undergraduate institution; level and rigor of coursework; letters of recommendation (particularly those from faculty); graduate work; employment before, during, or after college; extracurricular activities; potential for service to the profession; educational, geographic, and socioeconomic diversity; and the applicant's personal statement. Applicants who have the potential for exceptional performance and who will substantially enrich the educational program of the law school are considered the strongest candidates for admission.

Applicants are encouraged to explain matters that may have adversely affected their undergraduate performance (e.g., necessary employment that took time from studies, initial selection of a course of study for which the applicant was not suited, illness, etc.), as well as factors indicating their potential for law study that might not be elicited by the questions on the application form. Applicants who feel they have been disadvantaged because of economic, educational, racial, or cultural factors are urged to bring this to the attention of the Admissions Committee.

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Admission Procedure

An application for admission may be obtained from the Law School's Web site (www.law.indiana.edu) or by contacting the Admissions Office, and should be completed and returned to the Admissions Office, IU School of Law—Bloomington, 211 S. Indiana Ave., Bloomington, IN 47405. Applications prepared using the Law School Admission Council's LSA CD or LSA CD on the Web are also accepted. These products enable the applicant to fill out the application form by computer. Applicants can print out the completed application and send it by mail, or use the LSA CD on the Web to electronically transmit the law school application to the Law School Admission Council (LSAC). LSAC will then send both printed and electronic versions of your application to the Law School's Admissions Office. Subscriptions to the LSA CD on the Web are available at the LSAC Web site (www.lsac.org).

An application fee is required of all applicants. Applicants are asked to submit their applications no earlier than September of the year preceding the year in which they wish to enter the school. In our effort to attract the very best students to the Law School, we adhere to a rolling admission policy, meaning that there is no true admissions deadline. However, as the admissions season progresses, fewer seats remain open, so students are advised to apply early. We encourage students to apply by February, because that is when many of our scholarship decisions are made; however, we continue to accept and evaluate applications through the spring and summer. Admission decisions are made as early as December.

Applicants must take the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) and register for the Law School Data Assembly Service (LSDAS). Registration for this service requires that transcripts be mailed to LSDAS rather than to the School of Law. You may register for the LSAT, buy publications, and obtain information about fee waiver and testing accommodations via LSAC's online Web LSAT registration service (www.lsac.org). Telephone registration service is available year-round by phoning (215) 968-1001. Registration forms are also available from the School of Law Admissions Office or from Law Services, Box 2000, Newtown, PA 18940-0998.

The Law School Admission Test is usually offered in October, December, February, and June. Specific dates may be obtained from the School of Law Admissions Office or from Law Services, Box 2000, Newtown, PA 18940-0998. Students are strongly encouraged to take the test in the summer or fall preceding the year in which they wish to enter law school.

In exceptional circumstances, the Admissions Committee allows an accepted applicant to defer admission for one year. Work opportunities and graduate study are legitimate reasons for delaying one's entry. Decisions on deferrals are made by the dean of admissions on a case-by-case basis.

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Early Decision Program

Juris Doctor applicants may ask to be considered for admission as a part of the Early Decision Program. This program is designed for those applicants who have an extraordinary level of interest in the Indiana University School of Law—Bloomington. All Early Decision applicants are assured of receiving an admission decision by December 15. Details regarding this program may be obtained on the Law School's Web site (www.law.indiana.edu) or by contacting the Admissions Office.

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Transfer Students—Admission with Advanced Standing

The Law School welcomes the application of students from other law schools. The number of transfer students accepted to the Law School varies from year to year. Typically these students are in the upper quarter of their class with at least a B average and express compelling educational or personal reasons for transferring. Transfer applicants are not required to register with the Law School Data Assembly Service. Undergraduate transcripts, LSAT score, an official law school transcript, and a letter of good standing from the law school previously attended must be sent directly to the school along with the application form. The amount of transfer credit granted will depend upon the quality of the student's performance and the relationship of work completed elsewhere to the program of the School of Law.

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General Policies

Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Policy

Indiana University pledges itself to continue its commitment to the achievement of equal opportunity within the university and throughout American society as a whole. In this regard, Indiana University will recruit, hire, promote, educate, and provide services to persons based upon their individual qualifications. Indiana University prohibits discrimination based on arbitrary consideration of such characteristics as age, color, disability, ethnicity, gender, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status.

Students with Disabilities

If you have a disability and would like accommodation, please contact Disability Services for Students at (812) 855-7578. TTY (812) 856-2264.

Other Policies

For information on general policies of Indiana University, including student rights and responsibilities, the policy on confidentiality of student records, and the policy on meeting degree requirements, see the admissions entry on the IU School of Law Web site (www.law.indiana.edu).

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