The personal statement is your opportunity to introduce yourself beyond your application materials. Tell us about the experiences, values, perspectives, and goals that have shaped who you are and what has inspired your interest in legal education. We also encourage you to share how you will contribute to the Wayne Law community and what you hope to gain from your legal education. What would you like us to know about you?

Your personal statement should not exceed three pages.

If you choose, you may also submit an optional second statement, responding to one of the following prompts. It should be no longer than two pages. State the prompt you are responding to at the top of your document.

1. Describe a quality or skill that you have and are proud of. If you think it will help you in your legal career, tell us how.

2. Would your friends and acquaintances describe you differently from the way you would describe yourself?

3. How has the world you came from positively shaped who you are today?

4, Will you bring to this law school ideas, perspectives, or experiences that you expect are different from those shared by most law students? What are they?

5. Describe a challenge, failure, or setback you have faced. It might relate to your life as a whole (for example, a health condition, financial challenges, or difficult family circumstances), or it might relate to a specific hurdle you faced in your education or at the workplace. How did you confront it? What, if anything, might you have done differently?

If there’s anything in your application that you think we might have questions about, such as gaps in employment, low standardized-test scores. or poor grades in a particular semester, you can address that in an addendum. You may attach multiple addenda.

Please attach a resume detailing your educational and professional background.

1. In addition to a bar examination, there are character, fitness and other qualifications for admission to the bar in every US 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. Because of the high ethical standards to which lawyers are held, the failure to disclose an act or event such as the ones described below is often more significant, and leads to more serious consequences, than the act or event itself. Failure to provide truthful answers, or failure to inform the Office of Admissions of any changes to your answers, may result in revocation of admission or disciplinary action by the Law School, or denial of permission to practice law by the state in which you seek admission to the bar. We strongly urge, if you are unsure as to whether to make a disclosure, that you err on the side of disclosure. Please note also that it is your responsibility to update your application by notifying the Wayne Law Admissions Office if any criminal charges are filed or expected to be filed between the date you submit this application and the date you enroll at Wayne Law.

Please initial here to indicate that you have read this paragraph.

2. Have you ever been subject to disciplinary action (for scholastic or other reasons) and/or are there any disciplinary charges currently pending or expected to be brought against you in any of the colleges, universities, graduate or professional schools you have attended? This includes being dropped, suspended, warned, placed on academic or disciplinary probation, disciplined, expelled or requested or advised to resign from any post-secondary school, college, university, professional school, or law school.

Note: If your answer is yes, you must electronically attach a statement marked "Character and Fitness 1" with a full explanation of the reasons for, and circumstances surrounding, the disciplinary action(s) or any pending action, including relevant dates.

3. Have you ever been charged with, arrested for, convicted of, pled guilty or nolo contendere for a violation of any law and/or are there any charges pending or expected to be brought against you? (For purposes of this question, a conviction includes a verdict or finding of guilt, regardless of whether sentence is imposed by the court.) You should also disclose offenses that resulted in purged, sealed, obliterated, dismissed, or destroyed records, regardless of whether you have been told that you need not disclose any such event. These will also be requested by state bar authorities in many states. If you are not sure about the nature or the ultimate disposition of a particular charge, you are advised to make full disclosure, as a subsequent finding that you failed to disclose relevant information could have disqualifying consequences.

Note: If your answer is yes, you must electronically attach a statement marked "Character and Fitness 2" with a full explanation of the reasons for, and circumstances surrounding, your arrest or conviction or any pending charges, including dates.

1. What is the highest level of education you have completed?

2. Have you ever participated in a conditional law school admissions program, summer qualifier program, or CLEO program?

If you answered "yes" to the Other Program question "Have you ever participated in a conditional law school admissions program, summer qualifier program, or CLEO program?" please attach an explanation.

Wayne State University Law School 471 West Palmer Avenue Detroit, MI 48202 (313) 577-3937 lawinquire@wayne.edu

THERE IS NO APPLICATION FEE TO WAYNE LAW

Application for Admission to the Juris Doctor Program We accept applications for admission starting September 1, 2026. The application deadline is August 1, 2027. For priority scholarship consideration, we encourage you to apply before March 15th, 2027. If you apply after March 15th, we cannot guarantee the availability of scholarship funds, and the criteria for scholarships may change.

We require a personal statement, written by you in your own words, and you may submit other statements as detailed below. We require at least two letters of recommendation. If you are currently completing your undergraduate degree, or you graduated from your undergraduate institution in 2024 or later, one of your letters must be an academic letter of recommendation from a professor who taught at least one of your classes. Letters from relatives or family friends are not acceptable. Finally, you must submit a résumé detailing your educational and professional background. If you have questions or concerns about these requirements, please contact the admissions office.

A complete application must also include the LSAC Credential Assembly Service (JD-CAS) report.

Your essay submissions should be double-spaced in 12 point font. They must incorporate your own ideas in your own words. Do not use ChatGPT or similar tools as part of your drafting process.