Early Decision application deadlines vary greatly from school to school, and some schools don’t even have an Early Decision program at all. To help you keep track of everything, we’ve organized the Early Decision candidacy submission deadlines for all top 50 law schools (per U.S. News Rankings) in a chart below. A few notes to consider while looking over the info.
- This is the most recent publicly-released information from each of these schools for the ’20-’21 admissions cycle. We will continue to update this chart as new dates for the ’21-’22 cycle are announced.
- There are usually separate deadlines for Early Decision scholarship programs, so make sure to research each individual school if you plan to apply for scholarship consideration.
- When offered an Early Decision acceptance from the following schools, almost all of them have a “binding” requirement. This means that you must sign on the dotted line that you will be attending that school and withdraw any applications to other schools. If a school has a “non-binding” Early Decision acceptance program, where you can continue to apply to and wait to hear back from other schools, we have noted it below.
Early Decision Deadlines
| Law School Rank | School | Early Decision Application Submission Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yale University | None |
| 2 | Stanford University | None |
| 3 | Harvard University | None |
| 4 | Columbia University | November 15th |
| 4 | University Of Chicago | December 1st |
| 6 | New York University | November 15th |
| 7 | University Of Pennsylvania | Round 1 - November 15th. Round 2 - January 7th |
| 8 | University Of Virginia | March 3rd |
| 9 | Northwestern University | November 16th |
| 9 | University Of California - Berkeley | November 15th |
| 9 | University Of Michigan | November 15th |
| 12 | Duke University | Round 1 - November 6th. Round 2 - January 8th |
| 13 | Cornell University | Round 1 - November 1st. Round 2 - January 8th |
| 14 | Georgetown University | None |
| 15 | University Of California - Los Angeles | November 16th |
| 16 | University Of Texas - Austin | November 1st |
| 17 | Washington University In St. Louis | None |
| 18 | University Of Southern California | November 22nd |
| 18 | Vanderbilt University | November 1st |
| 20 | Boston University | January 8th |
| 21 | University Of Minnesota | Round 1 - November 15th. Round 2 - December 31st |
| 22 | University Of Notre Dame | Round 1 - November 15th. Round 2 - February 15th |
| 23 | George Washington University | February 1st |
| 24 | Arizona State University | None |
| 24 | Emory University | March 1st |
| 24 | University Of Florida | March 15th |
| 27 | Fordham University | October 15th (non-binding) |
| 27 | University Of California - Irvine | November 15th |
| 27 | University Of Iowa | None |
| 27 | University Of North Carolina - Chapel Hill | None |
| 31 | Boston College | None |
| 31 | University Of Alabama | None |
| 31 | University Of Georgia | December 1st |
| 31 | University Of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign | None |
| 31 | Washington And Lee University | December 1st |
| 31 | William & Mary | None |
| 37 | Brigham Young University | None |
| 38 | Indiana University | October 15th |
| 38 | Ohio State University | November 20th |
| 38 | University Of California - Davis | November 1st |
| 38 | University Of Wisconsin - Madison | November 24th |
| 42 | George Mason University | January 15th |
| 42 | University Of Washington | November 15th |
| 42 | Wake Forest University | November 1st |
| 45 | University Of Utah | October 20th |
| 46 | University Of Colorado - Boulder | None |
| 47 | Pepperdine University | None |
| 47 | University Of Arizona | None |
| 47 | University Of Maryland | December 1st |
| 50 | Baylor University | November 13th (non-binding) |
| 50 | Florida State University | December 15th |
| 50 | University Of Connecticut | None |
Additional Resources
Looking for more resources on Law School Admissions? Here are some helpful links to guide your application process.
- Secrets of the Law School Admissions Process Webinar with Dave Killoran
- Want to attend a live webinar? Check out our list of upcoming public webinars. We host on topics ranging from all things LSAT to Law School Admissions.
- ICYMI, we have a series on Writing Your Personal Statement. Subscribe to the blog for updates!
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