ADMISSION

The Legal Education Accelerated Program (LEAP) is Hofstra University’s 3+3 program that allows students to complete requirements for both the Bachelor of Arts and the juris doctor in just six years. After completing the third year of college (in Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences), LEAP students who meet the admission requirements for the law school will enroll in The Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University. The first year of law school will therefore also count as the fourth year of college.

Completing both college and law school in just six years will prove a challenging intellectual experience. Students particularly eager to begin their professional careers will be able to do so one year earlier. In addition, because LEAP students will complete both college and law school in just six years, they will save one year’s college tuition costs.

Students who are interested in participating in LEAP must complete the LEAP Supplemental Application. Students must declare an interest in LEAP on their Hofstra University Application in order to receive this additional application.

Normally, students admitted to LEAP have combined SAT scores of 1290 or better on the evidence-based reading and writing + math (or an ACT score of 27) and an overall GPA of 3.5 (or be in the top 15 percent of their high school graduating class.) However, there is some flexibility with regard to these criteria.

No, only incoming first-year students can participate in LEAP.

The application process for LEAP is rolling and therefore does not have a deadline. However, it is recommended that students submit the LEAP Supplemental Application by April 1.

A committee made up of representatives from the Office of Undergraduate Admission, Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and the Hofstra University School of Law meets on an ongoing basis to review the records of LEAP applicants. Those accepted to the program will receive letters of acceptance later that month.

LEAP students can select a BA track within the Hofstra College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.

While there are no additional scholarships for students in LEAP, these students are eligible for the traditional merit based scholarships which are offered at the time of admission to the University. All merit based awards are four year scholarships and as such the undergraduate scholarship will be applied toward the first year of law school tuition (the fourth year enrolled at Hofstra University). Students may also be eligible for need-based scholarships upon submission of the FAFSA form.

There are no special courses required of students within the LEAP program, and students are free to select any of the majors available in the Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, so long as they lead to the Bachelor of Arts degree. However, students in LEAP are encouraged to participate in a law-oriented First-Year Seminar which is offered in the fall of the first year.

LEAP students must complete all requirements for the B.A. degree in Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. This includes the College’s requirements in English composition and foreign language, and distribution courses in the College’s three divisions. In addition, every student must complete a Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences major. Careful planning in conjunction with an academic advisor is needed from the outset of students’ careers to assure that they will be able to complete all of these requirements within the allotted three year period.

LEAP students receive their BA degree upon successful completion of the first year of The Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University (29 semester hours). Together with the 95 semester hours previously completed (94 of them in liberal arts) at Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, these 29 semester hours will add up to the 124 semester hours required for the BA degree. Upon successful completion of the first year of law school, LEAP students will be invited to participate in the Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences commencement exercises and to receive their college diplomas.

LEAP students will normally be permitted to enroll in The Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University after completing their junior year, if they have earned a total of 95 semester hours (94 of them in liberal arts), meeting all requirements for the Bachelor of Arts degree, achieving a cumulative GPA of 3.4 in course work toward the BA, and achieving an LSAT score in their junior year that is no lower than the median LSAT score for the prior year’s full-time entering class at The Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University. Matriculation at The Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University takes place at the end of junior year; the BA is then granted after satisfactory completion of the first 29 semester hours of law school course work.

No. It is our expectation that students will complete three years of undergraduate work at Hofstra University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences prior to enrolling in The Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University. Students may use college and/or AP credits to lighten their workload in any given semester, but students will not be admitted to the law school without having completed three years of undergraduate work at Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. This is to assure that students entering The Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University possess the requisite intellectual and emotional maturity deemed necessary for success in the study of the law.

In order to make the transition from Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences to The Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University, LEAP students must:

• Register for and take the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) administered by the Law School Admission Council
• Register for the Law School Data Assembly Service (LSDAS) through the Law School Admission Council
• Submit all undergraduate transcripts to LSDAS
• Two letters of recommendation (optional)
• Complete the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University J.D. Program Application including the personal statement
• Comply with all applicable deadlines as stated on the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University Hofstra Law School Admissions Web site

For more information, please contact Francesca Olivo, Associate Dean of Admission, at leap@hofstra.edu or 516-463-6700 or Dr. Rosanna Perotti, professor of Political Science, at 516-463-5619 or rosanna.perotti@hofstra.edu.