Checking Your Application Status
Thank you for applying to the University of Chicago Law School! We look forward to reviewing your application. Please monitor the status of your application through the Online Status Checker. The Admissions Office will send an email confirming we have received your application.
A Note about Communications
The Admissions Office sends all correspondence to the email account listed on your application. It is very important to provide a personal email address with your application (Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, etc.) instead of a university email address. Many university servers filter out our emails before they even make it to the spam folder. You should receive an email from the Admissions Office when we receive your application and when the application is complete. If you are not receiving these email communications from the Admissions Office, please check your spam filter and contact the Admissions Office if necessary. Feel free to contact the Admissions Office if you need us to update your contact information.
Updating your Application
The Admissions Committee strongly prefers you submit all information with your initial application. Once your Online Status Checker indicates your application is "in review", please do not send updates unless:
- The Admissions Committee requests additional materials,
- Your update pertains to the Character and Fitness sections of the application, or
- Your update substantially alters the truthfulness and completeness of your application.
- Examples of substantial updates: you received a promotion at work and your title has changed or you have accepted a new job.
- Examples of updates that do not substantially alter the completeness of your application: minor spelling or grammatical errors.
If an update is necessary, please (1) send your update in PDF form to admissions@law.uchicago.edu, (2) indicate the reason for the update in your email, and (3) highlight the change in your updated document.
Note: Updated documents do not replace original documents. Original materials in your application will remain in your file.
A Note about Timing
We begin reviewing completed applications in the fall and continue until all applicants have received a decision. You may follow your application status by checking the Online Status Checker. Please remember we read files in the order they are completed and ready for review, which means we begin our review with files completed in September. Throughout the application cycle, you may see the following statuses on your Online Status Checker:
"Application Received - In Queue for Processing": This means we have received your application, but we have not yet processed your application as complete or incomplete. At the height of the admissions season (late November through the end of January), it can take up to four weeks to process your application materials and complete your application. Until your application is processed and marked complete, your status checker will show we have not received your CAS report, even if we have your CAS report. Once we process your application and mark it complete, we will update that we have received your CAS report. Please do not email about receipt of your CAS report unless your status checker indicates "Application Incomplete".
"Application Complete - Ready for Review": This means we have processed your application and have the required materials necessary to begin reviewing your application for admission. Depending on the date you applied, your file may remain at "Application Complete - Ready for Review" for several weeks because we are considering the files of applicants who applied and completed their applications before yours.
"Application Incomplete": This means we have processed your application and you are missing a required material or holding your application until we receive a future LSAT score.
For applicants submitting an LSAT score, please remember to complete the LSAT Writing test if you have not already done so. Your file will not be marked as complete until you have done so.
"Application in Review/Review in Progress": This means your application is under review by a member of the Admissions Committee. Your application will remain under review until we send a decision. The Admissions Office releases decisions for Early Decision Applicants before January 1 and begins releasing decisions for Regular Decision Applicants after January 1. Depending on when you apply, your application may be under review for 6-8 weeks before you receive a decision.
Please note, it is your responsibility to monitor the status of your application and ensure the Law School has received all required application materials. If items are missing from your application, your "Status" will state "Application Incomplete". If you have questions about which items are missing, the Admissions phone line (773-702-9484) is open Monday - Friday 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. (CST) except on major holidays and for occasional closings. You are always welcome to email any questions or comments to admissions@law.uchicago.edu.
Future Standardized Test Registrations
Applicants must have a standardized test score on file before we complete an application. If you have a test score on file, but you would like us to wait for a future standardized test score before completing your file, you must indicate on your application that you would like us to wait for a future score. Be sure to include the date of the future GRE, GMAT, and/or LSAT score in the Test Submission and Standardized Test sections of the application. *Exception: If you have a GRE or GMAT score on file and you plan to take a future LSAT score, please indicate the date of your future LSAT in your application. We will wait for your future LSAT score to complete your file.
Please note, if we complete your file before we receive your future test score, it is possible the Admissions Committee will make a decision on your application before we receive your standardized test score.
If you do not indicate a future test date on your application and you later register for a standardized test and would like us to wait for the score before reviewing your application, please email admissions@law.uchicago.edu to hold your application for the score.
Decision Notification
In an effort to make our decision notification procedures consistent with our paperless admissions process and environmentally conscious, we issue our decisions electronically via email. Admitted applicants will receive an email notifying them of their acceptance, followed by an official paper letter through regular mail. Applicants who are waitlisted or denied will be notified of those decisions by email only. Each applicant's status and a record of the communications sent to them will be updated on the Online Status Checker after a decision has been issued.
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