J.D. Admissions
STARTING THE NEXT CHAPTER.
If you are in pursuit of a superior legal education within a vibrant, cooperative environment that upholds excellence, service, and individuality, we wholeheartedly invite you to consider applying to the Nashville School of Law. Our Admissions Committee actively seeks out aspiring law students who have demonstrated outstanding academic prowess, as evidenced by various factors such as LSAT scores, undergraduate GPA, overcoming economic or other adversities, graduate studies, and involvement in extracurricular activities. Moreover, we place a significant emphasis on fostering diversity within our student body, valuing diverse backgrounds, interests, and skills as integral components of our admission process.
Admissions Process
LSAT Test
Applicants must register with the Credential Assembly Service (CAS) and register to take the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT). Applicants may register for both at LSAC.org. The LSAC code for NSL is 1974.
Letters of Recommendation
Applicants must submit three letters of recommendation. At least one must be from someone in the legal field.
Personal Statement
Applicants should include a personal statement describing the applicant’s extracurricular activities during his/her undergraduate college career, as well as any business/career accomplishments.
1. Register with the LSAC Credential Assembly Service (CAS)
All applicants must register with the Law School Admission Council’s (LSAC) Credential Assembly Service (CAS). After you register with the CAS, you will need to process all of the information listed below through the CAS by the application deadline:
- Copies of all undergraduate, graduate, and law/professional school transcripts
- LSAT scores and writing sample copies
- Copies of letters of recommendation if processed by LSAC
Once you have entered all the required information in the CAS, you may then send your application to Nashville School of Law either electronically or by mail. When we receive your application, the CAS will provide a report for us about you containing information that is important in our admissions process.
For the purpose of registering with LSAC, the school code of Nashville School of Law is 1974.
For more information about the CAS, visit the Law School Admission Council’s website.
2. Take the Law School Admission Test (LSAT)
All applicants for admission are required to take the Law School Admission Test (LSAT). Test scores earned within the last five years will be accepted for admission purposes. If the LSAT is taken more than once, the highest score earned will be used.
Additional information can be obtained by contacting the Law School Admission Council at www.LSAC.org.
3. Submit Your Transcripts
After you have registered for the CAS, you must have a separate transcript sent to LSAC for each undergraduate or graduate institution you have attended. The transcripts you should send include:
- Undergraduate and graduate schools from which you received a degree
- Undergraduate and graduate schools which you attended but did not receive a degree
- Law/medical/professional schools from which you received a degree
- Law/medical/professional schools which you attended but did not receive a degree
The transcripts must be sent directly from the attended institutions. Transcripts issued to you or sent by you will be returned unprocessed. Most schools charge a fee for forwarding transcripts. The LSAC generally requires two (2) weeks to process transcripts from the time they are received.
Prospective students who have not completed their undergraduate education before being accepted to law school are responsible for requesting their undergraduate institution to send an official transcript to Nashville School of Law reflecting that their baccalaureate degree was conferred. These prospective students will not be permitted to register until their final transcript has been received.
Transcripts should be mailed to:
Law School Admission Council
662 Penn Street
Box 2000-M
Newtown, Pennsylvania 18940-0993
You may download the transcript request form from the LSAC website.
4. Submit a Completed Application
The application for Fall 2024 admission can be found here. You may start the online application process as early as September 2023.
5. Letters of Recommendation
Applicants must submit at least three letters of recommendation. One of these letters must be from a person who is licensed to practice law in Tennessee. You may mail the letters of recommendation directly to the school or you may submit the letters through the CAS. If you decide to submit the letters of recommendation through the CAS, you can find instructions on how to upload them on the LSAC website (www.LSAC.org). The CAS will permit you to process only three (3) letters of recommendation.
Additional letters of recommendation must be sent directly to the school at
Admissions Committee
Nashville School of Law
4013 Armory Oaks Drive
Nashville, Tennessee 37204-4577
6. Personal Statement
Applicants must submit a personal statement as part of the application process. The personal statement provides prospective students an opportunity to share their perspective on a number of specified topics. Please refer to the personal statement question on the application for specific information regarding the personal statement requirement and the topics to be addressed.
7. Paying the Application Fee
The deadline for Fall 2024 admission is May 15, 2024 for regular decision and June 17, 2024, for late applications.
8. Paying the Application Fee
The fee for filing an application to Nashville School of Law is $50.00 for applications received on or before May 15, 2024. For applications received May 16 through June 17, the fee is $100.00. The application will not be deemed complete until this fee has been paid. Applicants have the following four options for paying this fee:
- Applicants who submit their application electronically to the school may pay the application fee by credit card by providing the appropriate information requested on the application form.
- Applicants who complete their application on the school’s website and then print and deliver a hard copy of the completed form to the school may include a check for the application fee with their application.
- Applicants who complete their application on the school’s website and then print and deliver a hard copy of the completed application to the school may include the appropriate credit card information on their completed form.
9. Foreign-Educated Applicants
International students and applicants with foreign degrees are required to submit the same application materials as any prospective student. However, foreign transcripts alone will no longer be accepted. Applicants who completed any post-secondary education (undergraduate, professional, or graduate) outside of the United States (including its territories) must submit a course-by-course evaluation from either the World Education Services (www.wes.org) or Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc. (www.ece.org).
Nashville School of Law does not offer an LL.M. program.
10. Transfer Students
Applicants who have attended other ABA-accredited law schools and who desire to transfer to Nashville School of Law are required to submit the same application materials as any prospective student. These applicants, if accepted, may submit a written request for credit for law school courses they have already completed. Their request must be supported by a certified copy of their transcripts sent directly to Nashville School of Law by the school or schools the applicant has attended. Transcripts issued to you or sent by you will be returned unprocessed. Most law schools charge a fee for forwarding transcripts.
No more than sixteen (16) credit hours will be approved. The number of transfer credits toward a Nashville School of Law degree will be determined by the Dean and the Registrar. Their decision will be based on an assessment of comparability to each course for which credit is sought with the course offered by Nashville School of Law. Credit will be given only for courses passed with a grade of C+ or above. The decision of the Dean and Registrar is final.
11. The Decision Making Process
Admission to Nashville School of Law is very competitive. In recent years, the number of qualified applicants for admission has far exceeded the number of seats available in each entering class. Applicants with the strongest records are given priority. Admission decisions are based on all the information revealed during a careful and thorough consideration of each applicant’s entire admissions file. Every file is carefully evaluated, and no applicant is granted or denied admission exclusively on the basis of an LSAT score or grade-point average. Every applicant’s file is individually assessed on the basis of both quantifiable and qualitative criteria. Applications for admission are examined with the goals of
- Assessing the overall competitive strength of the applicant’s record as compared with other applicants within that applicant’s pool and
- Achieving a class that, as a whole, will have depth in quality, diversity in background, a wide variety of experience, breadth of perspective, and substantial diversity of viewpoint.
These factors contribute positively to the creation of a stimulating educational environment at Nashville School of Law and are essential to attaining educational excellence.
12. Assessment Factors
The assessment factors that influence whether an applicant will be offered admission to Nashville School of Law include, but are not limited to, consideration of the applicant’s personal statement, essays, letters of recommendation, and the following inter-related areas:
- The applicant’s academic background, preparation, and likelihood of success.
- The likelihood of the applicant’s contribution to the educational environment at the school.
- The applicant’s motivation, effort, and desire.
- The potential of the applicant’s contributions to the legal profession.
13. Acceptance and Enrollment
The Committee will first confirm that each application is complete. If an application is not complete, the school will inform the applicant that his or her application is not complete and will provide the applicant a reasonable opportunity to complete his or her application.
Throughout the application period, the school will send notices of acceptance to applicants whose superior credentials clearly fall within the admissions criteria. Completed applications requiring further consideration or applications that are incomplete are placed on hold. In the late spring of 2024, the Admissions Committee will complete its admissions decisions and will notify the persons whose applications are pending either that their application has been accepted or that it has been denied.
Except in extraordinary circumstances, applications are accepted and admission granted for the upcoming academic year only. Applicants who have been accepted may request a one-year deferment by submitting a written statement to the Registrar, detailing the reasons for requesting a deferment. Deferments are approved on an individual basis.
Nashville School of Law expects students who receive notice that they have been accepted and that they will be admitted to the class beginning in August 2024 to provide prompt written confirmation of their intention to enroll. This confirmation must be received by the school by no later than July 1, 2024. The school will contact admitted students who have not confirmed their enrollment to confirm that they intend to register for the entering class.
14. Supplemental Materials
Applicants desiring to update or amend their application or supporting materials may do so at any time prior to receiving notice of the school’s decision regarding their application.
15. For Additional Information
Any questions concerning admissions or the status of an application should be directed to Chip Loser, Registrar, at 615.256.3684 or chip.loser@NSL.law.
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