Every applicant must submit a Statement of Purpose responding to the following prompt:

What motivates you to pursue law? How does attending law school align with your ambitions, goals, and vision for your future?

The Statement of Purpose must be one to two pages in length, using double-spacing, one-inch margins, and a font size that is comfortable to read (no smaller than 11 point). Please place (a) the title “Statement of Purpose” in the document header, left-aligned, and (b) your full name in the document header, right-aligned.

Every applicant must submit a Statement of Perspective, responding to the following prompt:

The Admissions Committee makes every effort to understand who you are as an individual and potential Harvard Law School student and graduate. Please share how your experiences, background, and/or interests have shaped you and will shape your engagement in the HLS community and the legal profession.

The Statement of Perspective must be one to two pages in length, using double-spacing, one-inch margins, and a font size that is comfortable to read (no smaller than 11 point). Please place (a) the title “Statement of Perspective” in the document header, left-aligned, and (b) your full name in the document header, right-aligned.

This section is optional.

We encourage you to provide any relevant information that may be helpful to us in making an informed decision on your candidacy. If you need additional space beyond the application questions and required materials, you may attach a brief addendum below.

We require a resume as part of the application. Please limit your resume to one or two pages in length.

The following links are to sample resumes. You do not have to follow the formatting used in these resumes, but all three are examples of well-organized, easy-to-read drafts.

• Sample 1
• Sample 2
• Sample 3

Application Toolkit: Resume

PLEASE ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS.

If you answer “yes” to any of the questions below, you must provide details in the space provided.

If you are a reapplicant, please note that responses to Character and Fitness questions from your previous application(s) to Harvard Law School may be reviewed before a final decision is reached on your candidacy.

1. At any educational institution, have you ever been found responsible for behavioral misconduct that resulted in anything more than a verbal reprimand or are any such charges pending?

2. At any educational institution, have you ever been found responsible for academic misconduct or are any such charges pending?

3. In a professional setting, have you been subject to disciplinary sanctions, or are any charges pending?

4. Have you ever been convicted of, or pled guilty or no contest to, any felony or misdemeanor, other than:

• an arrest or other detention that did not result in a conviction, or in which a conviction was vacated;
• a first conviction for any of the following misdemeanors: drunkenness, simple assault, speeding, minor traffic violations, affray or disturbance of the peace; or
• any misdemeanor conviction that occurred more than five years before your application for admission, unless you were also sentenced to imprisonment, or were convicted of any additional offense within the five year period.

Note that you are not required to answer “yes” to this question, or provide an explanation, if the criminal adjudication or conviction has been expunged, sealed, annulled, pardoned, destroyed, erased, impounded, or otherwise ordered by a court to be kept confidential.

5. Are you currently deferring enrollment at a law school that requires a commitment not to apply elsewhere?

6. Have you ever attended a law school?

7. If you answered yes to any of the above questions, please explain here. (maximum characters 500)

Two letters of recommendation are required, but you may submit up to three. We strongly recommend that at least one letter of recommendation come from an academic source. Letters of recommendation must be submitted through the LSAC Letter of Recommendation Service.

Our experience is that two thoughtfully selected recommenders are likely to be more effective than several chosen less carefully. We strongly recommend that at least one letter come from a professor, advisor, or other educational contact who can address your academic and scholarly abilities. However, applicants who have been out of school for several years and struggle to find an academic recommender may submit letters from employers or others who have worked closely with them.

Your application will be treated as complete with two letters of recommendation.

Harvard Law School Juris Doctor (J.D.) Program

We are pleased that you have chosen to apply for admission to Harvard Law School (HLS). We encourage you to explore our website to learn more about our school and the J.D. program.

This application is only for students who meet the eligibility criteria below. If you are a Junior Deferral Program or Transfer applicant, please do not use this application. Ineligible candidates who submit an application will not be considered for admission and will not receive an application fee refund.

J.D. Eligibility Requirements

• All applicants must hold or expect to hold a bachelor's degree by August of the year for which they apply to enter (except in cases where all requirements are met prior to September and degree conferral occurs after September).
• Applicants may apply for admission to Harvard Law School through the regular J.D. application no more than three times. Applications submitted via the Junior Deferral Program and the Transfer pathways do not count towards this cap.

Submitting Your Application

The J.D. Application opens on September 15, 2026 at 12:00 a.m. ET and closes on February 15, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. ET. We encourage the submission of your application in advance of this deadline to ensure its timely review.

Applications must be completed and submitted through the LSAC website. You will receive an email confirmation with your status checker credentials when we receive your application from LSAC. Once the required materials have been successfully processed, you will receive a subsequent email notification that your application is complete and ready for review.

You will be able to submit updates through LSAC and your status checker while your application is under consideration. Note that we will not replace materials you have already submitted and cannot hold the review of your file for an upcoming standardized test score or other additional material. We do not accept any hard copy materials.

Admissions Decisions

During the application review process, we will select a number of applicants to interview for admission. If you are selected to interview, you will be notified via email. These interviews are by invitation only and are conducted throughout the admissions cycle, starting in November.

We will begin releasing admissions decisions in January. We aim to notify all applicants of their admission decisions by early April. For more information on this year's cycle timeline, please visit our website.

Decisions will be communicated via the status checker. We will not release any information on an application to anyone other than the applicant. We are obligated to protect confidentiality and privacy; these policies help to serve that purpose.

All decisions are final. We do not have a reconsideration process and will not reconsider or review any released decisions.

Application Components

Please review the instructions for the application components carefully before completing your application. You may also refer to the resources available on our Application Toolkit.

1. Application Form

We ask all applicants to complete the application questions fully. Required fields will be marked accordingly.

2. Application Fee or Fee Waiver

The application fee is $90 (non-refundable). You may pay the fee by credit or debit card when you submit your application.

If payment of the application fee would pose a financial hardship, we recommend applying for the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) Fee Waiver Program. HLS will waive your application fee if you are the recipient of an LSAC fee waiver. If you are not able to obtain a fee waiver from LSAC, you may request a need-based fee waiver directly from HLS by completing the HLS Fee Waiver Request Form. The HLS Fee Waiver Request Form will close on February 10, 2026. We cannot accommodate any fee waiver requests made after this date.

3. Standardized Test Score

All applicants to the J.D. program must take the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) or the Graduate Record Examinations General Test (GRE). Applicants must take either the LSAT or GRE by February 1 to ensure that scores are available by the application deadline (February 15).

LSAC will report all LSAT scores from the past five years. We will not consider a GRE score in the evaluation of your application if you have a valid LSAT score on file.

If you will not have a valid LSAT score on file this cycle and elect to apply with the GRE instead, you must report all valid test scores from the previous five-year period. To report GRE General Test scores to HLS, you should log into your ETS account and select Harvard Law School as a recipient of results using the school code 2135.

4. Transcripts

Applicants must have all undergraduate and graduate transcripts sent to LSAC after registering for LSAC's Credential Assembly Service (CAS). If you completed any postsecondary coursework outside the U.S. (including its territories) or Canada, you must use this service for the 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. If this is the case, please be certain that your home transcript lists the course title, credit level, and grade awarded. Visit the LSAC website for more information on requesting transcripts.

5. Letters of Recommendation

Letters of recommendation must be submitted through the LSAC Letter of Recommendation Service. Two letters of recommendation are required. You may submit up to three. We strongly recommend that at least one letter of recommendation come from an academic source.

6. Resume

We require a resume as part of the application. Please limit your resume to one or two pages. Please visit the HLS J.D. Admissions website for samples.

7. Written Statements

Every applicant must submit both a Statement of Purpose and a Statement of Perspective, responding to the prompts below. Each Statement must be one to two pages in length, using double-spacing, one-inch margins, and a font size that is comfortable to read (no smaller than 11 point). We expect every applicant to use at least one full page for each Statement. Please place (a) the name of your Written Statement (i.e., either Statement of Perspective or Statement of Purpose) in the document header, left-aligned, and (b) your full name in the document header, right-aligned.

Statement of Purpose: What motivates you to pursue law? How does attending law school align with your ambitions, goals, and vision for your future?

Statement of Perspective: The Admissions Committee makes every effort to understand who you are as an individual and potential Harvard Law School student and graduate. Please share how your experiences, background, and/or interests have shaped you and will shape your engagement in the HLS community and the legal profession.

8. Additional Information

We encourage you to provide any relevant information that may be helpful to us in making an informed decision on your candidacy. If you need additional space beyond the application questions and required materials, you may include a brief addendum.

9. College Certification Form

While not required as part of the application process, College Certification forms will be required from admitted students prior to matriculation and may, in some cases, be required prior to admission. The College Certification form will be completed by an official from your school to confirm your degree as well as to confirm the responses you provided on your application to your character and fitness questions.

Important Notices

Application Materials

Please be aware that your application materials become part of your official student record. For admitted and matriculating students, HLS J.D. Admissions may share information contained in your admission materials with other offices at the University.

Notice of Nondiscrimination

Harvard Law School does not discriminate against any person on the basis of age, race, color, national origin, sex (including gender identity and gender expression, as well as pregnancy), genetic information, ancestry, religion, caste, creed, veteran status, disability, military service, sexual orientation or political beliefs in admission to, access to, treatment in, or employment in its programs and activities.

Please refer to Harvard Law School's Non-Discrimination and Anti-Bullying Policies for more information.

Inquiries regarding the application of the Law School's nondiscrimination policy may be referred to:

• Kristi Jobson (J.D. Admissions) Assistant Dean for Admissions and Chief Admissions Officer: (617) 495-3179
• Sasha Tulgan (Office of Equal Opportunity) Assistant Dean for Equal Opportunity: (617) 496-0921

Inquiries concerning the application of nondiscrimination policies regarding race, color, national origin, age, sex, or disability may also be referred to the Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20202, (800) 421-3481, or OCR@ed.gov.

Qualifications for Admission to the Bar

In addition to a bar examination, there are character, fitness, and other qualifications for admission to the bar in every U.S. jurisdiction. Applicants are encouraged to determine the requirements for any jurisdiction in which they intend to seek admission by contacting the jurisdiction. Addresses for all relevant agencies are available through the National Conference of Bar Examiners.

Annual Security and Fire Safety Report Availability

The University is required by federal law (The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, 20 U.S.C. 1092(f), known as the Clery Act) to publish an Annual Security Report and an Annual Fire Safety Report.

The Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) publishes the Annual Security Report, which includes information about the HUPD, how to report a crime, HUPD?s crime prevention programs, substance abuse, sensitive crimes, emergency notifications, and other important information about security and HUPD services on campus. It also contains three years of statistics on reported campus or campus-related crimes. A hard copy may be obtained by contacting the Harvard University Police Department at 1033 Massachusetts Avenue, 6th floor, Cambridge, MA 02138, (617) 495-9225.

The Harvard University Environmental Health and Safety Department publishes the Annual Fire Safety Report, which includes fire safety polices, evacuation procedures, and fire statistics. A hard copy of the Annual Fire Safety Report may be obtained by contacting the Environmental Health and Safety Department at 46 Blackstone Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, (617) 496-7168.

The Annual Security Report is available at www.hupd.harvard.edu/annual-security-report.

The Annual Fire Safety Report is available at www.ehs.harvard.edu/programs/higher-education-opportunity-act-heoa.