Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center

LSU publishes no true prompt — the sentence above is the entire framing, and it is given twice in identical words, on the checklist ('Personal Statement —Each applicant is required to submit a personal statement. The personal statement is an opportunity to share your voice, perspective, and values.') and in the FAQ ('What should I write about in my personal statement? Is there a required length? Your personal statement should not exceed three pages. Our personal statement is an opportunity to share your voice, perspective, and values.'). The three-page cap comes only from the FAQ; the checklist states no length at all. No font, spacing, or margin requirement is published, and nothing is said about generative AI. IMPORTANT PAIRING: this is not LSU's only required essay. Every applicant must also submit a separate Why LSU statement (see the why_x_essay entry), so the school-specific material that many applicants fold into a personal statement has its own document here and should not be duplicated. What the committee says it weighs alongside the essays, from the FAQ: 'Your grades and grade trends are important. The courses you selected during your undergraduate education are also important, and we pay close attention to your leadership abilities, time management skills, personal statement, and letters of recommendation. We also consider your work and life experiences and any obstacles you have overcome.' RE-READ 2026-10-07 against the checklist: unchanged.

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REQUIRED OF EVERYONE, which is unusual — most schools that ask a why-school question make it optional. Checklist wording in full: 'Why LSU Statement – All applicants must submit a Why LSU statement. In this statement you will describe how your goals overlap with LSU Law's mission and why you believe LSU Law, specifically, would be a good place for you to pursue your legal education.' No page limit, word limit, or format is published for it, and it is not mentioned again anywhere else on the admissions pages — not in the FAQ, not on the requirements page. Applicants should read it against the mission statement the school points to at law.lsu.edu/aboutlsulaw/missionstatement/. Because this is a second required essay, LSU's writing load is heavier than its short checklist first suggests. RE-READ 2026-10-07 against the checklist: unchanged.

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'Resume- Applicants are required to submit a resume with their application.' That is the entire instruction — LSU publishes no page limit, no format guidance, and no content guidance for the resume, and it is not mentioned on the requirements page or in the FAQ. No page_limit is recorded because none is stated. RE-READ 2026-10-07 against the checklist: unchanged.

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'Letters of Recommendation —The LSU Law Center requires two letters of recommendation, and will accept up to three. Letters of recommendation must be submitted through the Credential Assembly Service (CAS) of LSAC.' LSU is specific about who should write, and unusually specific about who should not: 'Letters of recommendation should be written by professors, employers, or others who have a significant personal knowledge of the applicant's academic ability and aptitude for the study of law. Strictly personal letters do not assist Admissions Committee members in assessing potential aptitude for the study of law and should be avoided.' The FAQ lists letters among the factors the committee pays close attention to. No academic-versus-professional preference is stated beyond that sentence, and no deadline separate from the June 1 file-completion date is published. RE-READ 2026-10-07 against the checklist: unchanged.

Verified 2026-10-07 · source page

'Letters of Recommendation —The LSU Law Center requires two letters of recommendation, and will accept up to three. Letters of recommendation must be submitted through the Credential Assembly Service (CAS) of LSAC.' LSU is specific about who should write, and unusually specific about who should not: 'Letters of recommendation should be written by professors, employers, or others who have a significant personal knowledge of the applicant's academic ability and aptitude for the study of law. Strictly personal letters do not assist Admissions Committee members in assessing potential aptitude for the study of law and should be avoided.' The FAQ lists letters among the factors the committee pays close attention to. No academic-versus-professional preference is stated beyond that sentence, and no deadline separate from the June 1 file-completion date is published. RE-READ 2026-10-07 against the checklist: unchanged.

Verified 2026-10-07 · source page

CAS is mandatory: 'The Law Center requires its applicants to subscribe to the Credential Assembly Service (CAS). The Office of Admissions will request this report, which includes LSAT scores, a writing sample, copies of all academic transcripts, and a summary of all undergraduate grades.' A SECOND, LATER TRANSCRIPT OBLIGATION with a hard date, which is easy to miss because it sits inside the application checklist rather than in admitted-student material: 'Transcripts — Official transcripts must be on file with the Law Center no later than July 15, or within four weeks of the date of admission, whichever is later, but in no event later than October 15. If a student's official transcripts are not on file by the applicable deadline, the student may complete the current semester of enrollment but shall not be permitted to register for a subsequent semester until the Law Center has received the student's official transcripts. This transcript must confirm the type of bachelor's degree you were awarded and the degree conferral date.' (REWORDED 2026-10-07: the closed cycle's version sent the final transcript 'to LSAC by July 15, 2026'; the current checklist drops the year, sends it to the Law Center, and adds the four-weeks-after-admission and October 15 backstops.) DEGREE REQUIREMENT: 'A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university is required for admission.' ENGLISH PROFICIENCY, with published minimums: 'An applicant whose native language is not English is required to submit a score of at least 600 on the paper-based Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), 250 on the computer-based TOEFL or 100 on the internet-based TOEFL.' No IELTS alternative is offered. CHARACTER AND FITNESS is stated as a condition of admission rather than as a document to attach — LSU asks for no addendum and publishes no explanation form, which is why this file records no addendum requirement: 'Applicants must have good moral character. Good moral character includes honesty, trustworthiness, and other traits relating to the role of a lawyer in society and the legal system. Admission is contingent on the accuracy of information received. Failure to fully disclose information may result in the revocation of an admissions offer or in disciplinary action by the Law Center or bar disciplinary authorities.' No minimum GPA is published. RE-READ 2026-10-07: the CAS, degree, TOEFL and character sentences are unchanged on the checklist and the requirements page (law.lsu.edu/admissions/apply/requirements/).

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LSAT REQUIRED OF EVERY APPLICANT, and the GRE is never mentioned — recorded as a silence, not as a refusal. 'LSAT —All applicants must take the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT).' No LSU page fetched on 2026-08-18 (admissions overview, checklist, requirements, FAQ, or ABA disclosures) contains the word GRE, so the site neither accepts nor rejects it in print; an applicant without an LSAT score should ask. SCORE VALIDITY, stated twice and consistently: 'LSAT scores more than five years old will not be considered in the admissions process' (checklist) and 'How long is my LSAT score valid? Your LSAT score is valid for five years' (FAQ). LSAT WRITING is described as part of the test rather than as a separate requirement: 'The LSAT is administered in two parts... The second part of the test is a written essay, called LSAT Writing.' The CAS report is the delivery route for the score. No multiple-score policy (average versus highest) is published, and no last-acceptable-administration date is published — only the June 1 file-completion date constrains timing. LSU's 2025 ABA Standard 509 report reports all 230 first-year enrollees as LSAT admissions enrollees, with no GRE or JD Next row, which is consistent with an LSAT-only practice. The FAQ states how the numbers are used: 'The Admissions Committee weighs the LSAT and GPA equally; however, there are other factors considered.' RE-READ 2026-10-07 against the checklist: unchanged.

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NOTHING TO PAY for a first-year applicant who files on time. The checklist says flatly 'Application Fee —The application fee is waived.' The FAQ gives the mechanics and the underlying amount: 'For new applications for the fall 2027 JD/DCL entering class that are submitted before the deadline of June 1, 2027, the Law Center waives the $50 application fee. The Law Center also waives the fee for transfer or readmission applications submitted on or before June 1. Transfer or readmission applications submitted after June 1 are subject to the $50 fee.' The published $50 charge therefore survives only for late transfer and readmission applicants, neither of whom is a first-year JD applicant, so this is recorded as required: false. LSU's 2025 ABA Standard 509 report independently lists the application fee as $0. The FAQ's separate fee-waiver question adds nothing — its whole answer is 'See answer to question above' — so there is no separate need-based waiver process to apply for. LSAC's own CAS and registration fees are separate and are not addressed by LSU's pages. RE-READ 2026-10-07: the FAQ's fee answer now names the fall 2027 class and June 1, 2027; the checklist still says 'The application fee is waived.'

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INVITE-ONLY, and stated explicitly rather than left silent, which is rarer than it sounds: 'Can I request an interview? The admissions officers will be happy to meet with you to discuss LSU Law. We do not have personal, evaluative interviews unless specifically requested by the admissions committee. Any information you would like to share with the committee should be included in your application for admission.' So an applicant cannot request an evaluative interview, and a meeting with an admissions officer is informational only and carries no weight. The practical instruction in the last sentence matters: at LSU the written file is the whole case. Campus visits and virtual meetings with the admissions team are offered separately and are likewise not part of the evaluation. RE-READ 2026-10-07 against the FAQ: unchanged.

Verified 2026-10-07 · source page