The University of Minnesota Law School is based in Minneapolis within a major public research university. Its strengths include business law, immigration, human rights, and health law, supported by first-year skills training and clinical representation.
This guide walks you through how to get into Minnesota Law.
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1. Minnesota Law Admissions Numbers and Statistics
Minnesota Law Class of 2029:
- LSAT: 75th: 172 | Median: 171 | 25th: 165
- GPA: 75th: 3.98 | Median: 3.93 | 25th: 3.69
Minnesota Law Class of 2028:
- LSAT: 75th: 173 | Median: 171 | 25th: 166
- GPA: 75th: 3.95 | Median: 3.88 | 25th: 3.62
From fall 2025 to fall 2026, Minnesota's LSAT median held at 171, while its upper and lower quartiles each fell one point, to 172 and 165. The GPA median rose from 3.88 to 3.93, its upper quartile from 3.95 to 3.98, and its lower quartile from 3.62 to 3.69. The entering class barely changed in size, from 228 to 227. The stronger GPA distribution reaches beyond the headline median.
Aim to be at or above at least one median to be competitive. Above both puts you in a stronger position. Below both medians, this is a prayer, not a reach.
For context on how medians affect your strategy, see How to Build a Smart Law School List.
2. Minnesota Law Application Essays
Personal Statement (required)
Minnesota asks about significant achievements, professional goals, and reasons for pursuing law. The statement is limited to two double-spaced pages. Your interest in Minnesota may appear here or in a supplement.
For more on how to write a personal statement, see my Personal Statement Examples and Personal Statement Guide.
Supplemental Statements (optional)
Minnesota permits one-page, double-spaced supplements addressing perspectives, experiences, and skills you would contribute; building an inclusive community; gaps or interruptions; and other relevant information.
For more on how to write a diversity or perspective statement, see my Diversity Statement Examples and Diversity Statement Guide.
Why Minnesota Statement (optional)
You may explain your interest in Minnesota in a supplement.
For more on how to write a Why X essay, see my Why X Essay Guide.
For more on making all of these essays work together, see my Cohesive Narrative Guide.
Addenda and Character & Fitness Resources
I'll be publishing a guide to addenda and character and fitness.
3. Minnesota Law Resume Requirements
Minnesota sets no page limit. Include paid and unpaid work, college and postgraduate activities, honors, community involvement, and relevant interests. Keep dates and responsibilities easy to follow.
For more on preparing your resume, see my Resume Examples and Resume Guide.
4. Minnesota Law Letters of Recommendation
Minnesota requires one and accepts up to two letters of recommendation. Academic recommendations are preferred. Applicants more than two years out of college may use an employer who can evaluate their abilities.
For more on recommendations, see my LOR Guide (Applicants) and LOR Guide (Writers).
5. Minnesota Law Interview Process
Minnesota offers an optional recorded interview and gives participants priority consideration. Instructions generally arrive by email about seven days after application submission. Prepare to explain your interest in law, your experiences, and your connection to Minnesota clearly and conversationally. Do not turn the recording into a recitation of your personal statement.
6. Minnesota Law Deadlines and Early Decision
Testing Policy
The regular JD route requires the LSAT; Minnesota considers your highest score. A separate, binding Direct Admission route serves qualifying University of Minnesota students and recent graduates who have not taken the LSAT. Its eligibility and scholarship terms differ from regular admission.
Application Dates and Fees
Minnesota's currently posted annual application schedule is:
- Applications Open: September 1
- Binding Early Decision Deadline: December 31
- Scholarship Priority Deadline: February 5
- Final Application Deadline: June 1
- Application Fee: $75
- Regular Decisions Begin: Early January
Review is rolling, and a decision may take up to eight weeks after completion. Submit a polished file early enough to meet the scholarship-priority date rather than treating June as a sensible target.
Early Decision
Early Decision applicants receive the same scholarship consideration as regular applicants, not a guaranteed award. That makes the commitment consequential: you give up the ability to compare admission offers without locking in a particular price. Use it only when Minnesota is your clear first choice and the financial uncertainty is acceptable.
For a full breakdown of early decision strategy, see Should You Apply Early Decision to Law School?
7. Minnesota Law Scholarships and Financial Aid
Merit Scholarships
All applicants receive automatic scholarship consideration, with awards ranging from $5,000 to full tuition. Read your award letter for its duration and renewal terms.
Robina Public Interest Scholars
Selected Robina Scholars receive specialized career guidance, guaranteed funding for unpaid summer public-interest internships, and special consideration for a competitive postgraduate fellowship. Minnesota also directs eligible graduates to LRAP Minnesota for loan-repayment assistance.
Tuition and Financial Aid
For 2026-2027, tuition is $54,024 for Minnesota residents and $64,944 for nonresidents, plus $2,766 in university and law-school fees. The nine-month estimated cost of attendance is $86,788/$97,708, respectively. Those totals exclude the $3,590 student health plan, which may be waived with qualifying coverage. Eligible Wisconsin and Manitoba students should investigate reciprocity rather than assume the nonresident sticker price applies.
For more on scholarship strategy, see How to Negotiate Law School Scholarships.
8. Minnesota Law Dual Degree Programs
Minnesota's dual-degree options draw on the broader university:
- JD/MBA with Carlson School of Management.
- JD/MPP with Humphrey School of Public Affairs.
- JD/MPH with the School of Public Health.
- JD/MD with the medical school.
- JD/MA in Mass Communication with Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
- JD/PhD through participating Graduate School programs.
Students complete the full 32-credit first law-school year with their JD classmates before combining coursework. Up to 12 partner-program credits may count toward the JD. Minnesota says dual degrees typically save a year compared with separate completion; the actual schedule depends on the partner program.
9. Minnesota Law Employment Outcomes (Class of 2025)
Minnesota Class of 2025 employment outcomes (reported to the ABA, measured 10 months after graduation):
- Full-time, long-term bar-passage-required employment (ABA): 91.0%
- BigLaw (firms with 101+ attorneys): 28.8%
- Federal clerkships: 3.2%
- Public service (including government): 19.4%
Minnesota is the largest employment destination, followed by Illinois and California. Its reach includes large firms, but the federal-clerkship percentage alone misses a substantial state-court clerkship pipeline. The bar-required figure includes three school-funded full-time, long-term positions.
10. Minnesota Law Areas of Study and Specializations
Business and Corporate Law: The Corporate Institute connects business coursework with transactional clinics, corporate field experiences, and the Carlson JD/MBA. The Business Law concentration provides a curricular route for students interested in counseling companies rather than treating business law as a collection of disconnected electives.
Immigration and Human Rights: The James H. Binger Center for New Americans brings immigration representation and systemic litigation together. The Human Rights Center adds research, advocacy, and international-law expertise. Distinct immigration and human-rights concentrations let students organize those opportunities around their intended practice.
Criminal Justice: The Robina Institute of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice studies sentencing, probation, and parole. Combined with the Criminal Justice concentration, it gives students interested in prosecution, defense, or policy a way to connect individual cases with the institutions that shape criminal punishment.
Health Law and Bioethics: The Health Law and Bioethics concentration sits within a university with substantial medical and public-health programs. Francis Shen's law-and-neuroscience work adds a distinctive research dimension, while the JD/MPH offers a formal interdisciplinary path.
Environmental and Energy Law: The Environmental and Energy Law concentration is reinforced by a clinic working with nonprofit advocates on water, energy, and regulation. Its collaboration with the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy connects doctrinal study to concrete administrative and policy disputes.
11. Minnesota Law Clinics and Experiential Learning
Minnesota's clinics put students in charge of legal tasks under attorney supervision. Opportunities include:
- Business Law and Entrepreneurship Clinic: Student teams advise small businesses, nonprofits, and entrepreneurs on entity formation, ownership arrangements, contracts, leases, and intellectual-property protection. The work includes interviewing clients and drafting documents, not just observing negotiations.
- Detainee Rights Clinic: Students represent detained noncitizens, conduct intake interviews, gather evidence, draft appeals, and prepare bond or removal proceedings. The year-long format develops a case beyond the initial consultation.
- Federal Immigration Litigation Clinic: Teams work on immigration cases in federal courts and administrative tribunals, preparing briefs, developing case strategy, communicating with clients, and coordinating with other advocates on systemic issues.
- Housing Law Clinic: Students represent low-income tenants facing eviction, unsafe housing, lockouts, or utility problems. Fast-moving Hennepin County cases can involve investigation, pleadings, negotiation, motions, and trial work within a semester.
- Employment Law Clinic: Students handle unemployment-benefit appeals, including witness preparation and hearings, and advise nonprofit employers on policies, agreements, and compliance. That combination exposes students to both sides of the employment relationship.
- Bankruptcy Clinic: Students counsel people in financial distress, communicate with creditors, prepare Chapter 7 filings, and represent clients at creditors' meetings. Some matters also involve settlement negotiations or contested proceedings.
- Intellectual Property Clinic: Students interview artists, inventors, and small-business clients, assess copyright, trademark, patent, or confidentiality questions, and provide practical advice. The clinic is advisory rather than a litigation practice.
Pro Bono and Experiential Learning
Required first-year Law in Practice introduces interviewing, counseling, negotiation, and advocacy through simulations. The Saeks Public Interest Residency Program offers selected 3Ls full-time placements with nonprofit or government partners and a paid legal position with the same organization after graduation. Robina Scholars also engage in service, mentoring, and summer public-interest work.
12. Minnesota Law Notable Faculty and Journals
Faculty
- Francis Shen, Irving Younger Professor in Law and Associate Dean for Research and Innovation, studies neuroscience, technology, and legal decision-making. He coauthored the pioneering Law and Neuroscience casebook and received the American Law Institute's Early Career Scholars Medal.
- Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Regents Professor and Robina Chair in Law, Public Policy, and Society, directs the Human Rights Center. Her work addresses international human rights, security, and conflict; she previously served as the UN special rapporteur on human rights while countering terrorism.
- Jill Hasday, Distinguished McKnight University Professor and Centennial Professor in Law, writes about family law, equality, and constitutional history. Her books include Family Law Reimagined and We the Men.
- Daniel Schwarcz, Fredrikson & Byron Professor of Law and Distinguished University Teaching Professor, researches insurance, financial regulation, and consumer protection. He coauthors a leading insurance-law casebook and has testified before congressional committees.
Journals
- Minnesota Law Review: Legal scholarship across a broad range of subjects.
- Minnesota Journal of Law & Inequality: Scholarship on inequality in law and society.
- Minnesota Journal of International Law: Scholarship on international and comparative law, including politics, trade, and human rights.
- Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology: Scholarship on intellectual property, technology policy, bioethics, and law and science.
Constitutional Commentary is separately faculty-edited.
13. Minnesota Law Culture and Student Life
Minnesota combines a concentrated law-school home in Mondale Hall with access to the Twin Cities. Minneapolis offers firms, businesses, and federal courts; neighboring St. Paul adds the state-government setting. Light rail links the university to the surrounding metropolitan area.
The fall 2026 class draws from 126 undergraduate institutions, and 65% comes from outside Minnesota. You do not need a Minnesota biography to belong here. A stronger application explains how the school's professional and intellectual opportunities fit you, while recognizing that the local legal market is a major part of its identity.
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Related Reading
→ How to Build a Smart Law School List
→ Should You Apply Early Decision to Law School?
→ How to Negotiate Law School Scholarships
→ 6 Proven Steps to Get Off a Law School Waitlist
→ How to Get Into Law School Below Both Medians
→ What Holistic Law School Admissions Really Means
→ Blog Directory
Note: While I try to keep this guide up to date, always verify deadlines, requirements, and policies at the Minnesota Law website before applying.
Think you spotted an outdated requirement or something that doesn't look right? Email moshe@sharperstatements.com with the school and a link to the current information.
