J.D. Admissions Transfer Applicants

Policies

A J.D. student who has completed their first year, full-time, J.D. curriculum at an ABA-accredited law school may apply for admission with advanced standing as a J.D. degree candidate.

Transfer applications are accepted for autumn/fall entry only. The transfer admission process at UW Law is highly competitive and most competitive transfer applicants will rank in the top third at the conclusion of their 1L class.

An LL.M. student who is currently enrolled in an LL.M. program at an ABA-accredited law school may apply to transfer as a J.D. candidate with advanced standing provided the applicant has met all of the following criteria: (1) the applicant is a graduate of a law school in a country outside the United States; (2) the applicant successfully completed J.D. degree coursework while enrolled in the LL.M. program; and (3) the law school that the applicant enrolled at for their LL.M. degree has a grading system for LL.M. students in J.D. courses that is comparable to the grading system for J.D. degree students in the course. LL.M. applicants are not required to take the LSAT.

Transfer students are accepted on a space-available basis only. Review and decision release is rolling.

The primary goal of the admissions process is to enroll students who strive to be leaders; demonstrate outstanding academic, professional, and leadership promise; are committed to generous public service and ethical advocacy; and who have background and experiences that will enhance the experience of the student body, thereby enriching the law school educational environment.

Application Deadline

• Application opens: May 15
• Submission deadline: July 15
• Completion deadline: Aug. 1 (all required materials received by this date)

Application Instructions

An application is complete and ready for evaluation when all of the following items are received. All materials, except for the Letter of Good Standing, must be sent to the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC). UW Law will not accept emailed/mailed materials.

• Application — Applicants must submit the application through LSAC. Students with foreign transcripts must still apply through LSAC. The Office of Admissions will not accept transcripts mailed to the law school.
• $60 Application Fee — The application fee will be collected when you submit your application through LSAC.
• Personal Statement — The University of Washington School of Law aspires to be the best public law school in the nation and one of the world's most respected centers for interdisciplinary legal studies. Advancing access to justice, facilitating a fair and thriving global marketplace and fostering an environment of inclusivity and equity is integral to who we are.
  
  The primary goal of the admissions process is to enroll students who strive to be leaders; demonstrate outstanding academic, professional, and leadership promise; are committed to generous public service and ethical advocacy; and who have background and experiences that will enhance the diversity of the student body, thereby enriching the law school educational environment. Your personal statement should differ from the one you submitted as an incoming 1L. It should focus on sharing more about yourself, highlighting your academic experiences in law school, your career goals, and the reasons why you want to transfer to UW Law. Please limit your response to 700 words.
• Summer and Career Statement — Please provide a statement outlining your plans for the summer following your 1L or LL.M. year, as well as your career goals after graduation. Be sure to include your preferred practice area and desired geographic location. The statement should be no more than half a page, double-spaced and submitted as an addendum to your application.
• Resume — Please provide a resume detailing any significant vocational, non-vocational, extracurricular or community activities, volunteer work, honors, awards, any service in the Armed Forces, job descriptions and major areas of responsibility along with dates of employment (mm/yyyy) and the number of hours per week devoted to such activities, publications or other information that you believe the University of Washington School of Law should consider in evaluating your application. Also please include details as to any foreign language proficiencies you possess, including the level of ability with regard to speaking, comprehension, reading, and writing. Your resume may not exceed three (3) typewritten pages.
• Letter of Good Academic Standing — Please arrange for a Letter of Good Academic Standing to be sent directly to the Office of Admissions & Financial Aid. This letter should be prepared from your law school Registrar or Academic Dean and must (a) provide your class ranking at the end of your first year of law school instruction (if it is not provided on your law school transcript) or indicate that your law school does not rank students, and (b) state that you are in good academic standing and eligible to continue. This letter may be emailed to lawadm@uw.edu by the Registrar or Academic Dean. Applicants who provide a Letter of Good Academic Standing without (a), (b) and (c) will be required to resubmit the letter.
• Official Law School Transcript — Please arrange for an official law school transcript to be sent to LSAC after all 1L grades have been posted. The law school will not accept mailed or emailed transcripts.
• Credential Assembly Service Report — We will request this report from LSAC upon receipt of your application. It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure that LSAC has received all necessary materials to complete the CAS file (transcripts and one Letter of Recommendation). You are advised to confirm that your CAS file is complete; LSAC will not send the law school a CAS Report until it is complete.
• Letter of Recommendation — One (1) letter of recommendation is required and should be submitted through LSAC's Letter of Recommendation Service. The letter should be from a law professor who knows an applicant's work well and can give a well-substantiated assessment of their academic potential. A second Letter of Recommendation will be accepted but should not be one of the letter's used when you applied to law school initially.

Please note: all records become part of the official file. They will not be returned or duplicated.

Additional Policies and Information

Academic Credit

Please note that semester-hour credits are converted to quarter-hour credits at a ratio of 1:1.5; e.g., 30 semester-hour credits will convert to 45 quarter-hour credits. For transfer students, UW Law will accept all of the credits earned during the student’s first-year program. Additional credits earned after the first-year are evaluated on a case-by-case basis, but may not exceed one-third of the total credits required for graduation. Transfer students are expected to be in residence for a minimum of five quarters and 85 quarter-hour credits. These students are also eligible for graduation with honors based upon academic performance in the second and third years of law school at UW Law.

Only after receiving an offer of admission will the determination of course credits be assessed.

Nondiscrimination Policy

UW Law provides for a selective admission process with the objective of attracting students who demonstrate the strongest prospects for high quality academic work. This selective admission process shall assure that the University's educational opportunities shall be open to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, citizenship, sex, pregnancy, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, disability or veteran status. The process of admission shall be mindful of the need for diversity in the student body and for highly-trained individuals from all segments of the population. For more information, please visit the UW Policy Directory, Executive Order No. 31.

Applicant Responsibility and Accuracy of Information

Applicants are under a continued obligation to notify the law school immediately of any and all circumstances and events that may occur from the date an application is submitted to the first day of enrollment that may change any of the responses to their application. UW Law reserves the right to rescind an offer of admission if the candidate fails to maintain satisfactory scholastic standing for work in progress, if final records fail to show completion of courses and/or degrees required for admission or if the admission decision was based on incomplete, inaccurate or misleading information furnished by the applicant. In addition, the law school may also report its findings to LSAC's Misconduct and Irregularities Committee.

Character and Moral Fitness

Applicants who have been convicted of a felony or other serious crime are eligible for admission into the law school; however, because state bar associations often prohibit persons with criminal records from being admitted to the bar regardless of their degrees or training, it may be impossible for such individuals to practice in some states.

In addition to the bar examination, there are character, fitness and other qualifications for admission to the bar in every U.S. jurisdiction. Applicants are encouraged to determine the requirements for any jurisdiction in which they intend to seek admission by contacting the jurisdiction. Addresses for all relevant agencies are available through the National Conference of Bar Examiners.

Interview for Admission

As part of the admission evaluation process, the admissions committee may request an interview of a prospective transfer applicant. These interviews will be conducted either in-person or online and will be 30 minutes in length.

Journal Membership

Transfer applicants may have the opportunity to join one of the four journals through a process parallel to that in which our rising 2L students participate. Transfer applicants interested in joining one of the journals must participate in the Transfer Write-On competition. The deadline to register for the Write-On competition is June 11 at midnight. The competition will be held from June 12–22.  Applicants may register, participate in the Write-On competition and accept a position even if you have not been admitted or deposited at UW Law.  Participation in the Write-On competition will not be considered in making admission decisions. Admitted transfer students who deposit with UW Law are required to withdraw from Journal consideration at their previous law school. You may register for the competition by submitting the Transfer Applicant Write-On Registration form. Information can be found in slides from a Write-On competition Information Session. If you do not participate in the summer Write-On competition, there will be a second competition during the Winter quarter.

On-Campus Interview (OCI) and Resume Collection Program

Admitted transfer applicants should participate in the UW Law’s Recruiting Programs (e.g., On Campus Interviewing (OCI); public service programming; and other employment recruitment opportunities).

On Campus Interviewing. OCI provides students with an opportunity to interview with attorneys from local and national law firms, government agencies and corporations. These interviews are coordinated by the Center for Career Development (CCD) and occur during summer, fall, and winter quarters. Law firms also engage in direct hiring; transfer students are encouraged to monitor firm/corporate/government-sponsored hiring also. The deadline to apply for OCI will be posted on the CCD resource page (updated as information is made available). Students are expected to explore these resources once a student is admitted, receives their UW Law credentials and is granted access to CCD resources (including 12Twenty). We make every effort to render — but cannot guarantee — an admission decision in time for participation in programs such as OCI. Transfer students should submit law firm application materials, in particular, as soon as possible following admission. Please review CCD’s OCI policies and guidelines in the Career Development Resource Center on how to participate, including the directions on uploading materials to 12Twenty.

Job Postings & Events. Generally, employers post jobs in 12Twenty throughout the year, with an emphasis in early in Spring Quarter. Employers review applications on their own timeline and interview selected candidates off campus. Carefully review individual job posts to understand employer requests and deadlines. In addition to OCI, employers visit campus and participate in recruitment events. Admitted students should register for events through 12Twenty.

Engaging with the Center for Career Development. Following UW Law’s receipt of the admitted student deposit and activation of your UW Law ID, Career Development will provide you with access to 12Twenty and various CCD tools and resources. Please do not contact Career Development until you receive confirmation from the Admissions Office that your CCD profile is active. At this point, you are also eligible to participate in UW Law OCI programs. Admitted transfer students who deposit with UW Law are required to withdraw from any OCI program at their previous law school and withdraw from any scheduled interviews made via the school’s OCI program, prior to participating in UW Law OCI.

Transfer Financial Aid

Incoming transfer students are not eligible for institutional scholarship funding until they have completed a full quarter term at UW Law. We encourage incoming transfer students to apply for financial aid and external scholarships.