University of Denver

CO · Private · Mountain

Acceptance rate: 41% (2,214 applicants)
Median LSAT: 160 (middle 50%: 156–162)
Median GPA: 3.66 (middle 50%: 3.36–3.80)
Tuition: $63,390 (per year)
Bar passage: 81.5% (+1.2 pts vs. state average)

Deadlines

Recommended by December 2026 for the Chancellor's Scholarship: Jan. 15, 2027

Essays

Personal statement (500 words)

Please submit a personal statement describing the circumstances that have led you to pursue a law degree. Among other topics, you may wish to highlight your unique personal and professional experiences, any specialized talents and skills you possess, challenges you have had to overcome, and/or opportunities you have had to exemplify leadership, determination, or courage. Your statement should be no more than 500 words.

Optional statement(s) (250 words each)

In addition to your personal statement, you are welcome to submit one or more additional statements that provide additional insight into you, your commitments, or your life experiences. You may also choose to submit a statement that provides context about your grade point average, your LSAT score, or other aspects of your application materials. Please limit any optional statement that you elect to submit to 250 words.

Chancellor's Scholarship essay (1,000 words)

An essay of no more than 1,000 words that describes your experience, emphasizing your public interest involvement;

Editor's notes

Get your file complete by December. Denver reads and awards scholarships first-come, first-served, says timing affects both the decision and the money, and doesn't negotiate awards afterward. A strong application in March is competing for what's left.
Five hundred words is about a page. Don't spend it on a résumé in paragraph form; your résumé already lists everything with dates. Spend it on why law, and why now.
If you have a public service record, a 3.6 GPA and a 161 LSAT, apply for the Chancellor's Scholarship by Jan. 15. It's the one Denver award you have to apply for, and it pays full tuition.
The part-time program is a real option for working applicants: 43 of the 276 students who entered in fall 2026 were part-time, and scholarships for part-time students start at $19,500.