Application Requirements

Applicants are required to complete all undergraduate degree work prior to beginning their law studies at Loyola.

Loyola’s Early Admissions Program allows applicants who have completed three-fourths of their undergraduate degree requirements at Loyola University New Orleans to be considered for admission to the College of Law. Applicants to this program must have stronger credentials (i.e. GPA, LSAT) than those who would have normally completed four years of undergraduate studies.

All law applicants must submit a valid LSAT, JD-Next, or GRE score. A score is considered to be valid if it is no older than five years. If an applicant has significant variance between LSAT scores (e.g. six or more points), an explanation should accompany the application.

Loyola College of Law will only consider the examination scores received by the application deadline.

LSAT

Applicants are encouraged to be well prepared before sitting for either examination. Applicants are referred to http://lsac.org/jd/lsat/preparing-for-the-lsat for information about preparing for the LSAT, including sample tests that may be acquired.

All applicants must indicate on the application if they anticipate taking the LSAT. If the applicant indicates a future test date, the application will not be evaluated until the admissions office receives the report for the indicated test date. If the applicant does not sit for the indicated test, the applicant must notify the law admissions office in order to resume the evaluation process.

JD-Next

 At Loyola Law, an applicant may submit a JD-Next score—instead of the LSAT or GRE—if and only if the applicant has an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.0.  During this initial exam period in 2024, JD-Next scores will be reported directly to schools that the applicant indicates. 

Applicants who intend to apply with a JD-Next exam score must apply for law school admission in the same manner as they would with an LSAT or GRE score. This includes completing an online application and a Credential Assembly Service (CAS) Report through the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC). When JD-Next scores are released, LSAC will report your score directly to Loyola Law through the online portal.

After you complete the online application, please email the Law Admissions Office at ladmit@loyno.edu to let us know that you plan to submit a JD-Next score with your application.

GRE

Applicants who elect to take the GRE must instruct ETS to send Loyola University New Orleans College of Law all GRE test scores from the preceding five-year period. Applicants who have already taken the GRE can log into their ETS account and select Loyola University New Orleans College of Law as a recipient of GRE results using the school code: 4810.

All applicants must register with LSAC's Credential Assembly Service for the compilation of their academic record. Official transcripts from every post-secondary institution that the applicant has ever attended must be forwarded to LSAC. Transcripts are considered to be official only when they have been forwarded directly to LSAC by a university's or college's registrar. LSAC will provide the College of Law with applicants' CAS reports.

We require international applicants to register for the Credential Assembly Service Report via LSAC. In addition, international applicants must take the LSAT, unless they have earned an international law degree. All foreign transcripts sent to LSAC will be evaluated and processed through CAS. Loyola Law also requires the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) scores, including the Test of Written English and the Test of Spoken English for applicants in which English is a foreign language. These applicants should contact the Educational Testing Service (ETS) for TOEFL registration at www.toefl.org. Applicants must request that ETS send relevant scores to LSAC. LSAC's TOEFL code is 0058. Loyola Law will then receive them in the applicant’s CAS report.

Loyola University New Orleans assists international students with securing the appropriate visas. Contact the Law Admissions Office for more information.

Applicants are required to submit at least two letters of recommendation (limit of four). Letters must be written on or after March 1, 2023. Recommendation letters looked upon most favorably are sent by the applicant's undergraduate or graduate professors, as these give better evidence of the applicant's capabilities as a student. However, one who can attest to the applicant's skills and abilities to succeed in law school are helpful, such as writing acumen, time management, and work ethic.

A personal statement, up to three pages in length and written in the applicant's own words, is required. The personal statement is an applicant's opportunity to promote and personalize their application, highlighting accomplishments that may not otherwise be addressed in other areas of the application.

All candidates are welcome to supplement their application with an optional Diversity Statement. This optional statement does not replace the Personal Statement. It is intended to provide the Faculty Admissions Committee with additional background information, such as an applicant's discussion of how their racial identity or ethnicity has affected their life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise; gender identity or gender expression; the impact of extenuating health issues; the history of overcoming hardships; or, managing socio-economic disparities. The Diversity Statement should not exceed two pages.

Loyola welcomes applicants who wish to enroll at College of Law after attending another law school, including select foreign-educated attorneys. An applicant who wishes to apply for transfer or advanced standing admission can do so by utilizing Loyola Law’s Transfer & Select Foreign Attorneys Application available through LSAC. At a minimum, two year’s residence (60 credit hours at any time or, if they are the last remaining hours, 45 credit hours) in the Loyola University College of Law is required of students to be eligible for a Loyola degree.

Applicants with prior law school experience must present evidence of successful academic study in their prior law record and have completed at least 15 credit hours at their current law school. In addition to the application requirements for entry as a first-year student, transfer applicants must also submit at least one letter of recommendation from a law school professor, a letter of good standing from their current law school, include an official copy of their most recent law school transcript with their CAS subscription, and statement asserting the reason(s) for transferring to Loyola Law. 

Successful transfer applications must demonstrate above average academic study in their prior law school record. Once a transfer applicant is accepted, the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs will determine how many credits will be accepted by Loyola from their prior law school. No credit will be awarded for a course taken at another law school unless the grade in that course is at least equal to the minimum grade point average required for graduation at that school. If the transfer student has failed to earn a grade that is at least equal to the minimum grade point average required for graduation at the school from which the student seeks to transfer and that course is a Loyola required course, then the student must repeat that course at Loyola. The right to refuse credit in whole or in part is reserved. Transfer quality points are not used in calculating Loyola law school GPAs or rank in class.

Candidates who earned a law degree outside of the U.S. and began their legal studies in 2020 or later may have the standardized test requirement waived, and the opportunity to earn a U.S. law degree at Loyola in less than three years. Loyola Law may grant up to 30 credit hours of advanced standing toward a JD from Loyola for a student that obtained a law degree. The course of study for the J.D. degree must be completed no earlier than 24 months and, except in extraordinary circumstances, no later than 84 months after a student has commenced law study at the law school from which the school has accepted transfer credit.

In addition to a bar examination, there are character, fitness, and other qualifications for admission to the bar in every U.S. jurisdiction. Certain character and fitness issues may preclude bar admission. 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.