J.D. Application Procedures
An application folder is established when the Law School Admissions Office receives the
following
items postmarked no later than January 15:
Application item descriptions are below. Please also be sure to review the J.D. Admissions Policies.
Interviews
Prospective applicants may visit the school and meet with the admissions staff to answer any
questions they may have. A formal interview, however, is not part of the admission process. We
are happy to discuss our policies and procedures with applicants or prospective applicants, but
these discussions do not affect the admission decision.
Decision Notification
We begin accepting applications in October. Decisions are made on completed applications
from January 16 to April 1. If you are accepted, you will be required to make a $100 deposit by
June 1 to reserve your place in the class.
Withdrawal of Admission
The Law School reserves the right to withdraw an offer of admission if the candidate fails
to maintain satisfactory scholastic standing for work in progress, if final records fail to
show completion of courses and/or degrees required for admission, or if the admission decision
was based on incomplete or inaccurate information furnished by the applicant.
Reapplication Procedure
Candidates who reapply for first year admission must comply with the application procedures
for the current application period: Form A and the application fee must be resubmitted and the
applicant must maintain the LSDAS subscription. In most cases, Form B must be resubmitted;
those reapplying may call the admissions office to determine if a new Form B is not required.
Applicants who reapply within two years may request that letters of recommendation from a
previous application to the School of Law be included in their new file.
Deferral of Admission
Deferrals are considered on a case-by-case basis for one year only. Requests for deferral
must be submitted in writing to the Admissions Committee.
Application Item Descriptions
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Form A - the application form including resume and personal statement. Send this to Law School Admissions, Box A; 344 William H. Gates Hall, Box 35-3020; Seattle, WA 98195-3020.
Resumé - Please provide a resume detailing any significant vocational, nonvocational, extracurricular or community activities, graduate work or degrees, honors, awards, any service in the Armed Forces, job descriptions and major areas of responsibility along with dates of employment (month/year), publications, or other information that you believe the Admissions Committee should consider in evaluating your application. Also please include details as to any foreign language proficiencies you possess including the level of ability with regard to speaking, comprehension, reading and writing. Your resume may not exceed three (3) typewritten pages.
Personal Statement - The primary goal of the admissions process is to enroll students who demonstrate outstanding academic and professional promise and whose background and experience will enhance the diversity of the student body, thereby enriching the law school educational environment. An applicant will be regarded as potentially contributing to student diversity if his or her background or experience would not ordinarily be well represented in the student body. Factors that indicate this diversity include, but are not limited to, the following: persevering against substantial obstacles such as economic disadvantage, family or personal adversity or other social hardships, disability, prejudice or discrimination; having lived in a foreign country or spoken a language other than English at home; career goals (with particular attention paid to the applicant’s commitment to public service); employment history; educational background (including graduate study); evidence of and potential for leadership (perhaps demonstrated by extracurricular, school, civic or community service achievement); special talents or unique life experiences; or geographic diversity. Applicants are invited to describe these and other aspects of their backgrounds that would benefit the diversity of the law school community. Please limit your response to 700 words (two double-spaced pages).
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$50 application fee - checks should be made payable to the University of Washington and attached to face of the application. Be certain to write your Social Security or Law Services identification number on the check.
A limited number of fee waivers are available for those who would not otherwise be able to apply. Please contact the Admissions Office before you submit your application to find out about waiver procedures.
- Form B - completed by the Dean of Students or a comparable college official with access to the applicant's complete undergraduate record. The form should be given to the institution which granted or will grant the first undergraduate degree. Applicants who have done graduate work should copy Form B and submit it to the appropriate official at all schools where they were enrolled in a degree-seeking program, in addition to supplying a copy to their undergraduate institution.
Form B is not intended as a personal recommendation, and the official need not know the applicant in order to answer the questions. Be sure to complete the waiver section on the front of the form and have the form sent directly to the Law School at: Law School Admissions, Box B; 344 William H. Gates Hall, Box 35-3020; Seattle, WA 98195-3020. (University of Washington students should submit the form to the Student Affairs Office, 476 Schmitz Hall; University of Washington; Seattle, Washington 98195-5831; (206) 543-4972.)
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LSAT score and LSDAS report. We request these from Law School Admission Services when we receive your application. It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure that LSDAS has received all necessary materials (including a separate transcript from each undergraduate school attended) to complete the LSDAS file. Each year a number of applicants are not considered because they have failed to complete their LSDAS files in a timely manner. You are advised to confirm that your LSDAS file is complete; LSDAS will not send us a report until then.
If you have a history of poor performance on other standardized tests (e.g., the SAT test), please submit any appropriate documentation, including prior SAT scores, which may indicate the LSAT has under-predicted your academic potential. You may want to include a brief explanation in your personal statement.
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Letter(s) of Recommendation. Letters of recommendation can in some cases have a significant effect on the admission decision. The strongest recommendations are those submitted by a professor who knows your work well and can give a well-substantiated assessment of your academic potential. For applicants who have been out of school for some time, professional recommendations are appropriate.
We prefer that applicants use the Law Services Letter of Recommendation Service, whereby your letters of recommendation are included with your LSDAS report. If you are not using the service, please have your recommender send the letter directly to Law School Admissions, Box C; 344 William H. Gates Hall, Box 35-3020; Seattle, WA 98195-3020.
A maximum of two recommendations will be accepted. Additional recommendations cannot be considered. Accordingly, you should choose your recommenders judiciously.
Note: all records become part of the official file. They will not be returned or duplicated.