J.D. Application Procedure
The application deadline for the fall 2013 entering class has been extended to April 1, 2013.
We are pleased that you are interested in applying to Temple University School of Law. It is important that you read the admission section carefully prior to completing and forwarding your application. We urge you to give us your most complete and thoughtfully prepared responses to all questions on the application.
Please note that all material submitted with or in support of an application becomes the property of the law school.
Temple Law School does not prescribe any fixed pre-law curriculum. Successful study of law is more often related to developed habits of disciplined work on challenging intellectual problems than to the knowledge of any special body of facts. The value of particular courses may vary with the undergraduate university, and students are advised to seek advice locally.
The Law School Admission Council (LSAC), in cooperation with the American Bar Association and the Association of American Law Schools, annually prepares The Official Guide to U.S. Law Schools which provides additional information regarding pre-law study. This book includes material on the study and practice of law, pre-law preparation, and applying to law schools, as well as particular information about most ABA accredited and AALS member law schools. It is available online at www.lsac.org.
1. Application Procedure:
New Applicants
A. Application Form
Any officially available version of the Temple University Beasley School of Law Application for Fall 2013 is acceptable. The application deadline for Fall 2013 is March 1, 2013.
We encourage you to apply electronically through LSAC's online application. You may also download a copy of the application form, complete it and return to our office. Applicants may also request that a copy of the application form be mailed to them by contacting the Law School Admissions Office at 800-560-1428.
If sent directly to the Law School, applications should be mailed to:
Office of Admissions
Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law
1719 North Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19122
Please refer to Section I below on the importance of early completion.
B. Application Fee
A fee in the amount of $60 must accompany the application. A check or money order should be made payable to Temple University and must be drawn on a U.S. bank. The application fee is nonrefundable and cannot be credited toward any charges if an applicant subsequently registers as a student.
Applicants with serious financial hardships may request that the application fee be waived by submitting a request in writing along with the application. All requests for waiver of the application fee must be accompanied by documentation to support the request. If the applicant is currently in college, a financial aid officer must provide a statement of financial need along with a copy of a current financial aid award letter. The law school application fee will automatically be waived for any applicant who has been approved for a fee waiver from LSAC
C. Law School Admission Test (LSAT)
All applicants are required to have taken the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) within the last five years (i.e., not before June 2008), and to have the scores reported to Temple Law School as part of an LSAC Credential Assembly Service (LSDAS) Law School Report (see Paragraph D below). Our registration code number is 2906. The last LSAT test date acceptable for fall 2013 admission is February 9, 2013.
D. Law School Credential Assembly Service (CAS)
All applicants must be registered with the Credential Assembly Service for the academic year during which application is made. It is the applicant's responsibility to have a transcript from each college or university attended sent directly to LSAC. Applicants who have not yet completed their undergraduate work are encouraged to send updated transcripts to LSAC upon completion of each semester/quarter so that the Admissions Committee has the most up-to-date academic record when reviewing an applicant's credentials.
The Credential Assembly Service will analyze and duplicate the transcript(s) and send an unofficial copy to the law school. All materials required by the Credential Assembly Service must be forwarded to the Credential Assembly Service on or before March 1, 2013, in order for applicants to be considered for the 2012 fall term. Since transcript analysis usually requires eight to ten weeks for processing, registration before January 15 is strongly recommended.
Detailed information on registering with the Credential Assembly Service and for the LSAT is available on the LSAC website, www.LSAC.org. You can also find detailed information about all of LSAC's programs and services by visiting their website.
E. Graduate Transcripts
All applicants must provide transcripts from each graduate or professional school attended. Official transcripts of all graduate and professional school courses can be sent either to the Credential Assembly Service or directly to the Temple University Beasley School of Law Office of Admissions.
F. Letters of Recommendation/Evaluations
The Admissions Committee suggests that a maximum of three letters of recommendation or Evaluations be submitted. Letters or Evaluations should come from professors or employers directly acquainted with the applicant's academic or professional capabilities. Letters of recommendation should be sent directly from the recommender to the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC) for distribution with your law school reports to all law schools that you are applying to. To use this service, follow the directions for submitting letters outlined on the LSAC website. Alternately, letters can be sent directly to the Office of Admissions at Temple Law School. Do not have the same recommender send the same letter to both LSAC and Temple. We will receive copies of all letters of recommendation that are sent to LSAC. Letters sent directly to LSAC for distribution must be accompanied by a LSAC Letter of Recommendation Form which can be found on the LSAC website. Letters sent directly to Temple should be accompanied by a waiver form. These forms should be completed by the applicant and provided to the author of each letter of recommendation.
The "Buckley Amendment" to the General Education Provisions Act gives students who register at Temple University School of Law the right to inspect and review the letter(s) of recommendation contained in their law school records, unless that right is waived and the applicant consents to the letter(s) remaining a confidential communication between the law school and the writer. Applicants may waive the right of access provided by that legislation, but are not required to waive the right as a condition for admission to the law school. If a letter of recommendation is received by the law school unaccompanied by a waiver form executed by the applicant and the author of the letter, the letter will be treated as a confidential communication between the writer and the law school.
G. Interviews
Due to the large number of applications received each year, we regret that is not possible to make interviews an integral part of the admission process. Candidates are encouraged to bring particular matters to the attention of the Admissions Committee by supplementing applications with written statements. The Admissions Committee reserves the right to ask that a candidate be interviewed.
H. Personal Statement
All applicants must submit a personal statement with the application form. This is your opportunity to present yourself, your background, your experiences, and your ideas to the Admissions Committee. You may want to write about your intellectual interests, your career goals, your achievements, your family background, or your involvement in your community.
It is up to you to decide what you want to write about and how you want to express your thoughts. Keep in mind that the readers of your personal statement will be trying to get a sense of you as a person and as a prospective Temple Law School student. We encourage you to be as candid and thoughtful as possible.
I. Deadlines and Processing
Admissions decisions are made from December until June. Whenever possible, files are reviewed as they are completed. An applicant for the entering class cannot be considered until we have received a completed application and a current Credential Assembly Report containing LSAT score(s) and college records. Guided by past experience, candidates whose files are complete (including law school reports) before January 15 may have a more favorable chance of admission, if they are competitive within the applicant pool. The admissions office usually begins notifying applicants of decisions in January. Most applicants can expect notification of a decision eight to ten weeks after their files are completed; however, requests for additional information and December, 2012 or February, 2013 LSAT scores may delay processing.
Applications received by the School of Law must be postmarked on or before March 1, 2013. Materials required by LSDAS must be forwarded to LSAC in Newtown, Pennsylvania on or before March 1, 2013.
Applicants will be notified via e-mail when the application and fee have been received and processed. This email will also provide log on information for the Admissions Office Online Status Check through which applicants can check which letters of recommendation have been received by the admissions office and check their application and decision status.
J. Notification of Acceptance and Deposits
An official admission decision is communicated only by letter duly signed by the assistant dean for admissions or the dean of Temple Law School. Admissions decisions are also posted online via the Online Status Check.
Please note that to reserve a place in the 2013 entering class, an accepted applicant must submit a non-refundable admission deposit of $150 by April 15, 2013 or within 10 days of acceptance, whichever is later. A second nonrefundable deposit of $250 is due by June 15, 2013 to reserve a place in the entering class. Both the first and second deposits are credited toward tuition.
K. Day/Evening Division Assignment
To the extent possible, assignment to a particular division is made according to each applicant's choice. If space is not available in one division, however, the Admissions Committee may, at its discretion, offer a place in the other division to candidates meeting the common admissions standards. Admission deposits may be tendered and will be received for the division to which the applicant is accepted, as specified in the letter of acceptance. Applicants must obtain written approval in order to matriculate in a division other than the one to which acceptance was granted.
2. Minimum Admission Criteria
All matriculants in the J.D. program must have earned a baccalaureate degree from an institution which is approved by one of the regional accrediting associations of the United States. Applicants with foreign degrees should refer to Section 8 below. Except upon a showing of extraordinary circumstances, admission will automatically be denied any candidate who presents undergraduate work with a cumulative grade point average (as calculated by LSDAS) of less than 2.35 on a 4.0 scale. Possession of minimum criteria, however, in no manner assures acceptance. Admission is on a competitive basis with identical requirements for both Day and Evening Divisions. The median grade point average and LSAT score for those enrolled in the 2012 entering class were 3.42 and 161, respectively. The middle fifty percent of those enrolled presented LSAT scores ranging from 158-163, and grade point averages ranging from 3.17-3.64.
A. Applicants With Criminal Convictions
It is imperative that section on character and fitness on the application be answered fully. Because of the high ethical standards to which lawyers are held, the failure to disclose any criminal conviction or pending criminal charge is often more significant, and can lead to more serious consequences, than the criminal conviction or charge itself.
It is extremely important that an applicant who has been convicted of any criminal offense, or against whom criminal charges are now pending, consult the state board of law examiners in every state in which the applicant expects to practice law. Some states have restrictions which prohibit the practice of law by persons who have been convicted of certain criminal offenses.
B. Applicants Who Have Previously Attended Law School
Any applicant who has previously attended any law school as a matriculated student must so indicate in the appropriate place on the application form. The applicant must give the name of the school(s) and date(s) of attendance and, on a separate sheet, explain the circumstances in detail. A letter verifying these circumstances must be sent directly to the admissions office from the dean or appropriate officer of the law school attended before the application can be reviewed.
Except upon a showing of extraordinary circumstances, admission will automatically be denied any candidate who has matriculated and taken examinations at a law school which is not a member of the American Association of Law Schools (AALS), or has matriculated at any law school and subsequently been dismissed, whether for academic or other reasons.
3. Admission Criteria & Sp.A.C.E.
Temple is committed to admitting the very best applicants from our pool of talented individuals. We are proud of our history and of our traditions. We believe in diversity, for it enriches our lives and our ability to succeed as legal professionals. We share a vision of the law as a service profession and a vision of life as made meaningful through service. We understand the aspirations of individuals to find a better way through law. We are dedicated to excellence. The admissions process at Temple reflects these values.
Temple's admission process is very selective. The faculty admissions committee takes seriously its responsibility to carefully and individually evaluate each application. Our admission process is designed to look at the whole person. The faculty selects applicants who have outstanding performance records and exceptional aptitudes for the study of law. In doing so, the faculty recognizes that these criteria are not always reflected by grade point averages and LSAT scores alone.
Consistent with the ideals of Russell Conwell, the founder of Temple University, Temple Law School takes seriously its mission of offering opportunities to students who might otherwise be foreclosed from pursuing a high quality legal education. The law school began as an evening program more than 100 years ago, providing students with jobs and families the chance to pursue a legal education. With the support of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Temple has been able to offer affordable tuition to Pennsylvania residents, making law school a more realistic opportunity for many students.
More than thirty years ago the faculty at Temple Law School established the Sp.A.C.E. program in order to give a contemporary voice to Temple's traditional mission. Sp.A.C.E. is a discretionary admissions process which avoids over-reliance on the LSAT or any other arbitrary and abstract measuring factor in the admissions process. At the discretion of the faculty admissions committee, any application may be considered under Sp.A.C.E.. The faculty has identified the following characteristics as priorities in determining whether or not a particular applicant should be admitted under this discretionary admissions process: applicants who have overcome serious long-standing economic deprivation, or who come from working class families historically foreclosed from higher education; applicants who come from racial or ethnic minority groups; applicants whose families are recent immigrants to the United States; applicants who have demonstrated exceptional leadership ability in college, community or career activities, or who have evidenced a commitment to service through Peace Corps, VISTA, military or other service work; applicants with academic honors, graduate or undergraduate degrees of unusual merit, or undergraduate grade point averages of 3.8 or higher and standardized test scores that do not reflect this academic strength; applicants who worked during college to finance their education or support their families;applicants who identify as gay, lesbian or transgendered; applicants with significant or unusual career achievement since graduation from college; applicants with serious physical disabilities; and applicants with other unique strengths and achievements.
If you feel one or more of these characteristics describe you or your background, we ask that you share with us in writing your unique personal history, highlighting for the committee your strengths and achievement. This information will assist the faculty admissions committee in fairly evaluating your candidacy. Information about your personal background and achievement can be included in your personal statement, or if you prefer, in an additional Sp.A.C.E. statement.
If you are admitted to Temple Law School, you will know that you were chosen because your skills, abilities, achievements, and potential are the credentials that earned you this opportunity.
4. Directions for Completing the Application
(1) You must answer all required questions and include a personal statement. Resumes, while encouraged, are not to be used in lieu of answering the questions on the application form itself. Statements may be used, however, to expand or explain in greater detail the answers submitted on the application form.
(2) Notify the admissions office immediately in writing if you change your address or phone number or e-mail address. E-mail is used to notify applicants of missing information or requests for additional information.
(3) Enclose the application fee or request for fee waiver (with documentation). Be sure to sign your check or money order and do not send cash.
(4) If you apply electronically you may either use an electronic signature or print out, sign and forward the certification letter to the Law School Admissions Office. If you are completing a paper application please be sure to sign the application form Applications which are unsigned will not be processed.
(5) Because admission decisions are made on a rolling basis, you should apply early. It usually takes at least eight to ten weeks from the date a file is completed until a final decision is received.
5. Reapplication
All admission procedures and deadlines for reapplicants are identical to those for new applicants. Please note that reapplicants are required to submit a new application form, application fee, and a new personal statement and must have a current registration with the Credential Assembly Service. Admissions files are held for three years so if you applied within the last three years the Admissions Committee will also have access to your previous application. However, you are encouraged to submit an updated personal statement and letters of recommendation.
6. Transfer Application
Temple Law School accepts into the J.D. program a very limited number of transfer students from law schools which are ABA approved and are members of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS). The criteria and conditions of such acceptance are rigorous. To be considered, the transfer applicant must be in the top quintile(20%) of her class. Acceptance also depends on the availability of seats. Only first-year course work (a maximum of 30 credits) is accepted for purposes of granting advanced standing to transfer applicants.
The deadline for submitting a transfer application is June 1 of the calendar year in which study is to commence. No transfer decisions are made until after the receipt of a transcript reflecting completion of the applicant's entire first year of law school and class rank or quintile. Accordingly, transfer decisions can rarely be made before August.
The following documents must be submitted by each applicant for admission as a transfer student: (1) the completed application form; (2) a check or money order in the amount of $60 made payable to Temple University (the application fee is nonrefundable and cannot be credited toward any charges if an applicant is accepted as a transfer student); (3) a letter from the dean of the law school(s) attended, certifying that the student has completed the first year, is in good standing, and is eligible to continue and stating the student's class rank or quintile; and (4) an official transcript from each law school attended which covers the entire period of attendance at law school.
Applicants must also submit a Credential Assembly Report containing their LSAT scores. This report can be obtained by registering with the Credential Assembly Service or by requesting a certified copy from the law school in which the student is enrolled. If the student applied to Temple Law School within the last three years, the admissions office may already have a copy on file.
7. Applicants Seeking Visiting Status
Visiting (non-matriculating) students at Temple receive their J.D. degree from the school in which they are currently enrolled. Students may apply for admission as visiting students for their FINAL year of course work only (a maximum of 30 credits) and must enter during the fall term. Applicants who wish to apply for the status of a visiting student must follow the procedures outlined in Section 6 relating to transfer applicants. Because visiting students receive their degrees from the schools in which they are currently enrolled, such applicants must also furnish a letter from the dean of their law school indicating that the law school will unconditionally accept all course work successfully completed at Temple University Beasley School of Law for the purpose of completing the J.D. degree from the law school at which the student is registered. All applicants for nonmatriculating status must demonstrate the ability to complete successfully the academic requirements of Temple Law School.
8. Applicants With Foreign Degrees
If an applicant presents a degree from an institution situated outside the United States (other than a Canadian affiliate), the academic work required by the awarding institution must be the equivalent of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution situated within the United Sstates
Law School Admission Test (LSAT) scores are required of all applicants with foreign degrees. In cases where English is not the first or primary language, applicants are also required to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).
Temple Law School requires that your foreign transcripts be submitted through the LSAC Credential Assembly Service. If you completed any postsecondary work outside the U.S. (including territories) or Canada, you must use this service for an evaluation of your foreign transcripts. The one exception to this requirement is if you completed the foreign work through a study abroad, consortium, or exchange program sponsored by a U.S. or Canadian institution, and the work is clearly indicated as such on the home campus transcript. This service is included in the Crential Assembly Service registration fee. A Foreign Credential Evaluation will be completed by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO), which will be incorportated into your CAS report. If we determine that you need to submit a TOEFL score, you must contact Educational Testing Service (ETS) and request that your TOEFL score be sent to LSAC. LSAC's TOEFL code for the Credential Assembly Service is 0058. Your score will be included in the Foreign Credential Evaluation document that will be included in your law school report.
To use this service, log in to your LSAC online account and follow the instructions for registering for the service. Be sure to print out a Transcript Request Form for each institution and promptly send it to them. More time is sually required to receive foreign transcripts.
Questions about the Credential Assembly Service can be directed to LSAC at 215-968-1001, or LSACINFO@LSAC.org.
9. Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO)
Temple Law School is a supporting member of CLEO and encourages applications from persons who have applied or been selected as CLEO Fellows. Such applicants should indicate this information on their applications. In the case of some CLEO fellows, a decision may be reserved pending successful completion of the CLEO Institute, but successful completion of the Institute in no way assures acceptance by the law school. CLEO fellows who anticipate needing financial aid must comply with the law school's financial aid filing requirements. Further information on CLEO may be found on their website, www.cleoscholars.com.
10. Students with Disabilities
Temple University School of Law is in compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act and is committed to insuring equal educational opportunities for students with special needs. If you have a disability which may require some accommodation for your successful matriculation at Temple, please contact the University Office of Disability Resources and Services at (215) 204-1280, and the Law School's Office of Student Affairs at (215) 204-8574, as early as possible after you have been notified of your acceptance to the law school.
11. Bar Examinations
Admission to the bar is regulated by individual states. Each state sets its own requirements for character, fitness and other qualifications for admission to the bar. Students who wish to be admitted to the bar in a particular state should contact the state bar to investigate the requirements for admission well in advance to ensure that they meet the requirements.
While Temple Law School graduates prepare for and take state bar examinations across the country, a majority take the Pennsylvania bar. The Pennsylvania Bar Examination pass rate varies from year to year. For the past three years, Temple Law School graduates taking the bar exam for the first time passed at the following rates: July 2009: 96%, July 2010: 92.3%, July 2011: 91.74%.