JD students currently enrolled at other law schools may apply for admission with advanced standing. The number of transfer candidates offered admission depends each year on the number of spaces available in the class, as well as on candidates' records.
JD Transfer Students
Applicants are expected to offer at least 26 transferable semester hours of law school work and are judged primarily on the basis of their law school records. In order to be considered for admission to the second-year class, transfer candidates must submit:
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A completed Transfer Application Form available through www.lsac.org. Alternatively, hard copy application materials in pdf format can be provided upon request; e-mail admissions@law.tulane.edu or call 504.865.5930
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The $60 application fee (fee waivers are not available for transfer applications)
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A letter of good standing from the appropriate dean at the candidate's current law school, after the student's final semester of grades has been posted; the letter must indicate class rank and must indicate that the student is eligible to return to the current law school (this letter should be sent directly to Tulane, not through LSAC)
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Certified transcript(s) of all law coursework completed, including the final semester of enrollment (the law school transcript may be sent directly to Tulane; it is also permissible, though not necessary, to send it to LSAC)
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A new LSAC Credential Assembly Service Law School Report, including LSAT score(s), transcript analysis, and copies of undergraduate transcripts. (Candidates must arrange with the Law School Admission Council, LSAC, for a new Law School Report to be sent directly to Tulane Law School. Our LSDAS number is 6832.)
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A personal statement including an explanation of the candidate's reason(s) for wishing to transfer to Tulane
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A résumé
Applications for transfer should be submitted between May 1 and August 1 for fall admission, and before December 1 for spring admission. Candidates should be aware that final admission decisions will be made only after all of their law school grades have been posted. For this reason, candidates enrolled at another law school during the fall semester are unlikely to be eligible for spring admission.
Transfer candidates interested in financial aid should submit the FAFSA (see Financial Aid section of this website) at the earliest possible time, even before notification of admission, so that loans can be processed and proceeds available close to the start of school. Transfer candidates should be aware that Tulane may be able to include limited scholarships or grants in their financial aid packages during their enrollment at Tulane Law School.
To qualify for the Tulane JD, transfer students must complete four full-time semesters in residence at Tulane (excluding any summer sessions) and at least 58 hours of law coursework (including any required courses) at Tulane Law School, and fulfill Tulane's pro bono, upperclass writing, and professional skills requirements.
Transfer credit is granted at the discretion of the Associate Dean of the Law School. A maximum of 29 total hours of transfer credit, or advanced standing, will be granted toward the JD degree requirements for coursework completed at other schools. At a minimum, the grade received in a course taken at another law school must be C (or equivalent) or better in order to transfer. Transfer credit for required first-year courses taken at other schools is limited by the total amount of credit granted to Tulane first-year students. Students who have not taken all of Tulane's required courses at the previous law school will be required to take any missing courses at Tulane. Transfer students are not eligible to have graduation requirements reduced by virtue of coursework undertaken in another division of Tulane University, whether or not in pursuit of another degree. Therefore, transfer students may not enroll in joint-degree programs at Tulane.
Transfer students enroll at Tulane without a class rank. After completion of the first semester at Tulane, transfer students have a Tulane grade point average, but they are not ranked with a class until after the close of the third semester of enrollment and, of course, at graduation.
JD Advanced Standing
If you hold a degree from a law school outside of the United States and are applying to Tulane's JD program, you may be eligible for advanced standing by virtue of coursework you have completed at your first law school. In order to consider granting advanced standing, we must have certain information from your first law school. The required information includes descriptions of the courses you completed, how many hours each course meets, and the method of evaluation of students in each course (i.e., examination, paper, or another method of evaluation). For additional information about advanced standing, contact the Admissions Office at admissions@law.tulane.edu or call 504.865.5930.
