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Law School Admission

To be considered for admission to the School of Law an applicant must have (1) earned a baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution or have no more than six semester hours remaining for completion of the degree, (2) earned a grade point average of at least 2.20 on all undergraduate coursework, and (3) attained an acceptable score on the Law School Admission Test (LSAT). An applicant who meets the minimum requirements is not assured of admission, because the number of qualified applicants each year normally exceeds the number of new students the school can accommodate.

The Law School provides full-file review to all complete applications. No admission decision is made on numerical criteria alone. In addition to the LSAT score and undergraduate grade point average, the Admissions Committee reviews applications using the following criteria to reach the goals of the admissions process:

Rigor of the undergraduate course of study as reflected by the applicant's college transcripts Graduate study Demonstrated commitment to public service Work experience Leadership experience Extracurricular or community activities History of overcoming economic or other disadvantage Personal experiences with discrimination Overcoming disability

Disadvantaged socioeconomic background Geographic diversity, particularly underrepresented regions of Texas Diversity of experience and background Maturity Ability to communicate Foreign language proficiency Honors and awards Service in the Armed Forces Publications Exceptional personal talents and other factors

The goals of the admissions process for the School of Law are:

• To identify those students with the greatest probability of success in law school, giving due weight to proven predictors, such as the LSAT score, grade point average, the applicant's undergraduate school and major, but also giving appropriate weight to all other factors in the applicant's file

• To identify students who have demonstrated commitment to public service, leadership, and other qualities valuable to the legal profession

• To identify students whose background, experience, and other qualities are likely to be of value in the classroom and the law school

• To provide a service to the state by educating citizens from underrepresented regions of the state and disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds

Application processing fee. A nonrefundable application processing fee of $65 is required of each applicant and must be submitted with the requisite credentials. Applicants presenting academic credentials from any country other than the United States must pay a nonrefundable fee of $75.

Application deadlines. New students are accepted only for full-time study in the fall semester; admission for the spring semester or the summer session is not available to new students.

Early decision admission. Complete credentials must be postmarked by November 1 to be considered for early decision admission. Applicants who satisfy the requirements for early decision will be notified of their admission status by mid-January.

Regular decision admission. Complete credentials must be postmarked by February 1 to be considered for regular admission for the fall semester.

Application procedure. Applicants must take, at their own expense, the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) administered by Law Services. The test is given four times a year, usually in June, September or October, December, and February at designated colleges and universities throughout the United States and at several international test centers. Applicants who apply for early decision admission by the November 1 deadline must take the LSAT no later than September or October. Applicants who apply by February 1 must take the LSAT no later than December. Registration materials may be obtained from Law Services.

Law School Admission Test
Test Dates	Registration Postmark Deadline [12]	Late Registration Postmark Deadline [13]
September 26, 1998	August 28, 1998	September 4, 1998
December 5, 1998	November 6, 1998	November 13, 1998
February 6, 1999	January 8, 1999	January 15, 1999

June 1999 date not available at the time of publication.

In addition to submitting an application for admission to the Law School Admissions Office, an applicant is required to register with the Law School Data Assembly Service. The data assembly service receives applicants' transcripts, computes their grade point averages, and transmits the information to the School of Law. To register, write to Law Services, P O Box 2000, 661 Penn Street, Newtown, Pennsylvania 18940-0998, or call (215) 968-1001.

An applicant presenting foreign undergraduate academic records must register for the LSAT only through Law Services and must register for a course-by-course evaluation of his or her transcript with World Education Services, Inc. To register, write to WES, P O Box 745, New York, New York 10113-0745 or call (212) 966-6311.

Enrollment Deposit

Applicants admitted to the School of Law are required to submit a nonrefundable deposit by cashier's check or money order for $200 to indicate acceptance of the offer of admission. The deposit will be applied to tuition and fees for the fall semester or refunded when the student enrolls.

For additional information about admission as a new student, a transfer student, or a visiting student refer to The Law School Catalog.

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General Information catalog

Contents  |  Chapter 1  |  Chapter 2  |  Chapter 3
Chapter 4  |  Chapter 5  |  Chapter 6  |  Chapter 7
Appendixes  |  Statistical Summaries

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