Northern Illinois University College of Law

Required, with the length stated as a flat specification rather than a range: 'Personal statement (two pages, double spaced)'. Recorded as page_limit 2 -- it is prescriptive and singular, the South Dakota judgment in docs/CURATION.md rather than the Belmont one, and there is no range to pick a top from. THE PROMPT CARRIES NIU'S INTERVIEW POLICY INSIDE IT, which is where an applicant is most likely to actually read it: 'Since we don't conduct interviews, this is your opportunity to introduce yourself to our admissions committee.' See the interview entry -- that clause is the school's only statement on the subject and it is a flat denial. The question itself is narrow: how your experiences motivated you to pursue a legal education, with three categories offered. It is why law, not why NIU -- no why-us question is asked anywhere, so no why_x_essay is recorded, and no perspective statement or optional essay is published either. AN ADDENDUM IS ATTACHED TO THIS DOCUMENT RATHER THAN UPLOADED SEPARATELY, which is unusual mechanics worth knowing: 'How do I attach an addendum to my application? Please add an additional page to your personal statement. Please include proper headings.' So the two-page specification governs the statement while addenda extend the same file.

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'Addendum (optional): Submit a brief addendum if you wish to explain circumstances surrounding your application, such as GPA or LSAT score.' Two subjects named, 'brief' the only length guidance -- not a cap under docs/CURATION.md, so no limit is recorded. THE MECHANICS ARE UNUSUAL AND EASY TO GET WRONG: 'How do I attach an addendum to my application? Please add an additional page to your personal statement. Please include proper headings.' There is no separate upload slot; an addendum is extra pages on the personal-statement file, with headings to keep them distinct from the two-page statement itself. A SCORE-DISCREPANCY ADDENDUM IS SPECIFICALLY INVITED: 'If there is a significant discrepancy in your scores, we suggest that you submit an addendum explaining the difference.' NIU sets no threshold for what counts as significant, unlike LMU's four points. NO CHARACTER-AND-FITNESS QUESTION SET is published in advance; the school prints only the standard ABA notice: 'In addition to a bar examination, there are character, fitness, and other qualifications for admission to the bar in every U.S. jurisdiction.' Required is false; every use here is optional or conditional.

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LSAT ONLY, AND THE FAQ SAYS SO IN PASSING WHILE ANSWERING A DIFFERENT QUESTION: 'In addition to the LSAT, which everyone must take, international students must take the TOEFL.' The requirements list is equally flat -- 'Have a valid Law School Admission Test (LSAT) score'. NO GRE AND NO JD-NEXT ROUTE is mentioned anywhere on the apply or FAQ pages, and the 2025 509 prints a single LSAT row covering all 134 first-years with no GRE or JD-Next row. Under docs/CURATION.md the site's silence is not itself a denial, but 'which everyone must take' is affirmative and the filing shows no alternative in use. HIGHEST SCORE, WITH A CONDITION MOST SCHOOLS LEAVE UNSAID: 'We use the highest LSAT score. If there is a significant difference in your scores, however, the admissions committee may desire further information. If there is a significant discrepancy in your scores, we suggest that you submit an addendum explaining the difference.' That is the same invitation LMU makes at a four-point threshold; NIU sets no number, so the judgment is the applicant's. NO VALIDITY WINDOW AND NO MINIMUM SCORE is published -- both real gaps. PREPARATION ADVICE, unusually blunt about the stakes: 'The most important advice we can give you is to make sure you take several weeks or months to prepare for the LSAT. Take the test as if you could only take it once.'

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A degree in hand or nearly so: 'Have earned a bachelor's degree from an institution accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education (or be in the final year of your undergraduate program).' CAS IS REQUIRED AND CARRIES THE LETTERS TOO: 'Register with LSAC's CAS, which will streamline the application process. After you submit the required materials, LSAC will forward your LSAT score and CAS report to NIU and any other schools to which you apply.' A USEFUL SPLIT IF SOMETHING IS MISSING, which the FAQ spells out: 'Incomplete applications will not be sent to the admissions committee. If you are missing your personal statement or your resume, you may mail/email them to our office. If you are missing transcripts or letters of recommendation, you must submit them through the LSAC Credential Assembly Service (CAS).' So the school's own documents can be sent directly; LSAC's cannot. INTERNATIONAL APPLICANTS: 'If you're from a non-English-speaking country, you must take the TOEFL unless you obtained a bachelor's degree in the United States', with the standards set by the NIU Graduate School rather than by the law school -- no minimum score is published here. Credential evaluation runs through CAS by preference ('evaluation by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. This service is included in the standard CAS fee') with NACES members accepted as an alternative; 'The report must indicate that the degree earned is the equivalent of a U.S. bachelor's degree.' TRANSFER AND VISITING APPLICANTS need a law school transcript including spring grades and a 'Letter of good standing from all previously attended law programs'; NIU grants no credit for 'Coursework earned at non-ABA-accredited law schools' or 'Coursework earned at law schools outside the U.S.' Its transfer class-rank mechanic is unusual enough to quote: 'You'll be given a class rank equivalent to the rank you would hold in the class with which you'll graduate. Your rank will be in addition to the same rank held by a non-transfer student, to avoid changing the rank of a non-transfer student.'

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'The LSAC letter of recommendation service is included in your CAS registration. While we require only one letter, we'll accept up to four. We strongly recommend at least one letter from a professor or academic dean at your college or university.' Both numbers in one sentence, and a wide range -- one required against four accepted, matching High Point as the most permissive band in this batch. The preference is academic rather than professional, and the mention of an academic dean as an acceptable author is unusual. Delivery is through CAS and cannot be routed around: a missing letter 'must' be submitted through CAS, unlike a missing personal statement or résumé which may be emailed directly. Waitlisted applicants may add 'additional letters of recommendation' after a decision.

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OPTIONAL, WITH AN UNUSUALLY DETAILED CONTENT LIST FOR SOMETHING NOT REQUIRED: 'Resume (optional): Include professional work experience, work experience during college, internships/externships, extracurricular leadership experience and/or community service.' Five categories are named, and the second -- work experience during college -- is one most résumé guidance leaves out. No page limit or format is published. Recorded required false on the school's own label; note the FAQ treats it as an expected document when handling incomplete files ('If you are missing your personal statement or your resume, you may mail/email them to our office'), which suggests it is optional in name more than in practice.

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NIU DOES NOT INTERVIEW, DENIED FLATLY -- and the denial is tucked inside the personal-statement prompt rather than given a heading of its own: 'Since we don't conduct interviews, this is your opportunity to introduce yourself to our admissions committee.' Under docs/CURATION.md that is an explicit denial worth recording as such rather than leaving to silence, and unlike Charleston's hedged version ('not part of the normal application process') it carries no exception. Note what the school does with the fact: it is offered as a reason the personal statement matters, which tells an applicant where the weight sits. No visit, class or conversation is offered as a substitute anywhere on these pages.

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NO APPLICATION FEE. NIU's apply and FAQ pages never mention one in either direction; the school's 2025 ABA Standard 509 certifies the fee as 'None', filed as a word rather than a figure. No waiver process is published, which follows from there being nothing to waive; LSAC's own CAS and report fees are separate, though NIU does note that the AACRAO credential evaluation international applicants may need 'is included in the standard CAS fee'. THE BIGGER MONEY FACT AT THIS SCHOOL IS NOT THE FEE BUT THE TUITION, and the FAQ states it in answer to a question about residency: 'Since fall 2018, there is no longer out-of-state tuition rates for U.S. students. Law students will be assessed tuition at an equivalent in-state rate.' The 509 bears that out, certifying $23,667 for both resident and non-resident with $400 in annual fees -- one of the cheapest public options in this dataset, and with no residency hurdle for a U.S. applicant. A third certified rate of $40,215 sits in the 509's unlabelled 'Other' column, which the FAQ's carve-out for 'U.S. students' suggests is the international rate; the filing does not label it and this file does not assert the mapping.

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