Becoming a Member

Each year, The University of Chicago Law Review offers membership to 29 rising second year students on the basis of their first year grades and their performance on a writing competition administered at the end of the first year. Students who are taking a year off to pursue a joint degree must enter the writing competition the summer before they resume law school, that is, the summer prior to their second year.

The Law Review extends an offer of membership to 19 students based on their 1L grades and the submission of a "good faith" entry in the writing competition (described below). The remaining 10 members are selected based solely on their performance on the writing competition. Because all members are required to enter the writing competition, neither Members nor the Board know whether an individual student has "written-on" or "graded-on." In addition, the Law Review does not release the cut-off for grading onto the Review. In previous years, approximately 100 students have participated in the writing competition.

The writing competition has two components. First, participating students are asked to write a "Topic Analysis," a 10-page paper detailing the merits of a particular topic as the basis of a Comment. The Law Review, the Chicago Journal of International Law, and Legal Forum all use the same writing competition, and students may enter for any of the journals. The topic is selected by the Boards of the various journals, and all relevant materials are provided in a packet that can be purchased from the Law Review; no outside research is permitted. Second, participating students must complete an edit of a short sample of legal writing. (The Topic Analysis counts for 70 percent of each entry's grade, while the edit counts for the remaining 30 percent.)

Students interested in entering the writing competition must submit a letter of intent. The writing competition packet is handed out after the last 1L exam, and must be postmarked two weeks after the Monday following the last 1L exam. The Board will hold an informational meeting in May at which time the competition will be described in greater detail.

Transfer students are encouraged to participate in the summer writing competition as well. Those interested should contact Jayme McKellop, the Assistant Director of Admissions, at jmckellop@law.uchicago.edu.

Offers of membership are extended in late July or early August. All Members must be able to report back to school for the start of Summer Camp, which will be held on August 30, 2008.

For more information, see the letter to 1Ls considering entering the writing competition.

Letter of Intent
Letter to Prospective Members (1L)
Letter to Prospective Members (Transfer)

The Topic Access Program
Second and third year students may also join Law Review through the Topic Access program. Students are accepted to the Law Review on the basis of a student Comment deemed publishable by the Managing Board. For more information, please download the Topic Access memo below.

Download the Topic Access Memo
What Characterizes a Strong Topic Proposal
What Characterizes a Strong Topic Analysis

Download sample topic proposals
Download a sample topic analysis