NOTE: We published an update to the below 2024 cycle timeline in January 2024.

It’s officially summer here in the J.D. Admissions Office, and setting the timeline for the upcoming cycle is the first item on our to-do list.

This is our fifth year announcing our decision dates in advance of the cycle. We hope that knowing admit dates ahead of time will allow you to plan for the coming year.

Here is our expected timeline for the 2023–2024 regular J.D. application cycle:

September 15, 2023

J.D. Application Opens

January 8, 2024

First Round of Acceptances

February 12, 2024

Second Round of Acceptances

February 15, 2024

J.D. Application Closes

March 18, 2024

Third Round of Acceptances

May 1, 2024

Deadline to Respond to Offer of Admission

Just like the past three years, we will not release any decisions before January. We hope this encourages you to take the time and space you need to assemble your strongest application.

Since we began publishing our decision timeline in 2019, we’ve never missed any of our admit dates. But if anything changes in terms of timing, we’ll let you know on our blog. And we plan to update this timeline with the dates for deny and waitlist decisions later in the cycle (probably in early January, as we did last winter).

As always, we look forward to reviewing your applications. Meanwhile, we’re busy planning fall recruitment travel as well as virtual and on-campus information sessions. More to come soon!

~ Dean Jobson

Filed in: Assistant Dean's Corner, Inside the Black Box

Contact the J.D. Admissions Office

Website: hls.harvard.edu/jdadmissions

Email: jdadmiss@law.harvard.edu