How to Apply
While admission to Cleveland-Marshall is competitive, it need not be intimidating. The admissions committee reviews all applications with care and sensitivity, taking into consideration academic performance, LSAT scores, work and life experience, and readiness for the rigors of legal education. At Cleveland-Marshall, we are committed to enrolling academically talented and diverse students. In doing so, we recognize and embrace that academic talent and diversity can be identified in many interesting and exciting ways.
Your undergraduate grades and LSAT results are the most significant factors in our admission decision; however, we are interested in the real people behind those factors and their potential contributions to Cleveland-Marshall and the legal community. Our admission policies advance the law school’s mission, “[t]o provide society with lawyers and other professionals thoroughly educated in the law and committed to their ethical responsibilities, and to develop a deeper understanding of the law and its effect on societal values, in order to help our communities, people, and systems of justice flourish.”
The College of Law promotes equal educational opportunity for persons of every race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, gender, age, handicap or disability, sexual orientation, and veteran status. Applicants whose academic performance or LSAT results have been affected by life circumstances or other adversities are encouraged to apply to Cleveland-Marshall’s Legal Careers Opportunity Program (LCOP).
Thank you for your interest in Cleveland-Marshall College of Law and for providing us the opportunity to work with and learn about you during the admissions process.
Now, let’s get started…
- You may apply online or via the Law School Admission Council at www.lsac.org. There is no application fee for applications submitted electronically. Please call the LSAC Help Desk at 215-968-1393 in the event you encounter any technical difficulties using the online application service.
- You may request a bulletin be mailed to you by clicking here or calling 216-687-2304, toll-free 866-687-2304 or emailing the Office of Admission at admissions@law.csuohio.edu
All applicants to Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, full-time and part-time, are required to complete the following:
- Successfully complete a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited college or university prior to the start of law school classes.
- Complete, sign (certify), and submit an application for admission. Electronic applications are considered certified once transmitted. Applications will be accepted from September 1 through May 1, each year.
- Provide a minimum of two letters of recommendation. Letters may be submitted through the Law School Data Assembly Service (LSDAS) or mailed directly to the Law School Admissions Office at the address below.
- Provide an original personal statement that is your own work and represents your best writing. The statement should be a minimum of two typed pages in length and identify, among other things, what influences in your life have lead you to seek admission to law school, and to Cleveland-Marshall College of Law specifically.
- Disclose and submit a statement of all relevant facts pertaining to any and all probations, suspensions, warnings, sanctions, and dismissals by any college or university for academic or non-academic reasons; criminal charges pending against you; convictions or granted deferred adjudications or diversions for any offense, felony or misdemeanor, including traffic offenses but excluding minor moving violations and parking tickets. Failure to provide truthful answers or failure to inform the Admissions Office of any changes to your answers may result in revocation of admission, disciplinary action and/or dismissal by the law school, and/or denial of permission to practice law by the state in which you seek admission.
- Take the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) no later than February of the year you intend to enroll in law school. When more than one score is reported, Cleveland-Marshall will consider the highest score.
- Register for the Law School Data Assembly Service (LSDAS). This service will be the clearinghouse for your LSAT score(s), academic transcripts, and letters of recommendation. Cleveland-Marshall College of Law will request your LSDAS report from the Law School Admission Council once your application is received.
Completed applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis beginning in late November.
New students will be admitted to begin their legal studies in the Fall semester only.