Admissions Viewbook
Information about USC Joseph F. Rice School of Law is available in our Viewbook. Read more >>
APPLY
Now accepting applications for the Fall 2025 admissions cycle.
If you have any questions, please contact our admissions team at 803-777-6605.
Prospective Candidates
Learn more about how we evaluate applications and character and fitness guidelines.
Check with the Law School Admission Council for the dates that the LSAT will be administered in any year. We encourage you to take the LSAT in the spring or summer, and no later than the fall, of the year before you expect to enroll in the August entering class. We will accept a score from tests taken in the winter and spring of the year in which you expect to enroll in August, but seats in the class may well be limited by then.
We expect that the majority of applicants will apply with an LSAT score. Those applicants must submit a writing examination through LSAT Writing, a proctored, on-demand writing exam that is administered online using secure proctoring software that can be installed on your computer. The writing ability of candidates who apply with a GRE or GMAT score will be evaluated through the appropriate components of those examinations.
Beginning September 1, 2018, the University of South Carolina School of Law accepted GRE and GMAT scores in place of an LSAT score for some students who have not taken the LSAT.
Why is USC accepting scores on the GRE and GMAT?
While the majority of our applicants will apply for admission using the LSAT score to meet our requirement for an admissions test score, South Carolina joined several other national law schools that accept the GRE and/or the GMAT as alternative admissions tests. We expect that acceptance of these alternative tests will broaden and diversify the applicant pool, while providing ample evidence upon which to evaluate applicants’ aptitude for the study of law. The University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law offers 12 dual degree programs, allowing applicants to apply for several academic programs on the strength of one entrance test will save applicants time, effort and money.
Which admissions test will be given the most weight in the admissions decision?
The Law School Admission Test (LSAT) will remain the primary admission test, and the vast majority applicants will be admitted with an LSAT score.
Am I required to subscribe to and use the LSAC Credential Assembly Services (CAS)
if I do not have an LSAT score to report?
Yes. All elements of the application must be submitted through the LSAC Credential Assembly Service (CAS) . The completed application for admission, your academic transcript(s), letters of recommendation, personal statement, resume, and other addenda you choose to submit as part of your application are processed by LSAC and delivered electronically to us through your CAS subscription service.
How do I submit my GRE or GMAT score to the School of Law?
You must request that the appropriate testing entity send your scores to the University of South Carolina School of Law. Our GRE school code is 4157. For the GMAT, designate the University of South Carolina School of Law as a recipient of your score.
How will the School of Law know which valid test score(s) I have and plan to submit
for consideration?
You must complete the questions on our application for admission that require you to indicate the tests (LSAT, GRE, or GMAT) for which you have valid scores. Your LSAT score(s) will be sent electronically to the School of Law as part of your CAS report.
Can I submit a GRE score in place of my LSAT score if I already have a valid LSAT
score?
No. If you have a valid LSAT score(s), a score on the GRE and/or GMAT will only be considered in addition to the LSAT score, not in place of a score. All valid LSAT scores are required to be submitted.
If I have taken the LSAT and the GRE or GMAT, am I required to submit all valid scores
on all of the tests?
No. If you have taken the LSAT, your valid LSAT score(s) is the only test score you are required to submit. A valid LSAT score will be the primary score used in the admissions decision. Applicants who have also taken the GRE and/or the GMAT are encouraged to have their scores on these tests submitted to the University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law by the appropriate testing entity.
If I took the LSAT Flex, but chose to preview and cancel my score, can I apply for admission with a valid GRE score?
Yes. However, you will be required to report your cancelled LSAT score in your application for admission.
Will more consideration be given to the verbal or quantitative section of the GRE?
Both sections will be considered and respective scores averaged to represent a general percentile score.
If I have scores on the LSAT and the GRE and/or GMAT, which scores will be reported?
The School of Law will follow the methodology established by the accreditation or evaluative entity when reporting scores on the LSAT and/or on alternative tests.
The University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law will pilot a special admissions program during its 2020 - 2021 admission cycle that will enable candidates who meet certain provisions to apply without an LSAT score. Please note that candidates must have earned, or will earn, a bachelor's degree from a campus of the University of South Carolina. Visit our alternate admissions test page to learn more about eligibility for the program.
Currently we offer a Juris Doctor.
Interested students can also earn a second degree to accompany your J.D. degree and choose from one of our several combination degree options.
We currently do not have a part-time program. Students are required to attend full time. Students must carry a minimum of 12 credit hours per semester. However, merely complying with the 12 credit hours per semester will not enable students to graduate in three years. A normal course load is 15 hours.
The USC Joseph F. Rice School of Law Student Handbook states that, “Because of the rigorous nature of the Law School curriculum and the requirements of law school accrediting agencies, law students are required to be 'full time' students. Students should not be employed during the first year of law school.” This is our policy; it is not a rule. We appreciate that some students must work to earn funds to attend law school.
Why are 1Ls strongly discouraged from working? Your first year will be stressful. Many students struggle to manage their time or keep up with coursework. Even if you are able to do both, consider whether outside work may impact your grades, and be aware that your class rank may impact your employment prospects. Moreover, first-year grades may affect your ability to join a law journal, competition team, or other extracurricular activity.
If the cost of law school is a concern, the University’s Financial Aid Office stands ready to help you determine how to finance your legal education. If you are admitted, reach out to the USC Financial Aid Office for advice as you are considering your law school choice.
The Student Handbook goes on to say, “Excessive employment during the second and third year is inadvisable; if undertaken, upper-class students should not exceed fifteen hours of outside employment per week and must not exceed twenty hours per week. Employment will not be considered a mitigating factor in the event of academic difficulties.”
As law students move through the JD program, they benefit from employment and other professional development experiences to help them establish beneficial relationships and clarify career goals and plans. The law school will help you connect with employers through mentoring, pro bono, externships, and summer jobs. Your advisors and Career & Professional Development team can help you understand when and how these connections take place.
To receive a Juris Doctor degree, a law student must attend a law school for six semesters, four of which must be completed in residence while taking at least 12 credit hours each semester.
90 hours are required for a Juris Doctor degree.
A student must register for a minimum of 12 hours, but no more than 16 hours per semester.
Please refer to our Student Handbook.
Please refer to our Student Handbook.
A= 4.0; B+=3.5; B=3.0; C+=2.5; C=2.0; D+=1.5; D=1.0; F=0
All degree seeking students are ranked at the end of each major semester. The class ranks are based on the collegiate cumulative GPA at that time. Fall class ranks, which will include summer grades, are made available by March 1. Spring class ranks are made available by August 1.
An applicant who applied in the prior admissions season must submit a new application form and application fee. If you had not finished your bachelor's degree when you applied previously, you also must submit a new LSAC/CAS report that includes all work toward the undergraduate degree. We strongly recommend that you update your resume and personal statement.
An applicant who is reapplying after more than one year must submit all required materials, as we only retain application files for one year.
Wait Listed Candidates
Data from past years guide us in determining how many offers we expect to make to fill our entering class of 200-210 students. But in some years, more admitted candidates than expected accept offers of admission to the University of South Carolina School of Law; in other years, fewer do so. Or, admitted candidates make initial confirmation deposits to more than one school, or change their enrollment plans and withdraw during the summer, creating places in the class.
Candidates who remain in consideration through the waiting list are encouraged to update their applications with the Law School Admission Council. Academic transcripts showing updates to current semester grades and notification of your plans to take a future LSAT are particularly useful to the Admissions Committee. LSAC will send updated CAS reports to us as your transcripts or scores are available.
The waiting list is a status in a candidate's file rather than an enumerated list. Admitted candidates will withdraw as they commit to other schools, and we will periodically notify candidates if it appears unlikely we will be able to offer them admission. There is no typical number accepted from the waiting list; it has varied from a few to 10 percent or more of the entering class.
We depend on admitted candidates to notify us of their intentions, so we cannot predict when seats may become available. We will invite candidates to remain in consideration for available seats from January through June if necessary. If you have not heard from us, you are still on the waiting list. Feel free to call the Admissions Office at any time to ask for an update on our admission process. Because of our required pre-enrollment steps, few offers of admission are extended after late July.
If an offer of admission is authorized for you, a member of our Admissions team will telephone or email you to discuss the opportunity before an offer is made.
We acknowledge that the cost of tuition is an important factor in your decision to attend law school. Scholarship funds vary throughout the admission process. The Admissions team continues to assess the availability of funds on a daily basis. The Admissions team will notify you should additional funds become available upon admission. More information about the cost of tuition and expenses may be found on our Tuition and Fees page.
Transfer Candidates
Yes. Students may transfer from another ABA accredited law school to the University of South Carolina School of Law.
Most first year courses will transfer if a grade of "C" or better is earned. An official determination is made after the law school transcript is reviewed by the Law Registrar.
No more than 30 credit hours may transfer.
Normally, the cumulative GPA is converted, if necessary to UofSC's 4.0 scale. Numerical grades are converted to letter grades. Credit hours earned in Spring 2020 classes will transfer, but students will receive an "S" (or Pass) for their spring courses to align their grades with those of the class they will join at USC.
Transfer students meet with the law registrar in late July/first of August to register.
Transfer students receive a class rank after one year of attendance at USC.