Yes, we accept transfer applications from students who have completed one year of full-time study at a law school that is accredited by the American Bar Association and a member of the Association of American Law Schools. Students wishing to apply for transfer to the Law School must apply prior to their second year of law school. We do not accept transfer students beyond the first year of law school; however, a student may apply as a visiting student to the Law School for up to one year of study during the student’s second or third year of law school. Please refer to the Transfer Students or Non-matriculating or Visiting Students sections for further information on applying as a transfer or visiting student.
May 1 is the earliest date you can submit the transfer application and the deadline to submit the application is June 15. The application must be complete by June 30 with all required documents, including the home law school transcript showing fall, winter (if applicable), and spring grades.
No. Students enrolled in a part-time or evening division program at any time during their first year of study are not eligible to apply for transfer to the Law School. In order to be eligible to apply to transfer to the Law School, students must be enrolled full-time at an ABA/AALS-accredited law school and must have successfully completed all the required 1L coursework of the home law school’s 1L program by the completion of the spring semester.
At any time, you can check the status of your application by using the Law School’s Application Status Checker .
Yes, we offer dozens! And you are also free to create an ad hoc program. Information about Penn’s cross-disciplinary programs can be found here.
Our Certificate Programs are also popular options; almost 1/3 of our graduates earn a certificate.
If you are admitted and wish to defer your admission, you must (1) place a seat deposit, (2) submit the commitment to matriculate form, and (3) submit a written request to the Dean of Admissions stating your reasons for wanting the deferral. One-year deferrals are typically granted for reasons such as work, finances, completion of a graduate program, or extenuating circumstances, such as illness or injury. Two-year deferral requests are rarely approved, although they are likely if you are enrolled in a two-year program such as Teach for America, Peace Corps, or have a military commitment.
The bulk of decisions will be made between late June and mid July.
The Admissions Committee considers the applicant’s entire academic history, including breadth and rigor of curriculum, grade trends, and advanced coursework if applicable. The Admissions Committee also evaluates the applicant’s writing ability based on the personal statement, optional essays, and letters of recommendation. Additionally, the Committee considers work experience, personal background and experiences, service, leadership, overcoming challenges or disadvantages, and any other factors that make an applicant unique and that will positively contribute to the life of the Law School and/or the legal community. The Admissions Committee does not employ the use of matrices or indexes when evaluating applicant files and has no statistical cut-offs for review; each file is read from cover to cover in a very holistic approach to the application evaluation.
Yes, you must submit your application electronically via the LSAC Electronic Application.
Early Decision (Binding) Application Deadlines: Early Decision applications must be submitted through LSAC no later than November 15 for Round 1 or January 7 for Round 2. All supporting documents, including the LSAC Credential Assembly Service Report, must be received by December 1 for Round 1 or January 15 for Round 2 Early Decision consideration. The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School’s Early Decision option allows applicants to receive a decision—Admit, Deny, or Hold for further consideration—by the end of December for Round 1 and by the end of January for Round 2. For Round 1, Early Decision applicants must take an approved standardized test (LSAT, GRE, or GMAT) no later than November of the application year and submit the application by November 15. For Round 2, Early Decision applicants must take an approved standardized test (LSAT, GRE, or GMAT) no later than December of the application year and submit the application by January 7.
Regular Decision Application Deadline: March 1. Decisions are made on a rolling basis from December to May.
Transfer Decision Application Deadline: June 15
Yes. Students enrolled in all four of Penn’s undergraduate schools may apply to submatriculate at the Law School, finishing their undergraduate degree and pursuing the J.D. at the same time. This program applies only to Penn undergrad students.
Students must submit a separate application for each school to which they apply and sit for any standardized testing required by each program.
The exception to this policy is the three-year JD/MBA program. If you are applying for the three-year JD/MBA, please neither fill out nor submit the Fall 2019 - First Year JD application through LSAC. Instead, you must apply exclusively through Wharton at www.wharton.upenn.edu/mba/ . There will be a section called Program Specific Information that will contain the application questions specific for the Law School. Please reference the Law School Application Instructions in the Wharton application for further important information.
Your login information to access the Application Status Checker was included in your Application Acknowledgement email. If you do not see this email in the inbox of the email address we have on file for you, you should check your spam or junk email folders. If you need to reset your login and password, please email us at contactadmissions@law.upenn.edu.
The Law School requires two letters of recommendation to complete an application. We will accept up to four letters of recommendation.
We primarily communicate with applicants via email regarding the status of their application. Applicants will be notified by email when their application is received, again when their application file is complete, and at other times to provide an update on the status of their application.
During the fall semester, prospective applicants, current applicants, and their guests are welcome to attend a student-led tour. Registration is required. Student-led tours are only offered during the fall semester. During the spring semester and summer, applicants and their guests are welcome to take a self-guided tour of the Law School facilities during building hours. Visitors are unable to sit it on a class at this time.
Please take the time to view our Visiting Penn Carey Law page for building closures and policies before making your trip to Philadelphia.
If your deferral is granted, you must complete and sign our Deferral Agreement. The Agreement states that you will not hold deferred status at another law school nor will you apply for admission to or matriculate at any other law school while holding deferred status with the Law School.
No. Transfer students are in the same position as returning 2Ls when registering for courses. Similarly, many steps are taken to facilitate on-campus recruiting and secure a substantial number (and wide variety) of interviews, whether you are a returning or transfer student.
Yes. A write-on competition is held just for transfer students in early August. All journals – including Law Review – participate in this process.
Yes. We will accept supporting documents by email (preferred method) at contactadmissions@law.upenn.edu or by fax at (215) 898-9606. Supporting documents include corrections and/or updates to application questions, personal statements, supplemental essays, or resumes. As noted above, we do not accept emailed or faxed transcripts and letters of recommendation.
No. Faxed or emailed letters of recommendation and transcripts are not considered official documents.
Letters of recommendation must be sent via the LSAC Letter of Recommendation Service.
Transcripts must be sent via LSAC. If you completed your study outside the United States, Puerto Rico, or Canada, you must use the JD Credential Assembly Service through LSAC and have all official academic transcripts sent directly to LSAC.
Yes, as long as the institution is accredited by a regional or national accrediting body. Furthermore, we do not rank undergraduate institutions as a part of our review process.
We do not offer evaluative interviews and/or meetings with members of the Admissions Committee at the request of the applicant. The Admissions Committee occasionally may request to interview an applicant during the evaluation period. Applicants who have concerns that they wish to bring to the attention of the Admissions Committee should address those concerns in a written addendum to their application. The addendum may be in the form of a memo or letter, should be addressed to the Admissions Committee, and sent by email to contactadmissions@law.upenn.edu .
It takes approximately 4 to 6 weeks from the date that we receive an application to process and complete the applicant file as long as your Credential Assembly Service (CAS) report has been generated. We will notify you via email of the date on which we received your application and inform you of any missing documents after we receive your CAS report. We will also notify you via email of the date on which your application is complete. Once your file is complete, it is in the queue to be referred to the Admissions Committee, and files are evaluated on a rolling basis. Decisions are also made on a rolling basis, starting in December, but all initial decisions will be made no later than May 1. You may track the status of your application through the Application Status Checker, the Law School’s online status checker. Decisions will be posted on the Application Status Checker and sent by email. Please be sure that you have allowed adequate time for your application to be processed, completed, and evaluated before inquiring with our office regarding a decision on your application.
No. Students seeking to submatriculate into the Law School are required to complete the same University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School application as are other students applying to the J.D. program. The only difference is that the application will not be reviewed by the Admissions Committee until receipt of junior year Fall semester grades.
All final decisions will be viewable through the Law School’s Application Status Checker and additionally sent via email. For confidentiality reasons, we do not give decision information either over the phone or in person at the request of the applicant.
We do not provide waivers for the Credential Assembly Service (CAS) report.
Due to the high volume of requests made by prospective students for individual appointments, we are unable to meet individually with prospective applicants. The best way to learn more about the Law School is to attend one of our virtual events. Please visit the Connect With Us page to view a schedule and registration information.
We do apologize for the length of time it takes to review waitlisted candidates, but our admission process is genuinely thorough and deliberate. We will continue to closely monitor the status of the incoming class and will be prepared to make additional admission offers should incoming students withdraw or defer between May and the end of August.
During the fall semester, prospective applicants, current applicants, and their guests are welcome to attend a student-led tour. Registration is required. Student-led tours are only offered during the fall semester. During the spring semester and summer, applicants and their guests are welcome to take a self-guided tour of the Law School facilities during building hours. Visitors are unable to sit it on a class at this time.
Please take the time to view our Visiting Penn Carey Law page for building closures and policies before making your trip to Philadelphia.
You are welcome to continue to provide updates to your admission file or to write a statement of continuing interest, but please exercise sound judgment and professionalism in the type and amount of correspondence that you send. Faxing (215.898.9606) or emailing (contactadmissions@law.upenn.edu ) information to the Admissions Office is the best method of communication.
Also, if you are completing your degree this year, you should submit your final undergraduate transcript to LSAC.
Yes, please update us with any changes to your email address or phone number. You do not need to update your address at this time. The Admissions Committee may select candidates from the waitlist to informally interview over the telephone, but only when it is in a position to make additional admission offers. Therefore, it is important that your telephone and email address remain current and accurate over the summer.
Please understand that you are the only person with whom we can speak regarding the status of your application. While we appreciate the concern of applicants’ parents or other family members, we cannot discuss an applicant’s file or status with them.
Our waitlist is not ranked and we do not disclose how many candidates are on the waitlist at any given time. We review all candidates on the waitlist whenever we are in a position to make additional admission offers.
Although we do not disclose how many candidates are on the waitlist at any given time, the waitlist will include several hundred applicants at its peak (just before May 1). The number of individuals on the waitlist will then decrease continuously. In fact, we will begin reviewing all candidates on the waitlist in early May and likely begin releasing candidates shortly thereafter. We also anticipate extending a small number of admission offers up until classes start; however, we are unable to say with certainty the number or the date by which we will do so. The number of offers we will make is fully contingent upon the number of deposited students who defer or make other plans for law school.
The waitlist evaluation process varies every year. In some years, we made almost no offers to candidates on the waitlist because the yield on our initial admission offers increased compared to previous years. Other years, we have made several offers to candidates on the waitlist.
No. The Law School offers fall enrollment only for first year entering students.
International students may apply for loans from private student loan lenders; however, these loans typically require a creditworthy co-signer who is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. U.S federal student loans are not available to international students.
Yes. All applicants who are admitted to the J.D. program will be considered for all merit scholarships; a separate application is not required for most merit scholarships. Additionally, foreign applicants may be eligible for need-based grants. A financial aid application is required for need-based grants. The financial aid application deadline is March 1. Instructions for applying for financial aid may be found here.
Students who hold an LL.M. degree will not be given credit for their LL.M. coursework; however, students who hold a foreign law degree (LL.B.) may be given credit for their law courses. Typically, students holding an LL.B. will be granted one year of credit; thus, they will be able to complete the J.D. program in two years. The evaluation of foreign law coursework is completed after the student is admitted.
No, you must apply as a first-year student; however, you may be granted advanced standing if you are admitted. See the question about credit for LL.M. or foreign degree coursework.
No. The Law School requires that any foreign transcripts be submitted through the LSAC Credential Assembly Service (CAS) for applicants who completed any postsecondary work outside the U.S. (including its territories) or Canada. You must use this service for the evaluation of your foreign transcripts. The one exception to this requirement is if you completed the foreign work through a study-abroad, consortium, or exchange program sponsored by a U.S. or Canadian institution, the program was no longer than one year in length, and the work is clearly indicated as such on the home campus transcript. This service is included in the Credential Assembly Service registration fee. A Foreign Credential Evaluation will be completed by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO), which will be incorporated into your Credential Assembly Service report.
No, foreign students are not required to take the TOEFL.
Due to the high volume of requests made by prospective students for individual appointments, we are unable to meet individually with prospective applicants. The best way to learn more about the Law School is to attend one of our virtual events. Please visit the Connect With Us page to view a schedule and registration information.
Our Viewbook is available in an electronic version. We do not mail out hard copies.
- New application and application fee/fee waiver
- Updated résumé and personal statement
- Updated transcripts showing conferral of undergraduate degree, if not provided with prior application
- While not required, we strongly suggest that you submit two new letters of recommendation, through the LSAC Letter of Recommendation Service, to replace or supplement previously submitted letters
Yes. Transfer students are eligible for graduation honors, though these honors take into account only second- and third-year grades.
A professor, an employer, or anyone who can speak to your ability to succeed in a rigorous law school program may write letters of recommendation on your behalf.
Letters sent through the LSAC Letter of Recommendation Service should be accompanied by the LSAC letter of recommendation form. The Law School does not have a separate letter of recommendation form.
You must submit your letters of recommendation through LSAC’s Letter of Recommendation Service. Please do not send letters of recommendation directly to our office.
No. Once we receive your first two letters of recommendation, your file will be completed and put in the queue for the admissions committee’s review if all other required documents have been received.
You are able to submit the application through LSAC without an approved standardized test (LSAT, GRE, or GMAT) score, though we will not complete your file until we receive your CAS report from LSAC and official score reports for all standardized test results.
If you are planning to retake an approved standardized test (LSAT, GRE, or GMAT) after submitting your application and you would like us to hold your application from the admissions committee review until receipt of this score, you must notify us in writing by either emailing us at contactadmissions@law.upenn.edu or including an addendum in your application, which would be uploaded to the Additional Info section on the Attachments tab.
The Law School will accept approved standardized test scores for any tests administered before February 29, 2024, as long as your application is received by the March 1 deadline.
We will accept approved standardized test (LSAT, GRE, or GMAT) results from any exam taken within the last five years prior to the current application cycle, i.e., June 2018 or thereafter for the class entering in fall 2024.
A single canceled test score has no impact on the evaluation of an application.
The Committee will give consideration to everything included in the application. Graduate coursework could certainly enhance one’s application given that it provides additional academic training and may broaden the perspective that one brings to the law school community. However, an applicant holding a graduate degree does not necessarily have a competitive advantage over an applicant who does not.
No, applicants are not required to submit a Dean’s Certification with the application.
Students seeking to submatriculate at the Law School must meet with the designated liaison at each Penn undergraduate institution before applying to the Law School. For more information, please visit the respective websites for The College of Arts & Sciences, Penn Engineering, School of Nursing, and The Wharton School.
If you are admitted to the Law School, you may meet with the Registrar’s Office to discuss the possibilities of an ad hoc joint degree program. Similar to the process for our official joint degree programs, you would need to apply separately to the second degree program and follow the procedures for that Department’s individual admissions requirements.
We recommend that you explore organizations to which you belong that might have funding available: religious organizations, fraternal organizations, clubs, athletics, veteran groups, ethnic affiliations, unions, employers, rotary clubs, etc. Also, there are scholarship search engines that you could consider: www.collegeboard.com or www.finaid.org . Additionally, the law school has compiled a directory available for students upon admission in an effort to help them locate outside scholarships.
In this case, you would need to secure a creditworthy co-signer. In most cases with a creditworthy co-signer you would be able to borrow. If you are not able to find a creditworthy co-signer and you are dependent on this source to fund tuition and living expenses, it is suggested that you defer your admission for a year to work on your credit score before coming to law school.
No one can deny that salaries in public sector work, particularly for non-profits, legal services organizations, and other non-governmental organizations, are low, particularly compared to the average salaries earned by the Law School’s graduates joining private sector organizations. But alumni take these jobs for many reasons, including the incomparable rewards of serving those in need. The Law School has a strong Toll Loan Repayment Assistance Program (TolLRAP) that offers assistance in loan repayment to our graduates who choose public sector work. Since its inception, our TolLRAP program has offered millions of dollars of assistance to our graduates who have committed themselves to work in the public sector. Learn more about our public interest programs here.
The University of Pennsylvania’s school code is 003378.
It is recommended that your FAFSA form be submitted as soon as possible after January 1. Your Masters Promissory Note is recommended to be completed by June 1. Please visit www.srfs.upenn.edu for additional application instructions.
The Office of Admissions and Financial Aid notifies admitted students of their financial aid eligibility on a rolling basis beginning in March.
You must be a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident at the time of application to be eligible for Federal financial aid.
International students may apply for need-based aid (grants) and loans from private student loan companies. Most programs will require a creditworthy co-signer who is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. U.S federal student loans are not available to international students.
International students admitted to Penn will also be considered for the merit scholarships described above. International students are eligible to participate in our Toll Loan Repayment Assistance Program (TolLRAP).
Yes. If you are married or plan to be married by October 1 of your first-year of law school, you must submit spousal information.
There are low interest loans available that can replace parental contributions. Please click here for information on available student loans.
Due to limited University resources, we must consider each student’s entire financial situation. Accordingly, the Law School requires financial aid applicants and their families (except those students over the age of 30 by December 31, of the year of enrollment) to complete the parental, student and spousal (if applicable) sections of the CSS Profile financial aid application. As a graduate school applicant you are considered “independent” under federal guidelines and are only required to complete the student sections of the FAFSA.
If you wish to apply for need-based aid you must complete the FAFSA and the CSS Profile application . In addition, if you are under the age of 30, we require parental and spousal (if applicable) information when determining eligibility for need based aid. If you are only applying for loans, you may complete the FAFSA without parental information. View more information here.
Most of our merit scholarships do not require a separate application. If you are admitted to the Law School, you will be considered for all merit scholarships. View additional merit scholarship information here.
The Law School is committed to assisting deserving students with the financing of their legal education. We offer a combination of merit scholarships, need-based grants, and loan sources to assist our students with the financing of tuition and living expenses. Close to 50% of our students receive merit- or need-based grants or a combination thereof. View a description of our financing options .
The cost for room and board will vary according to your lifestyle, but here is an estimate for the academic year:
Room and Board $17,338
Books $1,900
Health Insurance $3,584
Health Clinical Fee $608
Miscellaneous $1,946
Transportation $964
To ensure the accuracy of our records, applicants must send a written request to the Admissions Office. This request should include your name as it appears on the application as well as your LSAC account number.
The written request can be sent via email to contactadmissions@law.upenn.edu , via fax at 215.898.9606, or mail to the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, 3501 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104.
We primarily communicate with applicants via email regarding the status of their application. Applicants will be notified by email when their application is received, again when their application file is complete, and at other times to provide an update on the status of their application.
Tuition and fees for the upcoming academic year are provided on the Financial Aid page.
Note: the Law School affords students the opportunity to take up to four courses—related to legal study—at other graduate and professional schools in the University. Students can take these courses as part of a joint degree program, a certificate program, or an ad hoc program of study. Tuition includes the tuition transfer for up to, but no more than, four courses. Students who take courses in excess of four will be charged a pro-rated tuition for these additional courses. Students pursuing a certificate program or a joint degree will incur an administrative charge of $500 for certification programs and $1000 for joint degree programs. This fee will be applied at the start of a certificate program, and at the end of the third year of study for joint degree candidates.
All standardized test scores are noted by the Admissions Committee and are part of the application evaluation. If there are circumstances that you believe affected your performance on a prior test, we encourage you to provide an optional essay explaining those circumstances. The Admissions Committee will consider such information and may, at its discretion, evaluate your application based on the highest score.
*Please do not submit the application fee if you are applying for an application fee waiver.
Need-Based Fee Waivers:
LSAC Fee Waiver
If LSAC has granted you an LSAC Fee Waiver for the LSAT and Credential Assembly Service, you do not need to submit the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School Fee Waiver Application or notify us in any other way. Since the Law School is a participating school, candidates who receive a fee waiver from LSAC will automatically receive an application fee waiver from the Law School. When you transmit your Law School application, you will be prompted to electronically sign your application but you will not be prompted for payment information.
University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School Application Fee Waiver Form
To request a need-based waiver of the application fee directly from the Law School, you must submit the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School Application Fee Waiver Form directly to our office. The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School Application Fee Waiver Form is available in the Submitting a First-Year JD Application section here. In addition to the fee waiver application form, you will submit financial information. If you are presently in school full-time or a recent graduate who is not employed, you will submit a copy of your financial aid award letter (not your financial aid transcript).
Without supporting documentation, your fee waiver application will not be evaluated. Your completed University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School Application Fee Waiver Form and supporting documentation must be submitted to the Law School’s Admissions Office by no later than February 15.
Once your fee waiver has been approved, you will be emailed a fee waiver coupon number. The fee waiver coupon number can be entered on the payment page once you select to transmit your application through LSAC.
Merit-Based Fee Waivers:
Merit-based waivers are made available through queries to the LSAC Candidate Referral Service (CRS) database, ETS, and GMAC throughout the admissions cycle on a weekly basis starting in early September using various criteria which we do not disclose; we do not grant them following individual requests.
For merit-based fee waiver consideration, please make sure you have opted-in for LSAC’s Candidate Referral Service; registered with the Credential Assembly Service; have at least one approved standardized test (LSAT, GRE, or GMAT) score; and have sent your most recent undergraduate transcripts to LSAC.
Service Recognition Fee Waivers (AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, Teach For America, Teach For China, and the United States Military):
In recognition of your service, all past and present members of AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, Teach For America, Teach for China, and the United States Military are eligible for an application fee waiver. You must request this service recognition fee waiver from the Law School before you transmit the electronic application through LSAC as we will not refund the application fee. To apply, please complete the Service Recognition Fee Waiver Application. Service Recognition Fee Waivers must be requested no later than February 15 of the application year.
Once your participation in the designated service organization has been verified, you will be emailed a fee waiver coupon number. The fee waiver coupon number can be entered on the payment page once you select to transmit your application through LSAC. Please make sure to note your service appointment on the résumé you submit with your application.
All final decisions will be viewable through Penn Law’s online status checker and additionally sent via email.
Penn Law requires two letters of recommendation to complete an application. We will accept up to four letters of recommendation.
Yes. We require that you submit your application via the LSAC Electronic Application available through this website.
FAQ topic: Financial Aid
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