University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law

TWO LIVE BOWEN PAGES GIVE DIFFERENT LENGTHS AND THE SHORTER ONE IS RECORDED. The application checklist -- printed identically on the admissions overview and the apply page -- lists 'Two-page personal statement'. The FAQ says 'Personal statements should be two to three pages in length, typed and double-spaced.' Recorded as page_limit 2 because two pages is the only length that satisfies both instructions: a three-page statement is within the FAQ's range but over the checklist's flat figure, while a two-page statement is compliant everywhere. The conflict is recorded rather than resolved per docs/CURATION.md and is worth an email to admissions -- it is a full page of writing either way. Note the FAQ's phrasing is a range ('two to three pages'), which on its own would not be a cap under the docs/CURATION.md ceiling-phrase rule; the checklist's 'Two-page personal statement' is what makes a limit recordable here at all. A WHY-BOWEN ELEMENT IS FOLDED INTO THE PERSONAL STATEMENT RATHER THAN ASKED SEPARATELY, and it is scoped to one group: 'It is particularly important for non-residents to discuss why Bowen interests them in their statements.' Bowen is 77% in-state, so this is aimed at the minority of its applicants. No separate why_x_essay is recorded, because the school asks for no separate essay -- the instruction is about what belongs inside the personal statement. No perspective statement or optional essay is published anywhere on these pages.

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The application checklist carries an open addendum slot with no topic restriction and no length guidance: 'Any necessary addenda'. Bowen publishes no prompt, no page or word limit, and no list of acceptable subjects, so none is recorded -- 'necessary' is left to the applicant to judge. Nothing on these pages describes a character-and-fitness disclosure obligation, which most schools spell out; that silence is recorded as silence rather than as an absence of the requirement.

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Required and capped at a single page, stated the same way in both places: the checklist lists 'One-page résumé' and the FAQ answers 'Do applicants need to submit a resume? Yes, all applicants must submit a one page resume.' One page is tight for a career changer, and Bowen's part-time division is built for exactly that applicant -- the two instructions sit in tension in practice even though the school states the limit without qualification. No content guidance, format, or style requirement is published.

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LSAT ONLY, AS OF THIS CYCLE -- AND THAT IS A CHANGE THE SCHOOL DATES ITSELF. The apply page lists 'LSAT or JD Next score (After June 1, 2026, we will no longer accept JD-Next as a qualifying credential for application or admission.)' That sunset has already passed as of this file's verification date, so for the 2026-27 cycle the LSAT is the only qualifying test, which is why the admissions overview's version of the same checklist now lists 'LSAT' with no alternative. The parenthetical is left quoted here because it explains why a JD-Next taker who saw an earlier version of this page is now shut out. NO GRE ROUTE HAS EVER BEEN OPENED: the GRE is not mentioned on any Bowen admissions page, and the 2025 509 prints no GRE row -- 151 LSAT admissions enrollees and 3 JD-Next enrollees against a class of 154, with the LSAT and JD-Next rows accounting for the class exactly. Under docs/CURATION.md that silence is not a denial, but the filing confirms the GRE was not a route in practice either. FIVE-YEAR VALIDITY: 'Yes, LSAT scores expire five years after the initial test administration.' HIGHEST SCORE, BUT ALL ARE SEEN: 'We consider all LSAT scores, but in most cases we rely on the highest score in making admission decisions.' NO MINIMUM: 'Is there a minimum GPA or LSAT score that Bowen considers? There is no minimum GPA or LSAT score. All completed applications are considered.' THE WRITING SAMPLE IS UNSCORED BUT READ, which is worth knowing because many applicants assume otherwise: 'A 35-minute writing session is also included, and is taken at home on your own time. The writing sample is not scored, but is required for your CAS to be released. We will receive a copy of it and review it.' TIMING ADVICE: 'We recommend that you take the LSAT in summer after your junior year of college or the fall before the year you plan to begin law school', with 'a minimum of 6 - 8 weeks' of preparation suggested. THE FAQ'S OWN MEDIAN DISAGREES WITH THE FILING: 'For the 2025 entering class, the median LSAT score was 154 and the median UGPA was a 3.4', where the 509 certifies a median LSAT of 153 for both the full-time and the all-programs column. See the admissions_stats note -- four Bowen sources publish three different GPA medians for this one class.

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CAS is mandatory and heads the checklist as the 'LSAC Credential Assembly Report': 'To apply, you'll first need to create an account with LSAC.org.' The FAQ is explicit that this is not optional -- 'Bowen applicants are required to utilize the CAS and have a report compiled for them' -- and describes what the report carries: 'The Credential Assembly Service (CAS) compiles a report for each applicant that includes transcripts, LSAT score information, LSAT writing samples, and letters of recommendation.' NO MAJOR IS PREFERRED: 'Bowen does not require or give preference to any particular major. Our students have majors that range from political science to engineering to journalism. What's most important is completing a rigorous course of study.' A GRADUATE DEGREE IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR AN UNDERGRADUATE RECORD: 'Graduate degrees rarely make or break applicants' chances of admission, however they do show an applicant's ability to succeed in a graduate program. If included, graduate records will be looked at in comparison to applicants' undergraduate records.' THE CAS GPA RECALCULATION IS EXPLAINED, which matters to anyone who repeated a course: 'For purposes of the Law School Report, your GPA is converted by the Credential Assembly Service (CAS) to a uniform scale. In many cases this conversion lowers your GPA from what is reflected on your transcript... All grades received in a course are calculated for purposes of the CAS Report, even if your college only calculated the highest grade.' FINAL TRANSCRIPTS ARE A SEPARATE, POST-ADMISSION DEADLINE: 'July 1, 2027: Deadline to submit immunization records and post-secondary transcripts (including final, degree-conferred transcript).'

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LETTERS ARE OPTIONAL AT BOWEN AND THE FAQ ANSWERS THE QUESTION WITH A FLAT NO: 'Are letters of recommendation needed? No. However, applicants are welcome to submit two professional letters of recommendation as part of their Credential Assembly Service (CAS) Report.' The checklist agrees and supplies the ceiling in the same breath: 'Up to two letters of recommendation (optional)'. Hence count_required 0 and count_accepted 2. Two things worth reading closely: the cap of two is low -- many schools accept three or four -- and the word is 'professional', which is the only guidance Bowen gives about who should write. Delivery is through CAS rather than direct to the school. Unlike schools that hold a file waiting for letters, Bowen says nothing about holding, which follows from letters being optional here.

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NO APPLICATION FEE, and the site and the filing agree for once: the FAQ says 'Applications must be submitted online using the LSAC online application. There is no application fee', and the 2025 509 certifies 'Application fee 0'. BOWEN DENIES CAS FEE WAIVERS IN SO MANY WORDS, which is the more useful fact and is easy to misread as a fee-waiver policy: 'The Law School Admissions Council administers all CAS Fee Waivers through their fee waiver service. Bowen Law School does not provide any CAS Fee Waivers.' There is no school application fee to waive; what the school is declining is any role in waiving LSAC's own charges, which are the real cost of applying here. THE FIRST MONEY IS THE DEPOSIT: '$250 seat deposit to secure your place in the incoming class', due April 15, 2027 for fall 2027 entry.

Verified 2026-09-15 · source page