Foreign Exchange Students
If you are a full-time student at one of BU Law’s foreign exchange partners* and are interested in spending a semester or year at BU Law, you should contact your program director to learn about your school’s application process and deadlines.
How to Apply
Once you are nominated by your school to attend BU Law as a visiting foreign exchange student under an exchange agreement, you will need to submit application materials to BU Law. These include:
- BU Law Visiting Student Application
- Personal statement outlining reasons for wanting to study at BU Law (approx. 250–500 words)
- International Student Data Form
- Letter of permission and recommendation from your school
- Official copy of your transcript
- Résumé or curriculum vitae
- TOEFL score
- Proof of financial support (see details below)
- A copy of the information pages of your passport
All materials should be submitted in PDF format.
Application Deadlines
The submission deadline is May 1st for all Fall Semester Exchange applications.
The submission deadline is September 1st for all Spring Semester Exchange applications.
After reviewing your completed application materials, including the necessary financial documentation, the Graduate and International Programs Office will forward your information to Boston University’s International Students and Scholars Office. The ISSO will then begin to process your visa materials. The law school’s Graduate and International Programs Office will be in contact with you about pre-departure information and registration matters well in advance of your anticipated visit.
*Graduates of BU Law’s partner institutions who apply to a BU Law LLM degree program are eligible for an application fee waiver. Contact us at bullm@bu.edu for more details.
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lawabroad@bu.edu
Financial Information and Proof of Financial Support
Visiting Exchange Students pay tuition directly to their home institutions. Pursuant to visa requirements, they must submit to BU Law financial documentation that demonstrates the availability of funds to cover living expenses for the duration of study.
Estimated Living Expenses
Living in the heart of one of the finest cities in the US comes at a price and the cost of living in Boston is expensive. Students can expect to pay an average of $1,750/month for a studio apartment and higher for a one-bedroom apartment. Shared apartments can often be found for lesser costs, but students should plan on spending at least $1,750/month in rent, with an additional $100–$200/month in utilities. Estimated living expenses for a single law student living off-campus for the 2024-2025 academic year are as follows:
The figures above are estimates for the 2024-2025 academic year. The University releases updated figures in late April.
Proof of Financial Support
To obtain a visa, an entering international student must prove to the satisfaction of Boston University, the American Consul, and the US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) that s/he has sufficient funds for at least his/her period of study. For purposes of obtaining a visa, exchange applicants for enrollment in 2024-2025 are required to submit financial documentation indicating the availability of funds in an amount of at least $28,000 for a full-year of study, $15,000 for a single semester of study.
Law students are automatically enrolled in the Boston University Medical Insurance Plan and their student accounts are charged for the coverage.
Massachusetts law requires full-time and three-quarters time students registered through institutions of higher education to have health insurance that meets state requirements.
In addition, Boston University policy requires all international students to have health insurance that meets state and (when applicable) federal requirements. Students who do not wish to participate in the University insurance plan must complete a comparable medical insurance coverage checklist and then submit a waiver request certifying that their US-based coverage is comparable to the Boston University Medical Insurance Plan. Waivers must be submitted through the Student Link. For more information about available forms, coverage, costs, and waiver, please visit the Student Accounting Services website.
Additionally, students who will only be attending Boston University for one semester may apply for Fall-only insurance coverage. In order to apply, please fill out an Insurance Premium Adjustment Request and return to Student Accounting Services no later than December 31, 2024.
* The basic medical insurance plan, the Student Complete Plan, is automatically charged to your student account unless waived, or if you choose the Student Plus Plan, which is a more comprehensive plan that offers additional coverage.
** Estimates based on current student costs. Actual costs may vary depending on the individual student’s situation.
Credits Toward an LLM Degree
Former visiting exchange students who subsequently apply—and receive admission—to a BU Law LLM program will be allowed to apply towards the BU Law LLM degree a maximum of 18 credits they received as exchange students. Thereby, exchange students who are accepted and enroll in the LLM program would receive “advanced standing” as LLM students and be in a position to receive the BU Law LLM degree with only one additional semester of study.
Former exchange students wishing to pursue an LLM degree at BU Law would need to apply to BU Law in the normal course, like all applicants, after receiving their home country’s equivalent of a “first degree in law.” They would also be required to return to BU Law within five years of the end of their exchange semesters.
Former exchange students who are accepted into a BU Law LLM program with “advanced standing” would be required to complete all the degree requirements of the LLM program they attend.
For more information about the LLM in American Law, LLM in Intellectual Property, the Graduate Program in Banking and Financial Law, and the Graduate Tax Program, click here.
Our Partner Institutions
- Tsinghua University (China)
- Basel University (Switzerland)
- Bucerius Law School (Germany)
- Graduate Institute of International Development Studies (Switzerland)
- Institute for Law and Finance (Germany)
- National University of Singapore (Singapore)
- University of Leiden (The Netherlands)
- University of Tel Aviv (Israel)
- Université Jean Moulin, Lyon 3 (France)
- Université Panthéon-Assas (Paris II) (France)
- University of Hong Kong (China)
- University of Florence (Italy)
- University of Buenos Aires (Argentina)
- Universidad Pontificia Comillas (ICADE) (Spain)