Marquette University

WI · Private · East North Central

Acceptance rate: 22% (2,112 applicants)
Median LSAT: 158 (middle 50%: 156–160)
Median GPA: 3.70 (middle 50%: 3.50–3.83)
Tuition: $51,970 (per year)

Deadlines

Application deadline: April 1, 2027

Essays

Personal statement (2 pages, double-spaced, 11-point minimum)

Please select your own topic for your personal statement. As the Admissions and Recruitment Committee does not conduct interviews, the personal statement is each candidate's opportunity to tell the Committee something about themself that it cannot learn from the other parts of the application.

Optional statement: why Marquette (No stated limit)

An applicant may provide an additional optional statement discussing their motivation for applying specifically to Marquette University Law School; ideally, the required personal statement should not be written on that topic.

Multiple LSAT scores addendum (No stated limit)

A candidate is welcome to write and append to the application a supporting statement regarding multiple LSAT scores if they can provide compelling, convincing evidence explaining why a lower LSAT score should be considered aberrant.

Editor's notes

Your personal statement has to do the interview's job. Marquette doesn't interview, and its FAQ says the statement is your chance to say what the rest of the file can't. That's the whole brief. Two double-spaced pages is short, so pick one thread and follow it.
Split the work between two documents. Marquette asks you not to write the personal statement about why Marquette and offers a separate optional statement for that. If you have a real reason, like staying in Wisconsin and practicing under the diploma privilege or needing the part-time schedule, use the optional statement and be specific.
Apply in the fall, not at the April 1 target. Files go to the committee in the order they're complete, starting in mid-to-late October, and the school says plainly that earlier is better. Scholarship awarding starts in February and comes from the same application, so a finished file by December puts you in the first pool.
Plan for one letter, but make it the right one. Marquette requires only one and asks it to speak to your intellect, character and talents. A professor who knows your work is encouraged. A second letter helps only if it says something the first doesn't.