DePaul University College of Law

Prompt quoted from the 'JD Application Instructions' PDF ('Fall 2026 - DePaul JD Application') linked from law.depaul.edu/admission/jd-admission/jd-applicants; the applicant checklist repeats it as 'Write a personal statement not exceeding two pages and submit it with your online application.' The instructions add, in the same paragraph, that 'Applicants also may describe, either within the personal statement or as an addendum, how their admission would contribute to the mission of the College of Law' — recorded separately here as the Mission Statement (why_x_essay). Because DePaul does not interview, the FAQ tells applicants 'Any information that you would convey in a personal interview should be conveyed in your personal statement,' and lists the personal statement among the factors weighed alongside the LSAT/GRE. No formatting rules (font, spacing, margins) are published, and the pages say nothing about generative AI.

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DePaul calls this the 'Mission Statement.' The JD Applicants page lists it as its own application attachment — 'Mission Statement (optional but highly recommended)' — and the FAQ treats it as a distinct component ('How important are my personal statement, letters of recommendation and mission statement?'), but no standalone prompt, length limit, or formatting guidance is published anywhere on the site. The sentence quoted above, from the JD Application Instructions PDF, is the only published description of what it should contain, and it explicitly allows the material to live inside the personal statement instead of as a separate document. Typed why_x_essay because it asks the applicant to connect themselves to this specific school's mission. For context, the mission as the dean states it on the admitted-students page: 'At DePaul Law, our mission is to educate purpose-driven lawyers who lead with compassion and integrity.' The application instructions add that 'a candidate's prior relations with the DePaul University community and her or his potential for furthering DePaul's institutional goals are considered.' Note the mismatch worth watching: the web page presents the Mission Statement as a separate highly-recommended attachment while the instructions PDF frames it as optional content within the personal statement or an addendum.

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DePaul publishes no general addendum section and no character-and-fitness addendum instructions on any JD admission page — recorded as the site's silence, not as a statement that addenda are unwelcome. Two specific invitations do appear. (1) Test-score discrepancy, from the FAQ (law.depaul.edu/admission/jd-admission/prospective-student-faq): 'Although the Admissions Committee will see all scores from tests taken within the last five years, the Committee will generally use the "high score" in evaluating your application for admission. Applicants with significant discrepancy among test scores may wish to provide a brief explanation for the discrepancy.' (2) Mission contribution, from the JD Application Instructions PDF, which names the addendum as an alternative home for the Mission Statement material. Neither carries a published length limit. The pages also do not invite a GPA or academic-performance addendum.

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'One letter of recommendation is required for all applicants. Up to three additional letters are welcome. Letters of recommendation must be submitted through the Credential Assembly Service (CAS). Letters of recommendation from an applicant's college professors are particularly useful. Letters of recommendation also may be submitted by employers or colleagues who are in positions to make critical and informed appraisals of an applicant's qualifications.' The FAQ states the same ceiling from the other direction: 'We require one letter of recommendation and will accept up to four. The Admissions Committee prefers letters of recommendation from college professors and academic deans. If you are not able to obtain an academic letter, you may have your supervisor, or someone else in a position to evaluate your abilities, write a letter. The best letters emphasize the applicant's intellectual abilities, writing skills, motivation and other attributes that will contribute to the student's success in law school. Although we only require one letter of recommendation and can accept up to four, most applicants submit two or three.' Letters must route through LSAC — 'We require that you submit your letter(s) of recommendation to LSAC, who forwards your letter(s) to all law schools to which you have applied.' A letter is one of the four items that make a file complete for committee review. Waitlisted applicants may send additional letters through LSAC or by email.

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Not required but pressed hard: the JD Applicants page lists 'Resume (optional but highly recommended)' and the instructions PDF says 'A current résumé is strongly recommended and may be electronically attached to the application for admission. It should not exceed two pages. It should include a complete employment record and identify honors, scholarships and commendations received; membership in any scholastic, honorary and professional associations; as well as community, volunteer and extracurricular activities.' The applicant checklist repeats: 'A résumé not exceeding two pages is encouraged.' The two-page cap is published even though the résumé itself is optional.

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All applicants must register with the LSAC Credential Assembly Service and 'submit transcripts for all graduate and undergraduate academic work'; the checklist specifies 'Submit one official transcript from every undergraduate college or university attended directly to the Credential Assembly Service.' The current CAS report is one of the items required for a complete file. Eligibility: 'Prospective applicants who have received their baccalaureate degrees from accredited institutions or who have, or will have, received degrees prior to July of the year for which admission is sought are eligible to apply. In no event will anyone who has yet to receive a baccalaureate degree be permitted to enroll in the College of Law. No specific fields of study are prescribed at the baccalaureate level.' Applications must be filed through LSAC only — 'The College of Law only accepts applications submitted through LSAC. Paper materials and updates will not be accepted, retained or reviewed by the Admission Committee and will be discarded,' though electronic updates may be emailed to lawinfo@depaul.edu with name and LSAC account number. International coursework should go through CAS for AACRAO evaluation, but DePaul 'also will accept detailed evaluation reports from Educational Credential Evaluators, World Educational Services or from any other member of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services.' Applicants educated where English is not the primary language must also submit TOEFL (DePaul institution code 1165), IELTS, or the Duolingo English Test; no minimum score is published. DePaul's LSAC school code for the JD application is 1165.

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'All applicants must submit a standardized test score. DePaul Law accepts the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or JD-Next Exam.' Validity: 'DePaul University College of Law will accept LSAT or GRE scores taken within five years prior to the date of application,' and the checklist fixes the window for the recorded cycle — 'For academic year 2026-2027, LSAT or GRE scores prior to June 2020 will not be accepted.' Ranking among tests: 'If an applicant has a GRE Score or JD-Next Exam Score in addition to an LSAT score, the LSAT score will be the primary test score considered for admissions purposes, with the GRE and/or JD-Next Exam score as a secondary factor taken into admissions consideration.' Reporting: LSAT scores arrive automatically via the CAS report; GRE scores go from ETS directly to DePaul (GRE institution code 4025); JD-Next scores must be sent directly by Aspen. Multiple scores: per the FAQ, 'the Committee will generally use the "high score"' rather than averaging. No minimum: 'While our median LSAT score for the Fall 2025 class is 158, we do not have a cut-off or minimum score for admission.' Timing: 'You should take the LSAT or GRE approximately one year before you intend to begin law school... Taking the February administration in the same year you are seeking admission may limit how early your application can be reviewed in a rolling admissions process' — the FAQ's own example addresses a Fall 2027 start with a Summer or Fall 2026 test, but no last acceptable administration is published for any cycle. The pages do not state whether an LSAT Writing sample is separately required. DePaul reports JD-Next enrollees in its 2025 ABA 509 report, which under ABA Standard 503 means it holds a variance permitting JD-Next.

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There is no fee. The instructions PDF carries a 'No Application Fee' heading — 'There is no application fee to apply for JD admission' — the JD Applicants page says 'The application fee is waived for all first-year online applicants to the JD program,' the international pages repeat 'there is no application fee,' and the school's 2025 ABA Standard 509 report lists 'Application fee $0.' Recorded as required: false because the applicant has nothing to pay or request. One stale contradiction to be aware of: the FAQ's decision-timing answer still lists 'fee' among the items that make a file complete ('the application form, fee, LSAC CAS report, letter of recommendation and personal statement'); every other statement on the site, and the certified 509, says $0.

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DePaul does not interview — an explicit statement, not a silence. From the FAQ, answering 'Can I schedule an interview with the Admissions Committee?': 'We do not have the resources to offer evaluative interviews to the 2,700 applicants who apply for admission each year. Any information that you would convey in a personal interview should be conveyed in your personal statement. We do, however, encourage applicants to attend one of our small group information sessions. You can schedule a visit by registering to attend a virtual information session.' The information sessions and campus visits linked from the admission pages are recruiting events, not evaluative interviews. No page mentions an invite-only or recorded-video interview in any form.

Verified 2026-08-18 · source page