Box 7206
Winston-Salem, NC 27109
Phone: 336.758.5437; Fax: 336.758.3930
E-mail: admissions@law.wfu.edu; Website: www.law.wfu.edu
Wake Forest University School of Law, established in 1894, is located in Winston-Salem, a culturally rich mid-sized city in the Piedmont Triad area of North Carolina. The law school is conveniently located on the beautiful 135-acre campus of Wake Forest University. It is a member of the AALS and is ABA approved. Current students come from 32 states, 1 foreign country, and 96 undergraduate institutions. Wake Forest is nationally recognized as one of the nation's "best value" law schools.
Wake Forest offers students a solid and personalized legal education. Class sizes are smaller than at virtually any other law school in the nation, with approximately 40 students in each first-year section and 20 students in first-year legal writing sections. With a student-faculty ratio of 10:1, you get more than just an open-door policy. Our faculty will call you by name, invite you to their homes, join you for lunch, and encourage your involvement in research and community service. Because giving back to the community is paramount to your growth as a person and a lawyer, the heart of our approach is to help you become fine citizen lawyers.
First-year students are admitted only in the fall semester for full-time study. Applicants must have a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university. Other requirements include the application, dean's certification before matriculation, two academic recommendations, LSAT and LSAC Credential Assembly Service, and application fee of $60. The application deadline is March 15. Completed files are individually reviewed to select a diverse group of students who are likely to succeed in law school and contribute to the legal profession. The LSAT and undergraduate GPA, as well as a number of subjective factors, are considered. This includes personal talents, work experience, community service, leadership potential, graduate study, and a history of overcoming social or economic hardship—indicating intellectual capacity, character, motivation, and maturity. For multiple LSAT scores, the higher test score will be used. Early application is encouraged as scholarship offers begin in late January. The applicant's file must be complete for consideration.
A $300 nonrefundable deposit is due by April 15, and a tuition deposit must be paid by June 15. (Both fees are applicable toward tuition.) Personal interviews are not required; however, all applicants are encouraged to visit the law school. Transfer students meeting the admission requirements are accepted on a space-available basis after the successful completion of one year at an AALS- or ABA-approved law school. Merit, need-based, and diversity scholarships are available. The FAFSA is recommended by April 1.
Wake Forest University School of Law is committed to helping you practice what you learn. Through several outstanding programs—some curricular, some extracurricular, and some cocurricular—our students work, argue, research, write, and practice, often while helping citizens in need. Our approach tightly integrates study, practice, and experience, and it develops great lawyers.
In the Litigation Clinic, students are placed in offices such as the US attorney, the district attorney, the public defender, legal aid, the National Labor Relations Board, private law firms, and corporate counsel. In addition to receiving classroom instruction and skills training in interviewing, counseling, negotiation, and discovery, students represent clients under the supervision of an experienced attorney. Each student will be placed in concurrent civil and criminal assignments.
The Elder Law Clinic represents low- to moderate-income clients over the age of 60. Located at the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, the clinic features a classroom component that is jointly taught by members of the law and medical school faculties. Students draft essential documents, such as wills and powers of attorney, and handle administrative representation and state court litigation with a clinic professor/attorney.
The Community Law and Business Clinic provides a legal resource for low-income entrepreneurs and nonprofit organizations working to improve the quality of life in low-wealth communities. Students assist in various stages of the business development process and gain experience in a transactional practice setting.
The Innocence and Justice Clinic allows law students to work with defense attorneys, prosecutors, and law enforcement officers to identify cases with prisoners who might qualify for DNA testing to demonstrate their innocence.
The Appellate Advocacy Clinic represents low-income clients in all sorts of appeals, both civil and criminal, and in a variety of appellate courts, including the Fourth Circuit and Seventh Circuit. Working in pairs, students handle an actual appeal from start to finish, with advice and assistance from their professor, who is counsel of record. Students also travel to Washington, DC, to observe arguments at the United States Supreme Court.
The Child Advocacy Clinic allows students to represent children in three settings: deciding custody in high-conflict cases, deciding custody in civil domestic violence actions, and representing children of indigent parents in issues involving the public schools.
The Wake Forest School of Law Program in Washington provides students with the opportunity to spend a semester in practice in the most diverse and vibrant legal environment in the world. The program includes both an externship component and a programmatic initiative that includes conferences, roundtables, symposia, and lectures.
The law school currently offers the following joint degrees: JD/MBA program with the School of Business, a JD/MA in Religion, a JD/MDiv with the Divinity School, and a JD/MA in Bioethics with the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Admission and scholarship decisions are made independently at each school. The law school also offers an LLM in American Law for graduates of international law schools. A separate LLM application is required and may be obtained at law.wfu.edu/llm or by writing the director of the LLM program.
Students in good standing may participate in a four-week program offered each summer at the Worrell House, the university's residential center near Regent's Park in London, England; at Casa Artom on the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy; and at the University of Vienna in Vienna, Austria. Students participating in this program can earn up to six hours of academic credit. US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg has guest lectured as part of several Wake Forest summer programs.
The law school is located in the Worrell Professional Center, which contains classrooms, faculty and administrative offices, and the Professional Center Library. The 200-seat auditorium also functions as a courtroom. The law school frequently hosts oral arguments for the North Carolina Court of Appeals and the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. The Worrell Professional Center, including the library, is accessible to students 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Wake Forest prepares students to embrace the rapidly changing technological environment of the legal profession. Classrooms feature multimedia theaters allowing technology to augment classroom teaching. Many professors routinely use course websites and WebEx to distribute essential course information and supplement class discussions.
Each student is required to have a laptop. The law school wireless network gives students instant access to e-mail, essential legal research systems, the Internet, and a variety of other resources. A university-wide network allows students to register for courses, receive grades, obtain transcripts, and interact with university offices.
Students have a wide variety of extracurricular activities to choose from to supplement their education. There are three academic journals: the Wake Forest Law Review, the Journal of Business and Intellectual Property Law, and the Journal of Law and Policy. Each year students participate in the Walker and Stanley moot court competitions, and those who are invited to join the Moot Court Board compete against students from around the country in moot court competitions featuring a variety of legal issues. For students interested in trial advocacy, the 1L Trial Bar and Zeliff competitions give them a chance to practice their oral advocacy skills.
In addition to more than 30 student organizations, there are many pro bono opportunities. The Wake Forest Pro Bono Project aims to provide assistance to attorneys who provide high quality legal services, at no fee or at a substantially reduced fee, to individuals in need and to create a lifelong commitment to pro bono work among Wake Forest students.
The Office of Career and Professional Development aggressively seeks opportunities for students in both summer and permanent legal positions. Knowledgeable staff members, including three former practicing attorneys, personally counsel students to assist them in developing solid career portfolios. The office also conducts workshops in résumé preparation, interviewing, and career planning. Faculty and staff expand career opportunities by visiting law firms, corporations, and agencies throughout the country to acquaint them with the exceptional Wake Forest program. A large number of employers interview students on campus each year or request that résumés be forwarded by the Office of Career and Professional Development. Wake Forest law graduates are located in all 50 states and more than 40 countries and territories.
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 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 7 |
| LSAT score 170–174 | 16 | 15 | 19 | 18 | 23 | 21 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 84 | 69 |
| LSAT score 165–169 | 64 | 61 | 127 | 115 | 85 | 80 | 62 | 52 | 37 | 21 | 17 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 11 | 413 | 350 |
| LSAT score 160–164 | 173 | 164 | 250 | 131 | 230 | 51 | 162 | 36 | 45 | 7 | 23 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 2 | 918 | 395 |
| LSAT score 155–159 | 114 | 22 | 182 | 22 | 155 | 15 | 93 | 8 | 39 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 612 | 75 |
| LSAT score 150–154 | 51 | 3 | 70 | 12 | 67 | 8 | 57 | 10 | 23 | 5 | 16 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 300 | 38 |
| LSAT score 145–149 | 19 | 5 | 35 | 2 | 23 | 4 | 47 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 165 | 11 |
| LSAT score 140–144 | 8 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 77 | 0 |
| LSAT score 135–139 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 0 |
| LSAT score 130–134 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| LSAT score 125–129 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| LSAT score 120–124 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 450 | 270 | 699 | 302 | 595 | 179 | 466 | 118 | 185 | 44 | 104 | 12 | 44 | 6 | 21 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 53 | 13 | 2623 | 945 |
Apps = Number of Applicants
Adm = Number Admitted
Reflects 100% of the total applicant pool; highest LSAT data reported.