How to apply: First-year JD applicants
If you are applying as a first-year JD student, you are required to complete the on-line application hosted on the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) website. This same application may be used to apply for our early commitment option (ECO). See our online FAQs for more details about the application process, including the ECO. You may access our online application after August 15.
Entrance Exam: Applicants must take the LSAT or GRE (unless applying as a Direct Admit or Advanced Standing student). Information about the LSAT may be found on the LSAC website. Applicants who take the GRE can log in to their ETS account and select Indiana University Maurer School of Law as a recipient of GRE results using the ETS IU code: 4703.
LSAC Credential Assembly Service (CAS): All applicants must complete the Law School’s online application and submit all supporting documents using the LSAC Credential Assembly Service, including those who take the GRE.
Letters of Recommendation: The Law School requires only two letters of recommendation. Additional letters of recommendation will not be accepted. While preference is given to letters from faculty members who are familiar with your academic strengths, we gladly welcome letters from employers or individuals who know you professionally.
Personal Statement: A compelling personal statement should provide insight about you, describes your motivation to attend law school, and/or highlights your interest in Indiana Law. It should be clearly written, well-organized, and highlight the special strengths and experiences that you would bring to our law school and the legal profession. These may include, but are not limited to, demonstrated evidence of leadership, creativity, commitment to justice, service to others, cross-cultural competency, and significant work or volunteer experience. Statements are evaluated for grammar, spelling, organization, clarity, and relevance. Your personal statement should be approximately 2-3 pages, double-spaced.
Adversity Statement (optional): Indiana Law recognizes that some applicants have faced and overcome significant adversity in life. In this optional essay, you may share any information about the adversity or challenges that you would like us to consider about your life which may have limited your educational opportunities or negatively impacted your academic performance. This may include social, economic, educational obstacles, exposure to bias, health issues, disability, immigration status, surviving abuse, experiencing discrimination or complex family circumstances like incarcerated parents, homelessness, or being raised in foster care. This is not an exhaustive list; it’s an opportunity to provide any additional aspects of your background that may provide the admissions committee with a better sense of your strengths as a student and classmate.
Addendum (optional): If you believe the admissions committee would benefit from an explanation about part of your application, you should submit an addendum. This optional essay will usually explain problems with, or unusual aspects of, your application. You may also submit an addendum describing any significant adversity you have experienced which may have limited your educational opportunities or negatively affected your academic performance.
Financial Aid: All admitted applicants are automatically considered for merit awards; no separate application is required. If you wish to subsidize your legal education using federal loans, complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which can be found at studentaid.gov. The Federal School Code for Indiana University Bloomington is 001809.
Application Deadline: The application for the following fall entry opens around August 15 with a deadline of June 1 (May 1 for international applicants). We review applications on a rolling basis starting in December, so we advise you to apply in early winter and no later than April 1 for priority admissions and scholarship consideration.
More information about applying as a JD student can be found in our online FAQs. For information on applying to our LLM, MCL, SJD and PhD programs, please see our Graduate Legal Studies webpage.