Application Information for International and Graduate Programs
ADMISSION REQUIREMENTSLL.M. ProgramApplicants to the LL.M. program must hold a J.D. or LL.B. degree, or the equivalent from a law school that, if in the United States, is accredited by the American Bar Association and is a member of the Association of the American Law Schools, or, if outside the United States, has comparable standing. The International Programs Committee (which oversees all graduate programs) can, in exceptional circumstances, admit students to the LL.M. program who do not already hold a law degree. Typically, such students will hold a Ph.D. or M.D. or an equivalent graduate degree, will have already embarked on an academic or professional career, and will be able to show how legal training is important to the advancement of this career and/or their scholarly work. Applicants currently enrolled as LLB students (or equivalent) who are expecting to graduate in the spring are welcome to apply. Penn's LLM class is made up of legal professionals from around the world with a range of legal experience including recent LLB graduates. However, applicants should be aware that a number of factors are considered when reviewing each applicant, including academic achievement and professional experience. Therefore, an applicant who can demonstrate a history of relevant professional experience generally has a better chance of being accepted than one who does not. LL.C.M. ProgramApplicants to the LL.C.M. program must have received an LL.M. degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. In exceptional circumstances, an especially strong applicant who has earned an LL.M. from another law school may be accepted into the program. Admission to both the LL.M. and the LL.C.M. programs may be sought at the same time by checking the "LL.M. and LL.C.M." box on the application data form. If admitted to both programs, a student may proceed to the LL.C.M. program upon successful completion of the LL.M. without reapplication. Applicants already holding an LL.M. from a school other than Penn Law may also select this check box to indicate they would like to be considered for admission to either program. S.J.D. ProgramApplicants to the S.J.D. program must have already earned an LL.M. or equivalent degree from Penn Law or another, comparable institution. All applicants must have a well-stated scholarly agenda, with an area of research and appropriate research methodology clearly outlined. Candidates who do not hold a Penn Law graduate degree must, in addition, provide copies of scholarly work published in the English language. More information is available at our website, www.law.upenn.edu. Summer ProgramApplicants to the Summer Program must have earned a first law degree prior to the start of that program. Summer Program participants are not required to have been admitted to Penn Law's LL.M. program. The Summer Program is, however, mandatory for all Penn Law LL.M. students. Applicants to the LL.M. Program therefore do not need to apply separately for admission to the Summer Program. English ProficiencySuccessful participation in any of Penn Law's programs, including the Summer Program, requires a high level of English proficiency. Most course-work at Penn Law centers on a Socratic dialogue between the instructor and members of the class. Consequently, a student should be able to understand rapid, idiomatic English as spoken in class and in seminar discussions. Students must be able to express thoughts clearly in both spoken and written English and must read the language with ease. The quantity and quality of academic work required at Penn Law cannot be accomplished without such mastery of the English language. Students must achieve such language proficiency prior to enrollment. Admitted students who feel the need to refresh English skills, however, may want to enroll in the summary ESL course offered in the summer just prior to the Summer Law Program. Information on this course is available at our website, www.law.upenn.edu. Prospective applicants who may need more substantial English language instruction prior to admission may wish to consider the courses offered by the University of Pennsylvania's English Language Programs. These are described at www.sas.upenn.edu/elp. LL.M. applicants whose native language is not English must take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exam. (Individual language assessments, conducted in person or by telephone, may also be required at the Law School's discretion.) Penn Law generally looks for a TOEFL score of at least 250 (CBT)/ 600 (WBT) /100 (IBT) or IELTS score of 7. We have, however, made exceptions depending on the other strengths and specific circumstances of particular applicants, and therefore a lower score does not automatically preclude an applicant from consideration for Penn Law's LLM program. Applicants whose test score(s) falls below the targets set forth above, should feel free to highlight any specific issues in the personal statement portion of their application they feel might strengthen their application in this regard. Both the TOEFL and IETLS tests are administered at testing centers throughout the world. Applicants to the LL.M. or LL.C.M. programs should plan on taking one of them no later than January of year in which they propose to enroll at Penn Law. Candidates applying to the Summer Program only should also take either the TOEFL or IELTS exam and arrange for results to be delivered to the Law School prior to the June 1 deadline for applying to that program. Please note that the deadline for submission of a completed application has recently been changed to December 1 for Early Notification, February 1 for all other LL.M. and LL.C.M. applicants (absent special authorization, and April 15 for S.J.D. applicants). Application forms and further information for the TOEFL and IELTS tests may be obtained online at www.toefl.org and www.ielts.org. For TOEFL registration purposes, please note that:
In unusual cases where it is apparent that the TOEFL or IELTS test is unnecessary, the Assistant Dean for Graduate and International Programs may waive the requirement. Applicants seeking a waiver of the Englishlanguage requirement, should do so by submitting a request at www.law.upenn.edu/cf/adms/gradcontactus. APPLICATION PROCESSDeadlinesApplications for admission to graduate programs at Penn Law are reviewed by the International Programs Committee on a rolling basis. Candidates who submit completed applications online prior to the December 1 "Early Notification" deadline, and who ensure that the Law School receives all supporting documents by the same date, will receive a response by February 8. We strongly advise all candidates to submit their completed applications at the earliest possible date. The deadlines are: Required MaterialsAs detailed in the application materials, a completed application to any of Penn Law's graduate programs must include the items listed below. (Please note: (1) candidates applying solely to the Summer Program need only provide the Summer Program application form and TOEFL or IELTS scores; (2) candidates applying to the LL.M. Program are automatically enrolled in the Summer Program upon acceptance and need not apply to the Summer Program separately).
Please send the required documents directly to the Office of Graduate Programs, University of Pennsylvania Law School, 3400 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104. We will not review your application until all of your materials have been received; therefore we highly recommend that you mail the above documents in one complete package in order to expedite the review by the Admissions Committee * Please see the option below applicants to use the LSAC LL.M. Credential Processing Service described at
www.lsac.org. By "transcript" we mean an official record from the academic institution that clearly indicates what courses were taken and what grades were received. Online and Paper FormsThe International Programs Committee strongly encourages candidates to submit their application data form, personal statement, and application fee online via Penn Law's website, www.law.upenn.edu/cf/adms/gradapply_online/login/index.cfm. Materials sent online are often received in a more complete and efficient manner that better facilitates the Committee's own prompt action. Furthermore, those applying online may pay their application and acceptance fees by credit card and track the status of their application via our website. The Law School is unable to accept credit card payment from applicants submitting their applications via paper forms. Again, only applicants applying online are eligible for Early Notification (see above). Similarly, we recommend that applicants who plan to apply to several law schools in addition to Penn Law submit their transcripts and test scores online via the LLM Credential Processing Service. This service, described on the Law School Admission Council website at www.lsac.org, greatly simplifies the process by requiring original transcripts to be submitted only once. The LSAC then translates the transcripts, confirms their validity, and distributes electronic copies and verified TOEFL scores to select law schools as instructed by the applicant. The International Programs Committee also accepts applications submitted via traditional paper forms. These, along with Recommender Forms and other materials, are available for downloading at the Penn Law website, www.law.upenn.edu/cf/adms/gradapply_online/login/index.cfm. Forms may also be requested by sending us a message to gradadms@law.upenn.edu. For further information on the application process, please visit our website at www.law.upenn, ("Prospective Students, LL.M. And Other Graduate Law Programs"). Letters of RecommendationA completed graduate application to Penn Law must include two letters of recommendation, ideally from law professors or others who have personal experience instructing and evaluating the candidate. We appreciate the burden this requirement places on recommenders. Such subjective evaluations from knowledgeable references, however, are important factors in weighing the relative merits of international candidates whose objective credentials necessarily reflect many distinct grading systems and national standards for legal education. An applicant may, alternatively, submit letters from academic instructors outside of the field of law, from employers, or from others with a personal knowledge of the candidate's intellectual and other strengths. The International Programs Committee strongly advises that all letters be submitted in conjunction with the Recommender Form, but it will review letters submitted without the form attached. Please note, however, that the online "Status Page" cannot track the receipt of letters that lack an accompanying Recommender Form or come from individuals other than those recommenders listed on an applicant's online data form. Financing an LL.M. Education
*The Summer Program fee for non-Penn Law students is $3,000. A number of students also choose to take an optional "English as a Second Language Course", offered for a fee of approximately $750, during weeks prior to the Summer Program. As is evident from these figures, attending law school in the United States is a very expensive endeavor. Penn Law is a tuition-driven institution, meaning that every dollar of tuition revenue is required to support the academic program. Accordingly, the resources available to provide tuition assistance to LL.M. students are extremely limited. A very limited number of merit grants are awarded to LL.M. applicants each year. These include several offered under the Penn Law European Society Scholarship described on our website. All students are eligible to be considered for these grants. The International Programs Committee notifies all students selected to receive these awards during the month of March or April each year. Because our ability to award assistance is very limited, we encourage you to seek other funding sources to support your education. You may wish to seek sponsorship from your employer or from your government, or from foundations, fellowships, and organizations sponsoring fellowships. The Rotary Club International, for example, has information about scholarship opportunities available at www.rotary.org. Some students arrange private loans; U.S. government lending programs may be available to students with U.S. citizenship or permanent residence status. You can learn about some of these opportunities from the resources we have collected and placed on our web site at www.law.upenn.edu. ADDITIONAL INFORMATIONAcceptance feeAfter an applicant has been notified of admission, two successive deposits must be paid in order to hold a place in the class. Those who receive notice of admission on or before March 1 must ensure that their initial $500 deposit is received by the Law School by April 1. Those who receive admissions notification after March 1 must ensure receipt of their initial deposit with thirty days of the date of that notification. This deposit cannot be refunded. In general, all admitted applicants must make a second, final deposit of $2,000 by May 1. Those applicants receiving notification of acceptance close to or after May 1, must pay this deposit by the date indicated in their e-mailed notice of admission. This deposit will be refunded, in part or in full, only under emergency circumstances. Both deposits will be credited towards the applicant's tuition and/or fees upon matriculation. Manner of paymentThe International Programs Committee strongly encourages all candidates to use the online application form and to pay the $75 fee, the $500 initial deposit and the $2,000 final deposit via credit card. Credit card payment is not, however, an option for applicants using paper forms. Applicants may not pay via wire transfers. All applicants may make any or all of the required payments by check or money order, payable to the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania. (Applicants drawing on funds not held in a U.S. bank must use an International Postal Money Order.) Payment should be mailed to the Office of Graduate and International Programs at the University of Pennsylvania Law School; 3400 Chestnut Street; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104. Deferral of AdmissionIf an admitted applicant is unable to attend the Law School during the year for which admission is offered, he or she may write to Penn Law via www.law.upenn.edu/cf/adms/gradcontactus to request a one-year deferral. If a deferral is granted, the admitted applicant will be required to complete a deferral form and submit the initial $500 deposit described above. Any financial assistance that is awarded in one year will not be deferred to the following year. ReactivationRequests to reactivate an application from the prior year only must be received by the Law School, along with a new $75 application fee, no later than January 15. The applicant must submit a newly completed application data form, together with a new personal statement and any transcripts or other information that have changed since the date of the previous application. Documents submitted with a previous application need not be sent again. We thank you for your interest in the University of Pennsylvania Law School. |
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