Harvard Law School : Ranking, Fees, Courses, Requirements

Harvard Law School (HLS) was founded in 1817. It is the Law School of Harvard University, which is a private research university situated in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Harvard Law School is the oldest Law School in the United States, which is still in operation.

Harvard Law School provides many graduate-level Law programs, including JD, SJD, LLM, etc. Harvard Law School is home to the world’s largest academic Law Library, too. Approximately 1,990 students attend HLS each year. With 1750 being J.D. students, 180 being LL.M. students, and 60 being S.J.D. candidates. Harvard Law School boasts a large community of noteworthy alumni who were able to make significant contributions to their fields. The Notable alumni of Harvard Law School include Rutherford B. Hayes and Barack Obama, the 19th and the 44th presidents of the United States. Harvard Law School students are involved in publishing and preparing the Harvard Law Review, which is one of the most highly cited university law reviews.

The Law School is well-renowned for its research programs and centers such as the Animal Law & Policy Program, Berkman Klein Centre for Internet and Society, Centre on the Legal Profession, Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Society, etc. The Harvard Law School campus is built on 1000 acres of land, which was given by Isaac Royall Jr. With 119 full-time faculty members, the student-to-faculty ratio is 7:1 at Harvard Law School, which indicates the level of attention these Harvard Law School students receive from their faculty. With an extreme focus on high employability skills, Harvard Law School's placement rate stands at 97.6% for the class of 2024, which is higher than last year by a minor gap.

The Law School has a career support department named the Office of Career Services (OCS), which is a team of advisors and professionals who work with students to help them land their dream jobs. These career services are also open for Harvard Law School alumni.

Things to Know about Harvard Law School

Harvard Law School is known for its large network of 40,000 alumni scattered all over the world. This Law School is considered quite competitive to get into, as the Harvard Law School acceptance rate stands at 11% for its J.D. class of 2027, where the school received 7,235 applications, and only 793 were offered admission.

Here are some more highlights for Harvard Law School:

(USD 1 = INR 88.17)

Harvard Law School is focused on inclusion and promoting diversity at its campus, 53% of the J.D. class of 2027 were women, followed by students of color, which was 43%.

Legal studies enthusiasts from all over the world apply to Harvard Law School for the state-of-the-art learning infrastructure, its rich cultural heritage, and Legal Clinics. This school attracts Legal studies enthusiasts from all over the world who apply to Harvard Law School for the state-of-the-art learning infrastructure, its rich cultural heritage, and Legal Clinics. This school gave 622 graduates, out of whom 601 were employed within 10 months after graduation. Law firms got the biggest chunk of these Harvard Law graduates.

Below are the detailed Job Sectors the Harvard Law School graduates were placed after graduation:

Read more: Harvard Law School Placement Report 2024

The international students can apply once a year as Harvard Law School offers 1 intake a year i.e., in August, which is known to be the Fall Semester.

Admissions at Harvard Law School are done on a round and seasonal basis. The deadlines for the same are mentioned in the table below:

Harvard Law School is one of the top-notch Law schools and is accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA), a prestigious accreditation. The Harvard Law School JD acceptance rate for the class that entered in 2024 was 11%, meaning out of every 100 applications, only 11 students recieved an offer letter, which makes it quite difficult to get admission at Harvard Law School.

However, a student can get admission to this B-School by fulfilling the requirements:

Harvard Law School JD Requirements as an international Student:

• A four-year Bachelor’s Degree from an Accredited university
• Letters of recommendation (at least 1)

• Essay
• Standardized entrance test scores (LSAT/GRE)
• Official transcripts
• Resume
• Statement of Purpose

Harvard Law School LLM admissions requirements as an international student:

• Law Degree (Have a Juris Duty) from an ABA-approved US Law School or a first Law degree from a foreign law school

• English proficiency test scores (TOEFL)

• Letters of recommendation (At least 2)

• Standardized tests (LSAT/GRE)
• Statement of purpose
• Essay

• Resume/CV

• Official transcripts

Harvard Law School Admission Process 2025:

Step 1- Choose a program- International students must choose the Law course that interests them.

Step 2- Fill the application form: Students must visit the official website and gather all the required documents before filling in the application form.

Step 3- Pay application fee: Students must pay the application fee of USD 85 – USD 90 (INR 7.49K - INR 7.94K) for the JD and LLM programs.

Step 4- Wait for response: Harvard Law School will review the application and within a few weeks, they will provide an offer letter to join the program.

Step 5-Attend Interview: Harvard Law School conducts interviews for a few percentage of students on an invitation basis.

Located in the heart of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University takes pride in its rich cultural history. Harvard Law School has a beautiful campus with a happening atmosphere, as the students studying here have close proximity to great restaurants, movie theatres, clubs, recreational activities centers, etc. Harvard Law School campus is surrounded by beautiful neighborhoods and parks.

There are over 200 student organizations, 17 student journals, and 47 clinics, externships & SPOs at Harvard Law School. The students are presented with the option to opt for on-campus and off-campus. More than 1/3 of the law students live on-campus making the on-house campus a popular choice. The students can apply for on-campus housing at Harvard via the official portal.

The HLS has residential buildings of different styles with variations in cost:

• Dormitory-Style Residential Rooms: The academic year cost for the Dormitory Standard Single room is USD 8,610 (INR 7.59L).

• Apartment-Style Rooms: The academic year cost for a Single Large Studio Apartment is USD 23,841 (INR 21.01L).

There are other kinds of room and apartment types too, the students are suggested to keep their budget in mind while selecting these on-campus accommodation options.