St. John's University
NY · Private · Mid-Atlantic
- Acceptance rate: 23% (4,417 applicants)
- Median LSAT: 164 (middle 50%: 156–166)
- Median GPA: 3.81 (middle 50%: 3.44–3.91)
- Tuition: $75,170 (per year)
- Bar passage: 87.5% (+0.5 pts vs. state average)
Deadlines
- Honors Early Decision: Nov. 1, 2026
- Honors Early Decision: Dec. 1, 2026
- Honors Early Decision: Jan. 1, 2027
- Priority: March 15, 2027
- Final: July 15, 2027
Essays
Personal statement (About 2 pages, double-spaced)
Please submit a personal statement or short essay with your application. Include your LSAC account number on it. You may write about any topic you wish. Suggested topics: Your decision to pursue a career in law; your reaction to a recent current affairs event; your feelings about a particular community service or extracurricular activity with which you have been involved. The suggested length is two typed pages, double spaced.
Supplementary statement (No stated limit)
We recognize that some applicants have faced and overcome challenges and that there may be factors that have been significant in their lives, identity, and/or development. For this optional essay, we invite you to share any information that you would like us to consider about your experiences. This may include socioeconomic challenges; educational challenges; societal challenges; discrimination; prejudice; health issues; disability; immigration status; surviving abuse; or complex family circumstances like an incarcerated parent, homelessness, living in foster care, or others. This isn't an inclusive list, but simply an opportunity, if you wish, to share any additional aspects of your background that may give us a deeper sense of your strengths and who you are.
Additional merit aid statement (No stated limit)
St. John's Law awards scholarships to outstanding applicants for academic achievement and for merit based on the factors aligned with our mission that we consider during our holistic review. This can include awards for one or more of the following factors: first generation college students, applicants who have faced adversity and are committed to their community, and those whose background and/or interest in law school align with the school's mission and the legacy of our alumnus, Theodore Jones '72. This is not an exhaustive list, and the statement should be aligned with St. John's University School of Law's mission.
General addendum (No stated limit)
If you would like to further explain portions of your application including, but not limited to, gaps in education, gaps in employment, undergraduate performance, or LSAT performance, you may submit an addendum.
Editor's notes
- Apply by March 15 if you can. The optional video interview goes to priority-deadline applicants and disappears after that date, and it's the one place St. John's lets you show what paper can't.
- Write the merit aid statement if you have a case. St. John's makes one best and final scholarship offer at admission and won't negotiate, so anything that argues for mission-based money has to be in the file before the decision.
- Honors Early Decision is a real trade. You commit, and in return get a nonforfeitable award of at least $25,000 a year with a decision by the end of the month you apply. Only use it if St. John's is your clear first choice at that price.
- St. John's lists commitment to its mission as a review factor. Read the five-point mission statement before you draft. The personal statement doesn't have to mention it, but your examples should sound like someone who'd fit a service-minded school.
