Vermont Law and Graduate School is a private institution in South Royalton, Vermont, with residential, accelerated, extended, and online hybrid JD routes. Its strengths include environmental and energy law, food and agriculture, animal law, and restorative justice.
This guide walks you through how to get into Vermont Law.
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1. Vermont Law Admissions Numbers and Statistics
Vermont Law Class of 2028:
- LSAT: 75th: 158 | Median: 153 | 25th: 149
- GPA: 75th: 3.70 | Median: 3.32 | 25th: 2.86
Vermont Law Class of 2027:
- LSAT: 75th: 158 | Median: 151 | 25th: 147
- GPA: 75th: 3.62 | Median: 3.40 | 25th: 2.97
These are the full-time 2025 and 2024 entering cohorts. Full-time enrollment increased from 117 to 132. The LSAT median rose from 151 to 153, with its quartile range shifting from 147-158 to 149-158. The GPA median fell from 3.40 to 3.32, with its quartile range widening from 2.97-3.62 to 2.86-3.70. The separate fall 2025 part-time group had medians of 152 and 3.18.
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. Vermont Law Application Essays
Personal Statement (required)
Vermont asks what motivates you to earn a JD and how the skills and experience available at VLGS will help you achieve your goals.
For more on addressing school interest within this personal statement, see my Why X Essay Guide.
For more on how to write a personal statement, see my Personal Statement Examples and Personal Statement Guide.
Community Contribution Essay (optional)
One optional prompt asks how you would contribute to the VLGS community and support its commitment to community and the world.
For more on how to write a diversity or perspective statement, see my Diversity Statement Examples and Diversity Statement Guide.
Effecting Change Essay (optional)
The second optional prompt asks how you have tried to effect change on an issue of personal, local, or national significance.
Scholarship Essays (where applicable)
Mission Scholarship applicants submit an additional essay of no more than 800 words about environmental commitment or a history of public service and future legal work. Swan Scholar applicants address an animal-protection or food-system law and policy challenge in no more than 500 words. The First Nations Scholarship uses a separate application and a maximum 500-word essay on experience and public service involving Indigenous communities.
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. Vermont Law Resume Requirements
Submit a professional resume or CV. Show education, employment, service, leadership, and substantive responsibilities. Quantify hours and results where useful. Environmental work matters, but so do sustained jobs, caregiving, and community commitments that demonstrate reliability. Use the Resume Examples to organize the evidence without padding.
For more on preparing your resume, see my Resume Examples and Resume Guide.
4. Vermont Law Letters of Recommendation
Vermont requires two letters of recommendation, ideally including one from a professor. Applicants out of school may use professional or community references. Choose writers who can evaluate your thinking, writing, and follow-through with examples.
For more on recommendations, see my LOR Guide (Applicants) and LOR Guide (Writers).
5. Vermont Law Interview Process
Mission and Swan scholarship selection may include an interview. Prepare to discuss the work behind your essay, the issue you intend to address, and the Vermont resources you would use. Explain your own contribution and what you still need to learn.
6. Vermont Law Deadlines and Decision Options
Application Dates and Fees
For fall 2027, Vermont lists November 15, 2026 for Early Decision and April 15, 2027 for regular decision for both residential and online hybrid JD applicants. Applications after April 15 are considered as space permits. Review is rolling, and the application fee is $60.
Testing Policy
Submit the application, CAS materials, essays, resume, and recommendations as a complete package. Vermont accepts the LSAT or GRE, with scores valid for five years. GRE applicants send scores using code 3946 and notify admissions. Do not leave testing or transcript processing until the deadline.
If you're considering the GRE, read my LSAT vs. GRE guide before deciding.
For a full breakdown of early decision strategy, see Should You Apply Early Decision to Law School?
7. Vermont Law Scholarships and Financial Aid
Accepted applicants receive automatic consideration for VLGS Scholar Awards. Published renewal criteria include a 2.5 cumulative GPA and satisfactory academic progress. Awards apply to the JD portion of a joint degree; a change in program or enrollment status can change the award.
Mission Scholarships support environmental and public-service interests and include a $3,000 public-service internship stipend. Swan awards focus on animal and food-system work. Need-based assistance for on-campus students requires a separate request following the financial-aid notification, with FAFSA information used for eligible applicants.
Published residential tuition is $28,660 per semester, or $57,320 for two semesters. Adding $1,075 in annual campus and student fees and the listed $22,372 eight-month living budget produces $80,767 before aid. Accelerated and hybrid students have different billing schedules; compare the whole degree, not one year's award.
The Loan Repayment Assistance Program covers eligible VLGS JD federal borrowing for qualifying law-related public-interest employment of at least 35 hours weekly. Judicial clerkships are excluded. Annual eligibility and funding determine continued assistance.
For more on scholarship strategy, see How to Negotiate Law School Scholarships.
8. Vermont Law Joint Degree Programs
Vermont pairs the JD with master's degrees in Climate and Environmental Policy, Energy Regulation and Law, Restorative Justice, and Public Policy. Joint JD/master's programs can fit within three years through coordinated coursework. The Energy Regulation and Law route requires applying by the end of the first JD year.
JD/LLM options include Environmental Law, Energy Law, Food and Agriculture Law, and Animal Law. The joint LLM route requires a 3.0 cumulative GPA at the end of the fifth JD semester. Choose the additional degree for a defined skill or subject need, and budget separately for the graduate component rather than assuming your JD scholarship covers it.
9. Vermont Law Employment Outcomes (Class of 2025)
Vermont Law Class of 2025 employment outcomes (reported to the ABA, measured 10 months after graduation):
- Full-time, long-term bar-passage-required employment (ABA): 69.2%
- BigLaw (firms with 101+ attorneys): 3.1%
- Federal clerkships: 0.0%
- Public service (including government): 26.2%
Vermont was the largest employment destination, followed by New York and New Jersey. Smaller firms, state clerkships, and public-service work are more relevant planning categories here than large-firm hiring. Build geographic contacts and a realistic financing plan alongside your environmental or other practice interests.
10. Vermont Law Areas of Study and Specializations
Environmental Law: The Environmental Law Center anchors concentrations including Climate Law, Land Use Law, and Water Resources Law. Combine substantive courses with litigation or agency-facing work.
Energy Law: The Institute for Energy and the Environment connects regulation, markets, and the clean-energy transition. The Energy Clinic adds community-scale projects and agreements. This is a useful direction for applicants interested in how energy projects are financed, approved, and implemented.
Food and Agriculture: The Center for Agriculture and Food Systems develops legal resources for farmers and food-system organizations. Its Food and Agriculture Clinic turns research into practical tools. Connect food-system interests to contracts, land access, or regulation.
Animal Law: The Animal Law and Policy Institute and Farmed Animal Advocacy Clinic provide a specific route into animal-protection work. Students can connect a concentration to supervised research and advocacy.
Restorative Justice: The Center for Justice Reform connects graduate study, JD coursework, and experiential work involving responses to harm. Courses extend beyond criminal proceedings to education and community settings.
11. Vermont Law Clinics and Experiential Learning
Vermont's clinical options include:
- Environmental Advocacy Clinic: Represent public-interest organizations through supervised environmental litigation, legal research, agency comments, and public-records work. Students develop written arguments and case materials while connecting environmental statutes to the needs of an actual client.
- Environmental Justice Clinic: Work with communities addressing environmental burdens through legal research, advocacy, and participation in agency processes. Students connect community priorities to legal options and prepare materials that support clients in those proceedings.
- Energy Clinic: Develop community-energy projects, research regulatory questions, and help draft agreements and leases. Students examine how legal arrangements affect ownership and implementation, connecting energy regulation to the practical needs of community organizations.
- Farmed Animal Advocacy Clinic: Interview clients and prepare research, litigation documents, and administrative or policy advocacy concerning farmed animals. Supervised work connects animal-law study to identifying legal claims, organizing supporting material, and communicating a client’s position.
- Food and Agriculture Clinic: Build legal tools and client resources for food-system organizations, including farmer and market projects. Students turn legal research into practical guidance, explaining how relevant rules affect the organizations using those materials.
- South Royalton Legal Clinic: Interview clients, draft motions, negotiate, and assist with civil matters involving families, domestic violence, children, and veterans. Students develop case preparation and counseling skills while taking responsibility for work under attorney supervision.
- Center for Justice Reform Clinic: Work on immigration representation, asylum matters, record-clearing petitions, and related client advocacy. Students connect research and document preparation to individual circumstances, learning how procedural requirements shape the assistance a lawyer can provide.
- Transnational Environmental Law Clinic: Conduct comparative research and collaborate on environmental governance projects through the U.S.-Asia Partnerships for Environmental Law. Students examine different legal systems and prepare research supporting the program’s work with international partners.
Pro Bono and Experiential Learning
JD students must complete six clinic or externship credits. Externships allow second- and third-year students to work with judges and lawyers nationwide, including full-semester placements. Faculty supervision combines practice with discussion, journals, conferences, and feedback. Select a placement for the work you will do and the market you hope to enter, not simply the organization's name.
12. Vermont Law Notable Faculty and Journals
Faculty
- Christophe Courchesne, associate dean for environmental and experiential programs and associate professor, directs the Environmental Law Center and co-directs the Environmental Advocacy Clinic. He previously led environmental litigation work in the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office.
- Kevin Cassidy, professor and Environmental Advocacy Clinic co-director, brings civil and criminal environmental litigation experience, including service as a senior trial attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice's Environmental Crimes Section.
- Mark James, associate professor and director of the Institute for Energy and the Environment, researches energy regulation and participation in energy decision-making. His work includes electric-utility cybersecurity and clean-energy transition projects.
- Conley Wouters, associate professor and Farmed Animal Advocacy Clinic director, teaches animal law and supervised advocacy. His prior teaching includes animal law, contracts, and legal writing, alongside advanced study in animal law.
Journals
- Vermont Law Review: General-interest scholarship and student writing.
- Vermont Journal of Environmental Law: Environmental issues and environmental justice, with student writing and editing.
13. Vermont Law Culture and Student Life
South Royalton offers a small-town setting rather than a metropolitan law-school experience. Student organizations connect academic interests with community, including the Environmental Law Society, Energy Law Society, Animal Law Society, and First Generation Law Student Association. The Fighting Swans Hockey Team offers a different kind of shared activity.
Residential and online hybrid applicants should think separately about daily life. The accelerated JD uses summer study and requires a 3.0 GPA after the first fall to continue. The hybrid JD includes three brief residential sessions, while residential students build their routine around the Vermont campus. Choose the format that fits your work, family, and study obligations, not just the format that sounds most convenient on paper.
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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 Vermont 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.
