Office of Admissions, PO Box 1881, 1215 West Michigan Street
Milwaukee, WI 53201-1881
Phone: 414.288.6767; Fax: 414.288.0676
E-mail: law.admission@marquette.edu; Website: law.marquette.edu
For more than a century, Marquette University Law School has been committed to training men and women to serve the public interest by becoming highly skilled and ethical attorneys. Traditionally, the curriculum has emphasized the practical aspects of legal education. In recent years, that emphasis has expanded to include particular excellence in the areas of intellectual property, dispute resolution, sports law, labor and employment law, criminal law, family law, and litigation-related courses. The National Sports Law Institute, the premier sports law program in the United States, is a part of the Law School. Our nearly 7,000 alumni serve in a broad range of legal, public, and corporate positions throughout the US.
The Law School is located on the university campus—two blocks from the Milwaukee County Courthouse and a short walk from the federal courthouse and downtown Milwaukee. Marquette is the only law school in southeast Wisconsin. Marquette—a Catholic, Jesuit, and urban university—is the largest private university in the state. The Catholic and Jesuit nature of the school manifests itself in a specific concern for the well-being of each individual, whether he or she is a student, a legal client, or the victim of a crime. Persons of all religious and cultural backgrounds attend Marquette, serve on our faculty, and are valued in our community. The Law School is committed to academic freedom, the broadest possible scope of inquiry, and the examination of any subject.
Milwaukee is a lively city on Lake Michigan, 90 miles north of Chicago. Wisconsin's largest city, with a metropolitan-area population of about 1.5 million, Milwaukee retains the appeal of a small town. Clean and well run, it is known for its many cultural and entertainment festivals and the variety of its cuisine.
Within the Marquette Law School community, people know and care about one another. Our students come together from more than 200 different colleges and universities, and hail from 40 different states, as well as from a handful of foreign countries. Our faculty includes 40 full-time professors in addition to prominent practicing attorneys and judges who serve as adjunct professors.
Law students at Marquette represent a broad range of backgrounds, beliefs, and life experiences. Our minority enrollment is about 18 percent of the student body. We respect our different traditions and believe diversity enriches the legal education we offer.
In summer 2010, the Law School moved into an entirely new structure, Eckstein Hall. This state-of-the-art building—LEED certified and award winning—features the latest technology and houses a full-service café, a conference center, a fitness center, two courtrooms, underground parking, and more. The path-breaking four-level "library without borders" offers ample study and work space while meeting the goals for a law library in this era of digital legal research. More details regarding Eckstein Hall may be found on the Law School's website.
The Law School offers full-time and part-time programs leading to the JD degree. The Law School's curriculum is rooted in core courses that include consideration of the theoretical underpinnings of the law as well as the practical application of substantive legal concepts. The curriculum is national in focus and scope and emphasizes the skills and values necessary to be a competent and ethical lawyer as well as a contributing citizen and community leader. Our adjunct faculty includes many of the state's outstanding practitioners who supplement required and core courses by teaching a broad range of electives.
Students may earn a JD/MBA through the Law School and the College of Business Administration; of special note is the JD/MBA with a sports business concentration. Joint programs with the graduate school allow students to earn a JD/MA in international affairs, the history of philosophy, social and applied philosophy, or political science. In conjunction with the Medical College of Wisconsin, we offer the JD/MA in bioethics. Each joint-degree program requires meeting all requirements of both the Law School and the other degree-granting institution; typically, each program can be completed in four years. As an alternative to a joint degree, law students may take up to six hours of coursework in a related graduate program at Marquette, such as public policy, sociology, philosophy, or history.
The Law School's comprehensive trial practice courses provide an exceptional opportunity for students to develop trial skills. Distinctive clinics include the prosecutor and defender clinics, judicial internships, and numerous supervised field work opportunities.
Marquette Law School's sports law program provides a comprehensive offering of sports law courses and student internships with sports organizations, as well as opportunities for membership on the Marquette Sports Law Review and the sports law moot court team. Our broad, well-rounded curriculum is designed to provide students with both theoretical and practical education concerning legal regulation of the amateur and professional sports industries. Law students who fulfill certain requirements are eligible to earn a sports law certificate in addition to the JD. More information on the program and the certificate may be found at the Sports Law website.
In 2011, the Law School added two more certificate programs, in dispute resolution and litigation. Like the sports law certificate, these new certificate programs entail substantive curricular and experiential learning requirements. A student who fulfills these requirements is eligible to earn a certificate in addition to the JD. More information about these certificate programs may be found on the Law School's website.
The Law School's Restorative Justice Initiative (RJI) gives law students the opportunity to work with victims of crime, offenders, and community members toward repairing the harm that crime has caused. More information on the RJI may be found at law.marquette.edu/rji.
Evaluation of completed applications begins after October 1 and continues through the spring. Although the applicant's LSAT score and academic record are important considerations in the selection process, the Admissions Committee also considers qualitative factors, such as letters of recommendation, essays, work experience, extracurricular activities, and personal accomplishments and characteristics that contribute to the diversity of the school, the legal community, and the profession. Admitted applicants are required to submit nonrefundable tuition deposits in April and June. These deposits are applied to the student's fall semester tuition. Interviews are not part of the application process.
Although most students finance their educations through a combination of loan programs, all applicants offered admission each cycle are considered for merit scholarship awards as long as funds remain available. Additionally, the Law School has established a Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP) to help graduates in government service or public interest practice repay their educational loans. More information on LRAP may be found at go.mu.edu/HXO9gn.
Since 1933, graduates of the Law School who qualify have been admitted to the practice of law in Wisconsin without having to take the Wisconsin Bar Examination. Marquette graduates are entitled to sit for bar examinations in any US jurisdiction.
The Law School publishes the Marquette Law Review, the Marquette Sports Law Review, the Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review, and the Marquette Elder's Advisor (elder law journal); each journal is student-edited. Students may develop advocacy skills in moot court competitions. Marquette moot court teams have won regional titles and championships in national competitions. Nearly 50 student organizations are active at the Law School. A list of student groups and descriptions of their activities may be found on the Law School's website under Current Students.
The Career Planning Center (CPC) processes hundreds of listings of employment opportunities, coordinates campus interviews, and provides counseling assistance to students—helping them to assess career options, tailor job search strategies, and navigate the competitive job market in a personal way. The CPC will help students network with Marquette alumni and other potential resource persons. The Law School's employment rate consistently exceeds the national average. Our goals are to keep our placement rate high and to ensure a good fit and job satisfaction for all our graduates.
Ample, affordable housing is available throughout Milwaukee and its suburbs. Information and assistance on securing housing may be obtained from the Office of University Apartments and Off-Campus Student Services; telephone: 414.288.7281, web: www.marquette.edu/offcampus.
This grid includes only applicants who earned 120–180 LSAT scores under standard administrations.
| GPA | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LSAT Score |
3.75+ Apps |
3.75+ Adm |
3.50– 3.74 Apps |
3.50– 3.74 Adm |
3.25– 3.49 Apps |
3.25– 3.49 Adm |
3.00– 3.24 Apps |
3.00– 3.24 Adm |
2.75– 2.99 Apps |
2.75– 2.99 Adm |
2.50– 2.74 Apps |
2.50– 2.74 Adm |
2.25– 2.49 Apps |
2.25– 2.49 Adm |
2.00– 2.24 Apps |
2.00– 2.24 Adm |
Below 2.00 Apps |
Below 2.00 Adm |
No GPA Apps |
No GPA Adm |
Total Apps |
Total Adm |
| LSAT score 175–180 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| LSAT score 170–174 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| LSAT score 165–169 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 16 | 16 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 56 | 53 |
| LSAT score 160–164 | 44 | 42 | 61 | 59 | 61 | 61 | 44 | 43 | 30 | 29 | 11 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 259 | 247 |
| LSAT score 155–159 | 67 | 63 | 138 | 125 | 164 | 123 | 109 | 58 | 74 | 43 | 33 | 13 | 13 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 610 | 433 |
| LSAT score 150–154 | 69 | 45 | 114 | 50 | 151 | 25 | 142 | 23 | 72 | 13 | 51 | 7 | 19 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 631 | 165 |
| LSAT score 145–149 | 20 | 1 | 38 | 5 | 47 | 5 | 73 | 4 | 38 | 3 | 19 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 261 | 20 |
| LSAT score 140–144 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 119 | 0 |
| LSAT score 135–139 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 51 | 0 |
| LSAT score 130–134 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| LSAT score 125–129 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| LSAT score 120–124 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 213 | 160 | 373 | 252 | 457 | 231 | 432 | 141 | 260 | 94 | 153 | 31 | 72 | 8 | 27 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 26 | 6 | 2018 | 924 |
Apps = Number of Applicants
Adm = Number Admitted
Reflects 99% of the total applicant pool; highest LSAT data reported.