Honors Law Admission Program
The University of Richmond recognizes that some of its undergraduate applicants already are considering a career in law and are preparing for postgraduate study at law school. To help these individuals meet their needs, the faculty of the University of Richmond School of Law and the Office of Admission offer a special program for qualified enrolling first-year Richmond students.
These selected students, upon acceptance as first-year students for undergraduate study, automatically will be offered a place in Richmond Law for the year following their graduation from Richmond’s bachelor’s degree program.
During the undergraduate years, the only stipulations to the program are that the student achieves a cumulative 3.5 grade point average by the end of the fall semester of the senior year and is of good moral character. If the student meets these requirements, admission to the University of Richmond School of Law is guaranteed. Honors law students don’t even have to take the LSAT. (Should one elect to do so, however, it is required that the score achieved place the student at or above the median score of the previous year’s Law School entering class.)
Questions and Answers about Honors Law
How do I qualify for the honors law admission program?
The Office of Admission considers applicants for admission who demonstrate academic achievement and potential. Prospective students with a combined SAT score of 1350 (Critical Reading plus Mathematics) and above or an ACT composite of 30 and above are invited into the program. Students must be accepted for admission to the University of Richmond as an undergraduate.
Am I obligated to attend the University of Richmond School of Law if I am accepted into the honors law admission program?
No. You are under no obligation to enroll in Richmond Law or to attend law school at all. The honors law admission program simply gives you a very enticing option that you won’t find at other colleges.
When will I find out if I’m accepted into honors law?
If an accepted student meets the above criteria, he or she may automatically participate in the program upon enrolling. Honors law notification and participant responsibilities and opportunities are sent to accepted students after April 1.
Am I required to have a specific major as an undergraduate?
No. Honors law participants are not required to major in any specific academic area at the undergraduate level. Prospective law students pursue a wide variety of majors.
What are the benefits of honors law?
The greatest benefit of the program is obvious: guaranteed admission to law school at a time when such admission is highly competitive. The program designed by the law school for honors law participants also provides them with insights, advice and experiences that most students don’t receive until the rigorous study of law school already has begun.
As a participant in honors law, a student may take advantage of a variety of activities. Past opportunities have included:
- Clerking for the Virginia State Bar at the Regional Moot Court Competition held annually at the U.S. Courthouse in Richmond
- Panel discussions with current law students about the challenges, demands and myths of law study
- Invitations to the prestigious Emroch Forum and Legal Forum lectures, featuring noted law figures such as the president of the American Bar Association and the chief justice of the Virginia Supreme Court
- Honors law participants are invited to attend a class, meet the dean and have lunch with the Law School faculty and students at UR Day at UR Law
- Act as mock jurors for Richmond Law courtroom procedures classes
About the University of Richmond School of Law
Established in 1870, the University of Richmond School of Law is a fully accredited member of the Association of American Law schools and of the American Bar Association.
Approximately 485 full-time students from 176 undergraduate institutions, 28 states, the District of Columbia and nine foreign countries work toward a juris doctor degree. The J.D. qualifies the holder to seek admission to the bar of any state in the nation.
A school on the very forefront of legal education, Richmond Law provides an ideal environment for learning the law and offers a curriculum that is well balanced between the theoretical and the practical. Students benefit from the wisdom of a superb faculty, many of them leaders in their fields. Upper-division classes offer specialty study in intellectual property, corporate, international, commercial, tax, family, environmental law and other key areas.
The Law School, situated on our magnificent campus, provides an ideal environment for learning the law. Individual carrels, in the fully computerized Law Library, serve as a student’s “office,” connecting students, faculty and national data bases, a concept unprecedented in legal education. From the beginning students do what lawyers do, sharpening the critical skills of interviewing, counseling, negotiating and motion practice. Students also appear as counsel at a bench trial and argue an appellate case as part of our comprehensive Lawyering Skills program. They may acquire additional real-world training through internship experiences in Richmond or Washington, both major legal centers, or as a lawyer representing actual clients in our own legal clinic.
The Law School building houses a state-of-the-art Moot Court Room, a law library with more than 500 individual study carrels, classrooms, faculty offices and student lounges. All classrooms are completely wired with data and power connections at each seat and many areas in the Law School offer wireless connections.
Office of Admission
(800) 700-1662
(804) 289-8640