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Reviewed by:
Former Head of Pre-Law Office, Northeastern University, & Admissions Officer, Brown University
Reviewed: 11/23/23
Do you want to join a law school that is nationally recognized for academic and career excellence? If you do, read on to learn more about how to get into Brooklyn Law School.
As a law school that has existed for over 120 years, Brooklyn Law School has consistently met and surpassed the changing demands of the legal world since its opening in 1901.
With cutting-edge scholarship and world-renowned faculty, Brooklyn Law offers innovative programs guaranteed to help its students succeed in the real world of law.
If this leading law school interests you, this guide will go over everything you need to know about Brooklyn Law School and how to maximize your chances of joining it!
Brooklyn Law School’s acceptance rate is relatively high at 46.2%. This rate is moderately higher than many other law school admission rates. In a recent admissions cycle, nearly 4,000 students applied to Brooklyn Law, and about 1,700 were admitted.
Here’s a table with Brooklyn Law’s acceptance rate trends from the past few years:
Source: ABA Required Disclosures
It is moderately difficult to get into Brooklyn Law. Despite its high acceptance rate of 46.2%, Brooklyn Law is still very competitive due to its high academic expectations as well as the great resources and opportunities it offers.
Source: Brooklyn Law School
If you’re trying to figure out where to go to law school, it’s always wise to look at the programs that are offered.
Some major benefits of joining Brooklyn Law School are its diverse course offerings and the nationally and internationally recognized faculty you’ll be learning with. Additionally, you’ll have various clinics available to give you hands-on experience to boost your resume and help you stand out post-graduation!
Here are the program options you can choose from when applying to Brooklyn Law:
In an effort to cater to the diverse goals of their students, Brooklyn Law allows students to participate in various legal clinics. These clinic options include community development, criminal defense and advocacy, and disability and civil rights, among many others.
Brooklyn Law School ranks 111th in the nation, but don’t let this ranking mislead you into thinking Brooklyn Law can’t provide you with an excellent education! Despite this ranking, Brooklyn offers its students a diverse curriculum and various opportunities to gain real legal experience during their JD.
Other notable Brooklyn Law School rankings include:
As you craft your application to Brooklyn Law School, it may be helpful to know what their average GPA and LSAT scores look like. This way, you can have a general benchmark to aim for.
Here are some Brooklyn Law School admission statistics from the most recent incoming class.
The average GPA of Brooklyn Law applicants is 3.54. The 25th-75th percentiles for the most recent incoming class ranged from 3.31-3.7. Your GPA will be weighed heavily in Brooklyn’s admission decision, so be sure to establish strong study habits.
It’s also helpful to choose an undergraduate major that you feel genuine passion for so that you are more likely to do well and maintain a high GPA. Brooklyn Law will also appreciate seeing diversity on your transcript. Ensure you take a range of courses to demonstrate your skills and abilities in multiple disciplines.
Brooklyn Law’s median LSAT score is 160. Previous applicants scored in the range of 157-162. You should aim for a score equal to or higher than the average of 160 to maximize your chances of acceptance.
Like your GPA, your LSAT score will be weighed heavily in the admissions committee’s decisions. To fulfill this requirement, you have the option to write the GRE or LSAT. Choose whichever one you think you can score the highest on!
Although Brooklyn Law does not release average GRE scores, the estimated median score is about 312, according to the official GRE to LSAT score calculator. You should aim for a score of about 156 on each GRE section to achieve a score equal to 160 on the LSAT.
Brooklyn Law requires applicants to submit many of the standard application requirements for most law schools. Here are all the application materials you will need to apply to Brooklyn Law’s JD program:
If you have ever attended another law school, regardless of if you are applying as a transfer student or not, you will also need to submit a Letter of Good Standing from the other law school.
The best way for Brooklyn to ascertain your skills and aptitude is to hear it from those who work closest with you and have observed your potential. Accordingly, you must submit two letters of recommendation as part of your application.
At least one of these letters should come from a faculty member who can attest to your academic potential and commitment to law. You should begin connecting with your professors as soon as possible to ensure you get glowing letters!
Your Brooklyn Law personal statement is a chance for you to give the admissions committee insight into who you are and why you chose to pursue law. Since Brooklyn Law doesn’t offer interviews, this essay will help the committee get to know you better on a personal level.
Brooklyn Law states that they are “interested in what drives you, and how that drive will define you as a law student and as a future member of the legal profession.”
In your law school personal statement, you can write about anything that speaks both to your unique person and your motivations for pursuing law. Brooklyn Law provides a list of topics and themes to consider while writing:
Your statement should provide new information that cannot be found anywhere else on your application rather than restating your resume or transcripts. It also should be between two and three double-spaced pages.
For some inspiration, take a look at this example personal statement written for the University of Chicago:
“As I tumble through the air, time seems to slow. I have fallen hard many times before, but even before I hit the ground I can tell this fall is different. I complete one and a half back flips and slam shoulders-first into the slope. As I lie on the hill, the snow jammed into the hood of my jacket begins to melt, and icy water runs down my back. I do not yet know that the impact has broken my neck.
I grew up only a short drive from some of New Zealand’s best ski resorts, but my family could never afford ski vacations. My first opportunity to try snowboarding came on a trip with my university flatmate.With expectations shaped purely by the media, I left for the trip assuming snowboarding was a sport for adrenaline junkies, troublemakers, and delinquents. Much to my surprise, I instead found that it provided me with a sense of peace that defied these preconceptions.
Anxiety had been a constant companion throughout much of my childhood. I had not always been this way, but years of physical and psychological abuse at the hands of my stepfather had taken their toll. My once carefree demeanor had changed, leaving me fearful, panicky, and timid. On a snowboard these feelings faded into the background for the first time in years, and the difference was profound. I never truly realized the pain I had endured until riding gave me the opportunity to escape it. I sought out every possible opportunity to go riding, and through the sport I pushed the limits of both my physical and mental courage. Snowboarding became a vehicle for regaining the confidence and self-worth that had been taken from me through the injustice of abuse. Even as I began to ride competitively in boardercross racing and halfpipe, launching myself into the air over sixty-foot jumps, the sense of peace I gained during my first day on a snowboard stayed with me. It did, at least, until that April afternoon.
As I lay in a hospital bed a few hours after my accident, an overwhelming sense of fear replaced any confidence that snowboarding had instilled in me. I faced the prospect of a lengthy and complicated surgery, with no certainty about the outcome. I knew my shattered vertebrae could easily leave me paralyzed. I was lucky to be alive, but any sense of luck eluded me as pain sent me in and out of consciousness. Two days later, surgeons worked for seven hours to rebuild my neck. I awoke to learn that I had escaped any serious nerve damage. However, I would need to be immobilized by a brace twenty-four hours a day, and for over three months, before I could even contemplate rehabilitation.
Those months passed slowly. When I was finally able to start the process of rehabilitation, I made recovery my full-time job. I quickly learned that pain was to become the central reality of that year. The first day I could walk to my mailbox marked a significant achievement. Determined to return to full health, and even hoping to eventually return to riding, I gritted my teeth through the daily therapy sessions. At each subsequent visit, my doctor expressed his surprise at the progress of my recovery. Only twelve months after my injury, he cleared me to make a few careful runs on an easy, groomed slope. While I made it through those first few runs safely, they left me shaking with fear.
Since then, I have again found joy in riding, but no amount of determination will allow me to ride the way I had before. I won’t be attempting double back flips again any time soon. Rather than focusing on my own riding, I now direct my energy into coaching. My experiences showed me the transformative power of courage and self-confidence, and taught me to build these qualities in others. At the Aspen Skiing Company, I develop and implement teaching curricula for more than two hundred snowboard instructors. My goal is for my fellow coaches to recognize that snowboarding can offer much more than just a diversion. It has the potential to have a profound and inspiring impact on their students’ lives.
In the ample time my recovery allowed for reflection, I found solace in the fact that the abuse in my childhood fostered in me not bitterness, but an enduring dedication to fairness and justice. As a college student, this dedication led me to seek out classes in ethics and morality. As a manager and leader, I strive to display both courage and enduring fairness. My interest in the legal profession stems from my belief that laws represent the concrete expressions of justice and fairness in our society.
After discovering the salvation it held for me, I believed that I was reliant on snowboarding. Yet, being forced to face the grueling process of rehabilitation without it allowed me to take the final step to recovery from the trauma of my childhood. I realized I am much stronger and more resilient than I had previously believed. I realized that courage is not something that snowboarding gave me but something that has always been within me. These realizations have prepared me to broaden the scope of my dedication to justice. Secure in the knowledge that the courage and determination I have shown will help shape my future success, I am now ready to take on this new challenge: the study and practice of law.”
Why this essay worked: This well-written personal statement opens with a captivating action scene, utilizing the present tense to maximize the urgency. Then, the author launches into a description of what snowboarding meant to him, his past struggles with abuse and anxiety, and how he overcame his snowboarding accident.
This essay demonstrates the author’s determination, passion, and mental fortitude. He describes his difficulties honestly yet tactfully and talks about what he learned from the experience. He looks to the future and his aspirations in the legal field, which shows law schools that he is motivated to succeed.
On your application, you’ll have the option to submit additional essays. One of these essays is a diversity essay, where you can explain how your experiences give you unique perspectives that will help you contribute to Brooklyn Law’s mission.
Another essay will likely be an addendum. An addendum serves to explain certain aspects of your application that might make you a weaker candidate.
For instance, if you have a low GPA or a low LSAT score, you should write an addendum to give a reasonable explanation for this. However, note that this addendum is not meant to provide the committee with excuses!
The cost of tuition at Brooklyn Law School is about $70,356. However, with other expenses included, the total cost of attendance for a standard first-year JD student comes to just under $100,000.
To give you a better idea of how much Brooklyn Law School costs, here is a breakdown of what you can expect to pay in your first year:
Source: Brooklyn Law School
Law school is expensive, but Brooklyn offers extensive financial aid in the form of merit-based and needs-based scholarships to help cover these high costs. These merit-based scholarships are awarded to students throughout their education and increase based on students’ academic performance.
Needs-based scholarships range from $1,000 to $13,000 annually and automatically renew each year.
Aside from these scholarships, there are various options for external scholarships that can cover the full cost of your tuition, allowing you to go to law school for free!
Applicants are advised to submit their Regular Decision applications to Brooklyn Law by February 1. However, there is no set deadline to apply for the JD program at Brooklyn Law School as they make admissions decisions on a rolling basis.
You should aim to have your application submitted as early as possible to maximize your chances of admission. However, make sure that you still take the time to make your application materials strong!
Here are some important dates and deadlines you should know as you apply to Brooklyn Law:
The Brooklyn Law School first-time bar pass rate is 76.44%. This high percentage demonstrates how Brooklyn Law prepares its students well!
To give you the best chance possible, we’ve got some advice for you. Here are some tips to get into Brooklyn Law School:
Follow these tips on how to gain admission to Brooklyn Law, and you may soon find an acceptance letter waiting for you!
If you want to know what Brooklyn Law is looking for in applicants, the number one thing is academic excellence and achievement. So, make sure you have a minimum GPA of 3.5 and a competitive LSAT score of 160 or higher!
However, Brooklyn Law School doesn’t just look at academics. They also seek to admit students “of high moral character.” In addition to academic achievement, they look for students who can demonstrate the following qualities:
If you still aren’t sure if Brooklyn Law School is the right fit, here are the answers to frequently asked questions about Brooklyn.
Yes! While it may rank lower than other well-known law school giants, it can still offer you the education and resources you need to succeed. About 24,000 alumni have already graduated from Brooklyn and have gone on to work in the business sector, private practices, governments, non-profits, start-ups, and public interest organizations.
Compared to other law schools, Brooklyn is moderately difficult to get into. While it has a favorable acceptance rate of 46.2%, it has a high LSAT requirement of 160.
You’ll need to aim for a GPA of around 3.5 to be a competitive candidate when applying to Brooklyn Law School.
Brooklyn Law is best known for its part-time law program that ranks 27th in the nation. This extended four-year program gives students the same access to courses, clinics, journals, and organizations as full-time JD students with the added benefit of flexibility and time.
Brooklyn Law is a private law school.
Brooklyn Law is located in New York City, making it a hotspot for employment opportunities!
By joining Brooklyn Law School, you’ll be joining a law school with over a century-long history of producing outstanding attorneys. After going over how to get into Brooklyn and what it can offer, you should have a better idea of whether you’d like to continue this legacy!
