University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law
early decision Dec 1, 2026 · regular Mar 1, 2027 · final Jul 1, 2027
0 of 7 required items complete· next deadline in 45 days
Your numbers against the class of 2025
This is a comparison against published numbers, not a prediction. Admissions committees weigh essays, letters, and experience that no percentile captures.
2,114 applications, 632 offers, 221 enrolled · Verified 2026-08-18 · view source
What it costs, how graduates fare
- Tuition2025-26
$20,322–$38,100 full-time · resident to non-resident · plus $3,700 annual fees
Living expenses $25,392 on campus
Tuition and the fees the school certifies alongside it — not a full cost of attendance.
Verified 2026-08-27 · ABA Standard 509 report
- Bar passageclass of 2025
90.0%first-time+8.9
81.1% is the average for all ABA-accredited schools’ graduates in the same jurisdictions this school’s graduates sat in · 172 of 191 first-time takers passed
92.8% of the class of 2023 were admitted within two years of graduating
A pass rate on its own says as much about which states a school feeds as about the school, so the ABA’s own like-for-like average is shown with it.
Verified 2026-08-27 · ABA bar passage report
- Employmentclass of 2025
169 of 190 (88.9%) in full-time, long-term jobs requiring bar admission
Ten months after graduation · 9 more in JD-advantage jobs · 5 still seeking
The ABA collects employment status and job type only. It collects no salary, so no salary figure comes from this filing.
Verified 2026-08-27 · ABA employment summary
- First-year attrition2024-25
4.0% of the first-year class · 8 students
No law school publishes a graduation rate, so this is not one. It is the students who left in their first year, academic and other, as filed. Transfers out are reported separately and are not counted here.
Verified 2026-08-27 · ABA Standard 509 report
- EarningsCollege Scorecard
Not a starting salary.
$59,216 median one year after finishing · $93,806 after four
$107,773 is the national median at four years for the same credential
A College Scorecard median for 2017-18 and 2018-19 completers who received federal aid, measured a fixed number of years after they finished — not what this year’s graduates are being paid, and not a figure the school or the ABA publishes. The ABA collects no salary data at all.
Verified 2026-08-27 · College Scorecard
Essays
- Personal statementRequiredstart by Nov 10, 2026
Tell us about yourself. Give the Admissions Committee information you believe is relevant to the admission decision that is not elicited elsewhere in the application. You may address your academic or intellectual interests, significant accomplishments or obstacles overcome, personal or professional goals, educational achievements, or any way in which your perspective, viewpoint, or experiences will contribute to the School of Law community.
Notes & source
No length limit is published. The 'How We Review Applications' page (sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/law/admissions/admissions_requirements/how_we_review_applications/) states: 'There is no specified length. Take the time to tell us what you think we need to know, but remember that economy of style is a strength in good writing!' It also calls the personal statement 'the primary way we assess your writing skills.' Generative AI is prohibited: 'The written responses you submit to our required personal statement, optional supplemental essay prompts, and open-ended questions should be your own work... You should not use ChatGPT or other generative artificial intelligence tools as part of your creative or drafting processes. You may use electronic tools (like Grammarly or spellcheck), or you may ask prelaw advisors, mentors, friends, or others for basic proofreading assistance and general feedback and critiques.'
Verified 2026-08-18 · source page
- Why this schoolOptional · 1 pgschool-specificstart by Nov 21, 2026
The University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law seeks to enroll a class of talented and engaged students who advance our mission, vision, and values and meaningfully contribute to the University community. We invite you to submit an optional essay that discusses how your goals for your legal education and career align with these principles. Feel free to share ways in which your experiences, achievements, and background inform the perspective you would bring to the law school classroom and to cocurricular activities. We are particularly interested in understanding your journey to law school so far, especially any of your experiences that might not be widely shared among our student body. We are not imposing any requirements or limits on the information you may include in this statement; we simply want to know more about you. Please note that the law school cannot use your essay in any way to discriminate or provide a benefit based on the applicant's race or other legally protected status.
Notes & source
The school labels this optional supplemental essay simply 'Personal Essay'; it is typed here as a why-this-school essay because the prompt asks how the applicant's goals align with the law school's published mission, vision, and values, which the page reproduces in full beneath the prompt. One of four optional essays; the page's instruction for all four is 'Please limit each essay you choose to submit to one page.' Note the internal tension: the prompt itself says 'We are not imposing any requirements or limits on the information you may include in this statement.'
Verified 2026-08-18 · source page
- Perspective statementOptional · 1 pgstart by Nov 17, 2026
The law school is interested in your distinct experiences or life challenges that may not be apparent in the rest of the application or discussed in your personal statement. We invite you to share information that will provide context for our evaluation of your potential for success in our academic setting. Relevant information to provide could include, but is not limited to, financial hardship, educational adversity, special talents, specific work or community service, unusual rural or urban upbringing, foreign residence, military background, or unique personal or family circumstances. Feel free to discuss life circumstances that affected your ability to access resources, advising, or opportunities to demonstrate your interest in or aptitude for the study of law (e.g., family educational attainment, your employment, family income during childhood, public benefits access, need-based aid, housing insecurity or homelessness, family responsibilities, parenting or caregiving, or justice-system impacted family members.) Please note that the law school cannot use your essay in any way to discriminate or provide a benefit based on an applicant's race or other legally protected status.
Notes & source
The school calls this the 'Statement of Economic, Social or Personal Background.' One of four optional essays; 'Please limit each essay you choose to submit to one page.'
Verified 2026-08-18 · source page
- Optional essayOptional · 1 pgschool-specificstart by Nov 24, 2026
Evidence of certain skills and abilities can show your potential to meet the challenges of law school and the profession. Feel free to provide examples of personal qualities or experiences that have shaped your development in areas such as intellectual and cognitive reasoning, research and information gathering, communications, planning and organizing, resolution of conflicts, client and business relations, working with others (including those with different perspectives and goals than your own), and character development. Please note that the law school cannot use your essay in any way to discriminate or provide a benefit based on an applicant's race or other legally protected status.
Notes & source
The school calls this the 'Statement of Demonstrated Personal Qualities.' One of four optional essays; 'Please limit each essay you choose to submit to one page.'
Verified 2026-08-18 · source page
- AddendumOptional · 1 pgstart by Nov 28, 2026
If you believe your LSAT or other (e.g., ACT or SAT) test scores or academic records do not accurately represent your potential to be successful at our law school, please tell us why, and tell us what we should consider in place of, or supplemental to, these factors. If your undergraduate, graduate, or professional school attendance has been interrupted for one or more terms for any reason, please explain the circumstances and provide a description of your activities during that time.
Notes & source
The school calls this the 'Statement of Academic Context' and lists it as one of four optional essays; 'Please limit each essay you choose to submit to one page.' Separately, the 'Taking the LSAT' page invites an LSAT-score-variation addendum: 'if there are significant differences between your scores on different administrations of the LSAT and you have any information to help explain the disparity — illness, poor testing conditions, or the like — you may wish to include it in an addendum to your application' (sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/law/admissions/admissions_requirements/taking_the_lsat/); no length limit is published for that one.
Verified 2026-08-18 · source page
- AddendumOptionalstart by Nov 28, 2026
Notes & source
Character-and-fitness explanation, conditionally required. The application asks six conduct questions (college disciplinary proceedings; withdrawal after a conduct or honor code accusation; pending or expected disciplinary charges; ever arrested, taken into custody, or accused formally or informally of a violation of the law; pending or expected criminal charges; involuntary termination from employment or employer discipline). Site wording: 'If you answer "yes" to any of the questions, attach a detailed explanation giving dates, locations, the nature of the charges, the disposition of the cases, and all sanctions imposed. Simply including a copy of your driving or criminal record without including your detailed explanation is insufficient.' Application instructions require you to '[i]nclude all disciplinary actions, charges, convictions, and traffic violations,' including expunged, sealed, dismissed, and juvenile matters; parking tickets may be excluded. No length limit is published.
Verified 2026-08-18 · source page
Letters & documents
- Letter of recommendation (1 of 2)Requiredstart by Nov 3, 2026
Notes & source
Site wording: 'Two letters of recommendation are required for an application to be complete. Faculty recommendations are preferred; other recommenders should be advised to address your potential as a law student. Evaluations of your maturity, self-discipline, good judgment, and professionalism are also helpful.' Letters go through the LSAC Letter of Recommendation service, included in the CAS subscription, and arrive with the CAS report. The 'How We Review Applications' page adds that letters from faculty who have taught you 'will typically be the most helpful' and that applicants away from school for a significant time 'may submit letters from others who can evaluate the same skills and qualities.' No maximum number of letters is published — recorded as the pages' silence, not as a cap.
Verified 2026-08-18 · source page
- Letter of recommendation (2 of 2)Requiredstart by Nov 3, 2026
Notes & source
Site wording: 'Two letters of recommendation are required for an application to be complete. Faculty recommendations are preferred; other recommenders should be advised to address your potential as a law student. Evaluations of your maturity, self-discipline, good judgment, and professionalism are also helpful.' Letters go through the LSAC Letter of Recommendation service, included in the CAS subscription, and arrive with the CAS report. The 'How We Review Applications' page adds that letters from faculty who have taught you 'will typically be the most helpful' and that applicants away from school for a significant time 'may submit letters from others who can evaluate the same skills and qualities.' No maximum number of letters is published — recorded as the pages' silence, not as a cap.
Verified 2026-08-18 · source page
- RésuméRequiredstart by Nov 24, 2026
Please attach a résumé or curriculum vitae which details your college education (including significant leadership, academic honors, and accomplishments), employment, community involvement, volunteer service, or other activities.
Notes & source
No page limit is published. The page continues: 'Since law school recruitment preparation begins early in the first- year of law school, save time now! Convert your current resume to the format you will use in law school,' and links to guidance and a template.
Verified 2026-08-18 · source page
- Transcripts via LSAC CASRequiredstart by Nov 10, 2026
Notes & source
All applications are submitted through LSAC and require a Credential Assembly Service (CAS) subscription; this holds even for applicants using the GRE/GMAT or the LSAT-free Now 2JD pathway. Site wording: 'You are responsible for having an official transcript from any college or university you attended, sent by that institution directly to your account at LSAC. LSAC will analyze these transcripts and provide copies of the actual transcript as part of the CAS report submitted to the admissions office on your behalf.' Enrollment requirement: 'A candidate must have a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university, or expect to receive one by the date of their enrollment in the School of Law.' Admitted students must submit an official final transcript by July 1.
Verified 2026-08-18 · source page
- LSAT or GRERequiredstart by Oct 2, 2026
Notes & source
LSAT is the default and LSAT Writing is required with it. Site wording: applicants must 'take the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), complete LSAT Writing, the on-demand writing exam, and subscribe to the LSAC Credential Assembly Service (CAS).' The GRE and GMAT are accepted in place of the LSAT (accepted since September 1, 2018) but only as a substitute, never a supplement: 'A GRE or GMAT score will only be reviewed if it is the only standardized test taken by the applicant,' and 'If you have a valid LSAT score(s), a score on the GRE and/or GMAT will only be considered in addition to the LSAT score, not in place of a score. All valid LSAT scores are required to be submitted.' GRE school code 4157; the writing portion of the alternate test must also be completed; GRE verbal and quantitative scores are averaged. There is no minimum LSAT score. The highest of multiple LSAT scores is typically used. The school encourages testing 'in the February, June, September/October, or December administrations the year before you expect to enroll,' and will accept a February or June score in the enrollment year while warning that seats will already be filling. Two LSAT-free pathways exist: 'USC Now 2JD' for candidates with a University of South Carolina bachelor's degree, a 3.60+ LSAC-calculated UGPA and an SAT/ACT score at or above the 85th percentile (seats ABA-capped, requires an addendum stating the intent to apply through the program, and candidates with a valid LSAT score are ineligible), and the SC Honors College Accelerated Undergraduate to J.D. program. Sources for the alternate tests and Now 2JD: sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/law/admissions/admissions_requirements/alternate_tests/; for LSAT timing and score policy: .../taking_the_lsat/ and .../how_we_review_applications/. The site does not mention JD-Next, though the school's 2025 ABA 509 report groups 3 enrollees under 'NON-LSAT, GRE OR JDNEXT.'
Verified 2026-08-18 · source page
Administrative
- Application feeRequiredat submission
Notes & source
Site wording: 'A nonrefundable application fee of $60 is payable through LSAC's secure server.' Fee waivers are available by request through a form linked from the page; the admissions FAQ answers 'Do you offer an application fee waiver? Yes, for prospective candidates applying this admissions cycle.' The page cautions: 'Please note we are not able to offer LSAC fee waivers for things such as the CAS Report Fee.' The $60 amount also appears in the school's 2025 ABA Standard 509 report. The application fee is waived for students admitted through the SC Honors College Accelerated Undergraduate to J.D. program.
Verified 2026-08-18 · source page
Every item above was verified against sc.edu on 2026-08-18. Expand any item for its own source. Always confirm against the school before you submit — and if we have something wrong, report an error.