Our application opens in mid-September. We encourage you to complete and submit your application as soon as possible.  Decisions are released on a rolling basis. 

An applicant may only submit one application per academic year (i.e., an applicant may not submit an application for both May/Summer and Fall terms).

Early Decision Deadline

• December 1

Priority Deadlines

• May/Summer term: March 15
• Fall term: April 1

Complete application instructions are below. 

Binding Early Decision Program 

This program is designed for applicants who have researched their law school choices and have carefully considered their financial options and have decided that the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (Cardozo Law) is their top choice law school. While admissions criteria are the same as our regular decision program, the Binding Early Decision Program allows applicants a means of expressing to the Admissions Committee their commitment to attend Cardozo Law if admitted. Early Decision applicants are given priority review and can apply for either the May/Summer entry or Fall-entry term.

Applicants who are admitted through the Binding Early Decision Program will be committing to attend Cardozo Law prior to learning if they have been awarded any financial aid.

Requirements

Deadline: December 1.*

1. Submit a completed JD application through the LSAC website, either for May/Summer entry or Fall-entry. Applicants who submit an LSAT score must take the exam no later than the November administration.
2. Indicate interest in the Binding Early Decision Program on the application, and
3. Submit the Binding Early Decision Program Agreement.
4. If admitted to the program, applicants are required to
   1. Commit to attend Cardozo Law and pay a non-refundable seat-deposit of $1,200 by December 27th.
   2. Withdraw all pending applications to other law schools within five business days, and not initiate applications to any other law schools during the current admissions cycle.

Cardozo Scholars Binding Early Decision Program

The Cardozo Scholars Binding Early Decision Program is a highly selective binding program designed for applicants with impressive achievements who have researched their law school choices and are certain that Cardozo Law is their top choice law school. The Admissions Committee will select up to five (5) Scholars each year, who will receive a full-tuition scholarship, guaranteed for three years.

Requirements

Deadline: December 1.*

1. Submit a completed JD application through the LSAC website, either for May-entry or Fall-entry. Applicants who submit an LSAT score must take the exam no later than the November administration.
2. Indicate interest in the Cardozo Scholars Binding Early Decision Program on the application, and
3. Submit the Cardozo Scholars Binding Early Decision Program Agreement.
4. If admitted to the program, applicants are required to
   1. Commit to attend Cardozo Law and pay a non-refundable seat-deposit of $750 by December 27th.
   2. Withdraw all pending applications to other law schools within five business days, and not initiate applications to any other law schools during the current admissions cycle.

*Applicants who apply for Early Decision but do not meet the Early Decision deadline will automatically have their applications considered for regular admission.

Please note that applicants can only apply to one of the above Early Decision programs per admissions cycle.

If you are seeking admission to the J.D. program in the Fall or May you must complete the following: 

Application

Applicants should submit their completed applications and all materials through the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) online application service. Through LSAC, you may complete and submit your application. We do not charge an application fee. 

We strongly encourage you to submit all materials electronically. Paper materials and updates will require additional processing by our staff and will delay the review of your application by our Committee. If a disability prevents you from completing the application electronically, please contact the Admissions Office at 212.790.0274 or lawinfo@yu.edu.   

Standardized Test Scores 

To satisfy the standardized test requirement, applicants may submit Law School Admission Test (LSAT) scores, Graduate Record Examination (GRE) results, JD-Next scores, or a combination of the three. All scores must be no more than five years old from the date of projected law school enrollment.  

Applicants must participate in the Credential Assembly Service (CAS) provided by the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) regardless of which standardized test is being taken. Through this service, Cardozo will automatically receive reportable LSAT scores and will consider those results in its review process. 

To register for and get information about the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), please contact: 

Law School Admission Council 
PO Box 2000 
Newtown, PA 18940 
Telephone: 215.968.1001 
Website: www.LSAC.org 

GRE results must be sent directly to our office. All scores from the past five years must be submitted. 

Please note: neither the GRE nor the JD-Next exam may be submitted in lieu of the LSAT if an applicant has taken or plans to take the LSAT.  

To submit your results, please log into your Educational Testing Service (ETS) account and arrange to have all scores received within the last five years sent to our office using the following school code: 2696. To register for and get information about the GRE, please contact: 

Educational Testing Service  
GRE-ETS 
P.O. Box 6000 
Princeton, NJ 08541-6000 USA 
Website: www.ets.org 

LSAC Credential Assembly Service (CAS) 

All applicants must register with the LSAC Credential Assembly Service at least eight weeks before the Cardozo Law application deadline. A transcript from each college or university attended should be sent directly to the Credential Assembly Service, not to Cardozo. The LSAC Credential Assembly Service will analyze and duplicate the transcript and send a copy along with the LSAT score to Cardozo. If admitted, applicants will be asked to submit directly to Cardozo an original copy of the final official transcript showing the receipt of a bachelor's degree. Credential Assembly Service registration forms may be obtained from the Law School Admission Council. 

Two Letters of Recommendation 

We require the submission of two letters of recommendation; at least one should be from a professor unless you have been out of school for more than two years. You must submit your letters through the LSAC Letter of Recommendation Service, included as part of your Credential Assembly Service registration. Your letters will be copied and sent to us with your Credential Assembly Service report. To use this service, follow the directions for submitting letters outlined on www.LSAC.org. 
 

Personal Statement 

A written statement of no more than two typed pages, double-spaced, is required. The statement should inform the Admissions Committee of any factors the applicant deems relevant to the admissions decision. 
 
 

Résumé  

We strongly encourage you to submit all materials electronically. Paper materials and updates will require additional processing by our staff and will delay the review of your application by our Committee. If a disability prevents you from completing the application electronically, please contact the Admissions Office at 212.790.0274 or lawinfo@yu.edu. 
 

Documents that you are unable to submit electronically should be sent to: 
 

Office of Admissions 
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law 
Yeshiva University 
55 Fifth Avenue 
Room 1168, 11th Floor 
New York, NY 10003-4391 
 

All application materials become the property of Cardozo Law and cannot be returned to the applicant. 

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. 

 

Applicants can monitor the status of their application electronically through the online status checker. 

 

In order to receive updates regarding your application status, it is important that you provide us with a valid e-mail address. The Admissions Office will notify you via e-mail when we have received your application and again when your application has been marked complete. We will also attempt to notify applicants of missing application materials; however, it is an applicant's responsibility to ensure that all application materials are received in a timely manner and prior to our application deadlines. 

 

If you wish to contact the Admissions Office regarding the status of your application, please e-mail lawinfo@yu.edu; we are unable to provide information regarding the status of applications and supporting materials by telephone. Please take note of the high volume of materials received from applicants and allow time for submitted materials to arrive and be processed by our staff. We will respond to all questions and requests as soon as possible, but please note that the volume of application materials and inquiries may prevent us from immediately confirming that a particular item has been received. 

 

The number of applicants to Cardozo prevents us from scheduling evaluative interviews. However, we welcome prospective students to visit Cardozo throughout the year, and you may meet with an admissions counselor during your visit. Please note that the conversation with an admissions counselor will be informational only. In certain circumstances, the Admissions Committee may invite a candidate for an interview, but applicants may not request to be interviewed by the Committee.

Applications are considered complete and submitted to the Admissions Committee for review only when all supporting documents, including letters of recommendation, are received. 

 

In recent years, Cardozo has received thousands of applications from an impressive pool of J.D. applicants. The Admissions Committee generally reviews applications in the order in which they become complete. However, decisions are not necessarily made in the order in which applications are forwarded for review. 

 

During the review process, the Committee not only evaluates the merits of each application individually, but also relative to all other applications in the pool. Some applications may receive a decision fairly quickly; in many cases, however, the Committee's comparative appraisal of a file is a lengthier process to allow the Committee to re-review an application and carefully assess a candidate's strength in comparison to the full applicant pool. 

 

As long as a candidate's file is completed in a timely manner, her/his/their application will be thoroughly reviewed and given full and complete consideration. Due to the careful assessment of each individual application, the Admissions Committee is unable to guarantee that a decision will be made on an application within a particular time frame. 

 

Applicants may be admitted to Cardozo, offered a place on our wait-list, or denied admission. All decisions, including offers of admission are sent via e-mail; therefore, it is critically important that you provide us with a valid e-mail address that you check regularly. 

Incoming 1Ls must submit no later than October 15th of the year of matriculation at Cardozo School of Law, official transcripts from all undergraduate institutions at which they matriculated for a degree. Students who fail to do so will be withdrawn from the Law School.  

We encourage and welcome prospective students to connect with Cardozo throughout the year. You can connect with us in-person and online. We offer in-person campus tours, an informational group session via Zoom led by current Cardozo students, and private online 1:1 meetings with an admissions counselor during our office hours.  
 

To schedule a visit, please call or e-mail us prior to your arrival at 212.790.0274 or lawinfo@yu.edu at least 24 hours prior to your arrival.