University of Louisville

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Application requirements

Deadline

Mar 15, 2026

Recommendations

2 to 3

Updated for 2025-2026 application cycle

Please read the following section notes carefully.

In addition to a bar examination, there are character, fitness and other qualifications for admission to the bar in every U.S. 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. This section requires the disclosure of certain information that may be pertinent to your character and fitness to study and practice the law. Failure to answer the questions in this section truthfully and completely could affect not only your application for admission to Brandeis Law but also your petition for admission to the bar.

If you answer "Yes" to any of the questions in this section, you must provide a written disclosure that addresses each such answer. Your disclosure should be a narrative in your own words, including all relevant details, dates and outcomes. Please do not provide any court records or other similar documentation unless requested. 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 at any time after you have submitted this application there is new or previously undisclosed information that would affect your answers to the questions in this section, you must immediately contact the Office of Admissions to amend your answers as necessary and provide a new or amended written disclosure including all relevant details, dates and outcomes for review by the Admissions Committee.

Have you ever been arrested, charged or cited for any criminal offense? This includes all felony, misdemeanor and juvenile offenses, even if you were acquitted, the case was dismissed or the record was sealed or expunged. This does not include speeding or other minor traffic violations, unless resulting in suspension or revocation of driving privileges.
Have you ever been a named party in any civil, family court, administrative or other nonmilitary, noncriminal legal proceeding? Named parties include plaintiffs, defendants, petitioners and respondents but do not include witnesses.
Have you been discharged from any branch of military service under less than honorable conditions, or have you ever been subject to court martial or other military administrative proceeding?
Have you ever been terminated for cause, asked to resign or otherwise formally disciplined by any employer?
Have you ever been placed on academic warning or probation, charged with or sanctioned for conduct or honor code violations, suspended, dismissed or otherwise formally disciplined by any undergraduate or graduate institution?

This is the application for Fall 2026 admission as a first-year student to the Juris Doctor (JD) program at the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law (Brandeis Law). Please read the following instructions in their entirety before proceeding.

Application Process

The application process is an opportunity for interested candidates to demonstrate their potential for the successful study of law. A supportive and collaborative community, Brandeis Law actively seeks to recruit a class of talented individuals with strong credentials and diverse experiences. Prospective applicants should be mindful of several important dates:

September 15, 2025: First-year JD program application opens
December 15, 2025: Early Bird application deadline
March 15, 2026: Regular application deadline
June 30, 2026: First-year JD program application closes

Applications must be complete and ready for review by the dates above in order to meet the application deadlines. Your application will not be considered complete until the law school has received all required application materials. Applicants are automatically considered for all available institutional scholarship funding with no separate application required. Brandeis Law does not charge an application fee.

The Law School Admission Council (LSAC) handles the collection and processing of all application materials. Please allow up to two weeks for LSAC to process materials submitted via the Credential Assembly Service (CAS). The law school will not receive your CAS materials until they have been fully processed and released by LSAC.

Applications are queued for review in the order in which they are confirmed as complete. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, and once an application is under review, a decision is typically rendered within three weeks. If an applicant is placed on the waitlist by the Admissions Committee, their application will be reassessed in the summer.

Early Bird Applications

Applications that are complete and ready for review by December 15, 2025, will be given priority in determining offers of institutional scholarship funding. You must take the LSAT no later than November 2025 in order to meet the Early Bird application deadline.

Regular Applications

Applications that are incomplete as of the Early Bird application deadline but complete and ready for review by March 15, 2026, will be considered for institutional scholarship funding to the extent that funding remains available. You must take the LSAT no later than February 2026 in order to meet the regular application deadline.

Late Applications

Applications that are incomplete as of the regular application deadline will be reviewed on a space-available basis and are generally ineligible for institutional scholarship funding. This application will no longer be available for submission after June 30, 2026, and updates to incomplete applications will no longer be accepted. You must take the LSAT no later than June 2026 in order to apply for Fall 2026 admission.

Application Materials

A complete first-year application to the JD program includes this electronic application form plus the following additional materials:

LSAT Score Report

You must have a reportable score from the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), where LSAC defines the "reportable score period" as the current testing cycle, beginning in June, and the previous five testing cycles. You may submit this application before you have a reportable LSAT score, but your application will not be complete until LSAC has released your score. You must have at least one LSAT Argumentative Writing or LSAT Writing sample on file with LSAC in order for your LSAT score to be released.

To delay review of your application until a future LSAT score release, you must submit a Review Delay Request, made available to you once your application is verified as complete. If you do so, your application will not be "ready for review" until the LSAT score release that you specify. Therefore, if the score release occurs after December 15, 2025, your application will not meet the Early Bird application deadline, and if the score release occurs after March 15, 2026, your application will not meet the regular application deadline.

Once a final decision has been rendered for your application, the Admissions Committee may amend its decision in light of a new LSAT score but is under no obligation to do so.

Transcripts

You must provide your official transcripts from all undergraduate and graduate institutions where you have been enrolled. 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 institution prior to enrolling in the JD program. To check the accreditation status of an institution, please consult the U.S. Department of Education's Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs.

If you earned your bachelor's degree by September 15, 2025, your transcript must show the degree as conferred for your application to be considered complete. If you are still undertaking coursework toward your bachelor's degree, your application may be considered complete with an "in progress" transcript, but you must submit your final transcript to LSAC once your degree has been conferred. You may also choose to submit updated transcripts to LSAC in the interim.

All students intending to enroll in the fall must ensure that their final transcripts, showing degrees conferred, are on file with the Office of Admissions by July 15, 2026. If a student's final transcript will not be available by July 15, 2026, they may request a deadline extension. Under no circumstances may a student remain enrolled beyond October 5, 2026, without a final undergraduate transcript on file.

Official transcripts must be sent to LSAC for required processing. Transcripts sent directly to Brandeis Law or to the University of Louisville cannot be accepted.

Letters of Recommendation

You must provide at least two letters of recommendation, and you may provide 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 must be sent to LSAC directly by your recommenders. You must then access your LSAC account and assign your letters of recommendation to Brandeis Law. Letters of recommendation received via any other means will not be accepted.

Personal Statement

The personal statement is an open-ended essay written on any topic of your choice. It should be 500 to 750 words in length and should demonstrate your capacity for high-quality, independent written work. Ideally, your personal statement will provide insight to the Admissions Committee on your personal story, experiences, motivations or anticipated contributions to the legal profession.

Brandeis Statement

The Brandeis statement is a secondary essay written in response to the following prompt:

The mission of Brandeis Law celebrates the legacy of Justice Louis D. Brandeis, known as "the people's attorney" for his dedication to social causes and his refusal to accept fees for his public interest work. As a student at Brandeis Law, how would you actively engage with the law school community to contribute to its mission of service to the public and its commitment to justice, opportunity, sustainability and mutual respect?

Your Brandeis statement should clearly and specifically answer the prompt as provided. It should be 250 to 500 words in length and, like your personal statement, should demonstrate your capacity for high-quality, independent written work. Your Brandeis statement should serve as a complement to your personal statement, but the two should not be redundant of each other.

Résumé

Your 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 U.S. 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 that may be pertinent to your character and fitness to study and practice the law. Failure to answer these questions truthfully and completely could affect not only your application for admission to Brandeis Law but also your petition for admission to the bar.

If you answer "Yes" to any of the questions in the Character and Fitness section of this application, you must provide a written disclosure that addresses each such answer. Your disclosure should be a narrative in your own words, including all relevant details, dates and outcomes. Please do not provide any court records or other similar documentation unless requested. 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.

Addendum

If you choose to do so, you may provide a brief addendum regarding any aspect of your application not addressed elsewhere that you feel is necessary to explain for the Admissions Committee. Your addendum should be no longer than 250 words unless exceptional circumstances warrant a longer explanation. You are not required to provide an addendum.

By submitting your application materials, you certify that the information provided therein is truthful and complete, and you are under a continuing obligation to update and supplement your application if at any time after its submission the information therein is no longer truthful and complete. Failure to meet these obligations may result in denial of your application for admission or revocation of your admission to Brandeis Law. You likewise certify that you are the applicant named in the application and that the information provided therein is your own independent work. While soliciting and incorporating feedback from other people or artificial intelligence may be appropriate in completing your application, presenting the product of other such entities as your own independent work may result in denial of your application for admission or revocation of your admission to Brandeis Law.

Questions?

If you have questions about this application, please visit our website or contact the Office of Admissions at lawadmissions@louisville.edu.

The University of Louisville is an equal opportunity institution. Pursuant to Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972, the University of Louisville's Title IX Office oversees all aspects of the University's compliance with Title IX, including policies and procedures related to sexual misconduct and other forms of sex discrimination. For more information on the University's policies and resources, please contact the Title IX Office at titleix@louisville.edu.