Please read all directions on this
page — some of our application procedures
and requirements were changed in July 2008.
Application
deadline: FEBRUARY 1 of the
year that admission is requested.
Admission offers made by: April
15
Applicants must have received the academic degree regarded as their countries' first professional degree in law (equivalent to the U.S. Juris Doctor degree). From France we require either the Maitrise en Droit or the Magistere de Juriste. For students who obtained their legal education under the Bologna degree system in Europe, we require both the Bachelor and Master degrees or their equivalents. From the United Kingdom we will consider an application where the bachelor degree is in a non-law subject if the applicant has also completed the two-year program at a college of law required to qualify as a solicitor if the applicant does not have a first degree in law. Please contact the Graduate Studies Office if you have any questions regarding your eligibility to apply to our LL.M. program based on your legal education.
Applicants must submit the following materials in support of their application:
1. Application Form: Applicants should
take particular care in outlining and discussing their reasons
for wanting to pursue graduate work, including a statement of
future professional plans. Applicants should also describe their
principal areas of interest, with as much specificity as possible.
Complete the application on a computer or typewriter, or by printing in ink. Please do not put your application materials
in a binder or notebook or enclose them in plastic page covers
because this prevents your materials from fitting in our application
folders.
2. Official Transcripts: Applicants must submit transcripts and proof of degree (if proof of degree does not appear on the transcript) from all prior colleges, law schools, or graduate schools attended, even if the applicant did not graduate. Transcripts must be in English or accompanied by a certified English translation. Applicants should ask the appropriate official at each school to send original or school certified copies of the transcript and proof of degree directly to the University of Virginia School of Law; the official should sign/stamp across the seal of the envelope. If the school will not send these documents directly to us, the applicant should ask the appropriate school official to provide an official transcript and proof of degree (either originals or school certified copies) in a sealed envelope, which the official signs/stamps across the seal. Applicants should not open these sealed envelopes but should include them unopened in their applications. If an applicant’s school does not provide an English translation, the applicant may take the sealed transcript to an official translator who may open the envelope and complete and certify the translation. The translator should then put the original transcript, the envelope in which the original transcript came, and the English translation into another envelope, which the translator must seal and then sign/stamp across the seal. Include this sealed envelope, unopened, in the application. Please note that we cannot review your application or consider it complete if your documents are not submitted to us according to our directions. If a transcript does not show class standing, the institution should be asked to provide an estimate of such standing, if possible. Official statements by schools regarding class ranks and GPAs should also come to us in sealed envelopes, signed/stamped across the seal by the appropriate school official. Note that we do not accept a transcript analysis completed by World Education Services in place of the official transcripts discussed above. Applicants accepted for the LL.M. program who are currently in their last year of schooling for the first degree in law will be asked to provide additional final transcripts and proof of degree upon graduation. The University of Virginia School of Law reserves the right to ask for further verification or authentication of documents.
3. LSAC LL.M. Credential Assembly Service: The Law School Admission Council (LSAC) offers a credential assembly service for LL.M. program applicants. Virginia Law is strongly recommending, but not requiring, that international applicants to our LL.M. or S.J.D. program register with LSAC’s LL.M. Credential Assembly Service (www.LLM.LSAC.org).
This service could save you time and money, especially if you intend to apply to multiple U.S. or Canadian graduate law degree programs. You will only need to obtain your transcripts and other required academic credentials one time in order to make them available for all of your law school applications. LSAC will compile, authenticate, and distribute your university records [and TOEFL score(s)—if required]. Several reports to law schools are included in the registration fee. Additional reports will be distributed at an additional cost. Once you sign up for the service, you may apply to participating U.S. and Canadian law schools for a period of several years. For more information , go to www.LLM.LSAC.org.
You must still complete the University of Virginia School of Law’s application and submit it along with letters of recommendation and the $75 required application fee to the University of Virginia School of Law. The LSAC service serves only to authenticate non-U.S. or Canadian academic credentials.
The University of Virginia School of Law will not be participating in the Service Fee Reduction Request feature of the LSAC LL.M. Credential Assembly Service. Therefore, do not submit materials related to a request for a reduction of this LSAC fee to the School of Law.
Lastly, on the above-mentioned LSAC Web site, the School of Law is listed as one of the schools that has minimum degree requirements for certain countries that differ from those listed in the booklet. The School of Law requires that an applicant hold the academic degree regarded as his or her country’s first professional degree in law (equivalent to the U.S. Juris Doctor degree). From France we require either the Maitrise en Droit or the Magistere de Juriste. For students who obtained their legal education under the Bologna degree system in Europe, we require both the Bachelor and Master degrees or their equivalents. From the United Kingdom we will consider an application where the bachelor degree is in a non-law subject if the applicant has also completed the two-year program at a college of law required to qualify as a solicitor if the applicant does not have a first degree in law. Please contact the Graduate Studies Office if you have any questions regarding your eligibility to apply to our LL.M. program based on your legal education.
4. Letters of Recommendation: Application
requires at least two letters from persons who know the applicant
well and are in a position to evaluate his or her capacity for
advanced legal study. Current students or recent graduates should
submit letters from two law school teachers. Applicants who have
completed their law degree more than five years ago should solicit
a letter from a current or former employer in addition to one
from a former teacher. The committee recognizes that a letter
from a former teacher may not be practicable in the case of an
applicant who has been out of school for some time, in which
case the second letter may be from an employer or colleague who
is in a position to comment upon the candidate's qualifications.
Letters from family members, friends, or persons who are not
well acquainted with the applicant are not helpful and should
not be submitted. Each recommendation letter should be an original and should be accompanied by one of the recommendation forms found in our application materials. If you need additional forms, you may photocopy them. The form should be signed by both the applicant and the recommender. Please read the directions on these recommendation forms carefully. E-mailed recommendations are not accepted.
5. Application Fee: A check or money order in the amount of $75 made payable to the University of Virginia in U.S. currency. Applicants from abroad must use an International Money Order or Travelers Checks (unless funds are drawn on a U.S. bank). The Law School does not waive application fees for graduate programs.
6. TOEFL Score: International applicants who do not meet the very limited exceptions listed below are required to demonstrate proficiency in English by completing the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) within two years prior to submitting the application. This is true regardless of the number of years of instruction in English the applicant may have had or if English is the “official” language of the applicant’s home country. Students who have studied in English (in India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore, African countries, etc.) are not exempt from the TOEFL requirement. The only exceptions are applicants for whom English is the native language from Australia, the English-speaking provinces of Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, or applicants from South Africa who attended English-medium universities in South Africa. If applicants do not fall under one of these limited exceptions, they should not assume for any reason that they are exempt from the TOEFL requirement. Instead, they should contact the Graduate Studies Office early in the admissions season, before they apply, to discuss the issue. Domestic applicants whose native language is not English and who have not attended schools where instruction is in English, may also be required to submit TOEFL scores.
For all those required to take the TOEFL exam, the minimum scores we look for are:
Paper Based Test (PBT): 600
Computer Based Test (CBT): 250
iBT TOEFL:
Writing: 22
Speaking: 22
Reading: 23
Listening: 23
Note that the iBT TOEFL (the new-generation TOEFL exam) will be implemented in stages across the world. For information and questions about iBT TOEFL, please contact ETS. The University of Virginia School of Law will continue to accept PBT and CBT test scores as long as they are available from ETS and are less than two years old.
Applicants should arrange to take the TOEFL at the earliest
possible date, no later than December 1, in order to ensure that
their applications are completed by the February
1 deadline. Please
include a photocopy of your TOEFL scores with your application
if you have already received your test results. This may enable
the Law School to expedite the review of your application.
Scores must be submitted in accordance with the procedures listed
above. To arrange an examination date and for further information:
TOEFL/TSE Services-ETS
www.TOEFL.org
Applicants should have an official score report sent to the Law School from ETS, using the Institutional Code Number 5820 and Department Code 03. (Applicants using the LSAC LL.M. Credential Service should use the Institutional Code Number and Department Code number given on the LSAC LL.M. Credential Service Web site.)
The Graduate Committee will accept a score from the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) in lieu of a TOEFL score. The minimum score on the IELTS exam is 7.5. As with the TOEFL exam, we will not accept scores that are more than two years old. The details found above in the discussion about the TOEFL exam apply to IELTS scores as well. If you have questions concerning submission of an IELTS score, please contact gradadmitlaw@virginia.edu.
Applicants should be
aware that competency in English is critical to success in
the graduate law programs at the University of Virginia, and
that demonstrated fluency in English is an important consideration
in evaluating applications.
7. Deadlines: Applications, including
all supporting materials, must be received by February
1. Applications
that are not complete on this date will be reviewed on a space-available
basis at the discretion of the Graduate Committee. Applicants
are notified by e-mail when their applications are complete.
Candidates are strongly advised to apply early in the fall semester
of the year prior to the one for which they seek admission. Although
completed applications are not due until February 1, the Graduate
Committee follows a "rolling admissions" policy and
offers of admission may be made before the February 1 deadline.
Therefore, it is advantageous to apply early.
Importance of Full Disclosure
Falsification of information in an application for the Graduate Studies Program or failure to provide complete responses to requests for information, including information concerning financial aid status, will be a basis for exclusion from the Law School. In addition, either could result in disciplinary action by bar authorities or loss of legal resident status for noncitizen students. Applicants have a continued duty to disclose even after they have submitted their applications. Students planning to take a bar exam should familiarize themselves with the rules for admission to the bar of the state in which they intend to seek admission, especially those rules relating to character, fitness, and other qualifications for practice.
ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION
Interviews
A personal interview is not required as part
of the evaluation process. Interested persons are, however, welcome
to visit the Law School, sit in on classes, and meet with the
director or another member of the Graduate Committee. Such visits
may be arranged through the Graduate Studies Office.
Standards
The Law School receives hundreds of applications
for the 45 places in its LL.M. class. The admissions process
is highly competitive and the Graduate Committee must, unfortunately,
disappoint many qualified applicants. Although demonstrated excellence
in prior law study is essential, the committee places equal emphasis
on other evidence of applicants' personality, accomplishments,
and potential for professional achievement as revealed through
letters of recommendation, extracurricular activities, personal
interests, and prior legal (or law-related) experience. The principal
criterion for admission, however, is the closeness of the fit
between the applicants' professional interests and the Law School's
resources. Accordingly, the Committee places special weight on
applicants' stated reasons for wanting to pursue graduate legal
studies, and their principal intellectual interests and career
plans. In general, Virginia does not admit students who have received an LL.M. degree from another U.S. school.
S.J.D. Program
Only a few students are admitted to candidacy for the Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) degree. Because the S.J.D. is primarily a research degree, evaluation of the applicant's proposed research agenda is the primary factor considered in the admissions decision. Accordingly, one, several, or no persons may be admitted to S.J.D. candidacy in any given year.
Most applicants for admission to the S.J.D. program have already completed the Law School's LL.M. program. In exceptional cases, the Graduate Committee will consider applications from persons who have received the LL.M. or its equivalent from another U.S. law school and from those who have already achieved professional distinction in law teaching, private practice, or government service. Applicants who do not already hold the Law School's LL.M. will not be considered for candidacy until they have completed two semesters in residence demonstrating honors ability in a program of study consisting of 12-16 hours of courses, seminars and/or independent study as may be prescribed and approved by the Director of Graduate Studies.
All candidates must have earned their previous degree or degrees in law with distinction and must demonstrate the capacity for making an original and substantial contribution to the legal literature. Accordingly, to be considered for candidacy, an applicant must submit, at the time of application, a dissertation proposal in such detail as to permit the Graduate Committee to evaluate the feasibility, originality, and likely scholarly contribution of the candidate's research plans. The proposal must also be endorsed by a resident faculty member who will agree to supervise the research and writing of the proposed dissertation.
In addition, applicants for the S.J.D. program should submit the same materials required for LL.M. applications, taking particular care to describe fully the applicant's reasons for wanting to pursue the degree and its relevance to his or her planned career.
The Law School does not offer financial aid to S.J.D. students.
The application deadline for S.J.D. applications is February 1st.
CONTINUE to the APPLICATION
CHECKLIST FOR APPLICATION FORMS
GRADUATE STUDIES OFFICE
University of Virginia School of Law
580 Massie Road
Charlottesville, Virginia 22903-1738
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Telephone: (434) 924-3154
Fax: (434) 924-7536
e-mail: gradadmitlaw@virginia.edu
The University of Virginia School of Law
does not discriminate with regard to race, color, religion, sex,
sexual orientation, age, or national origin in its admission
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