Transfer Applicants
Each fall, we welcome students who have transferred to BU Law after successfully completing one year at an ABA-accredited law school. When making admissions decisions, we place strong emphasis on first-year GPA and class rank. Our transfer applicants are typically ranked in the top 15-20% of their first-year class.
The application process for transfer students operates on a different schedule with transfer-specific deadlines. The transfer application opens on February 1 and all supporting documentation must be submitted by August 1, though we recommend completing your application as early as possible. If admitted, the deadline to deposit in order to participate in the BU Law Journal Write-On Competition for 2024 is typically in mid-May. There will be additional write-on opportunities for transfer students over the summer. If admitted, the deadline to deposit in order to participate in BU Law On-Campus Interviewing (OCI) is typically in mid-June.
If you’re interested in transferring to BU Law, you must submit your application through LSAC’s Credential Assembly Service (CAS) and follow a similar process as other applicants, with a few exceptions:
- You must submit a letter from the dean of your law school indicating that you are in good academic standing.
- You must provide your class rank in your first year of law school or written notification that your law school does not provide class rank.
- At least one of your 2-4 letters of recommendation must be from a professor who taught you during your first year of law school.
- In addition to the academic transcripts you submit through CAS, you must have an official transcript for your 1L year sent to BU Law at bulawadm@bu.edu from your law school.
- Your résumé should include information about how you plan to spend your summer after your 1L year.
- Transfer applicants are required to pay an $85 nonrefundable application fee to BU Law.
If you originally applied to law school through LSAC’s Credential Assembly Service, your CAS registration is valid for five years so you will only need to pay a report fee to send your LSAT score(s) and transcripts from LSAC to BU Law.
BU Law grants a maximum of 30 transfer credits, the equivalent of our first-year curriculum. Part-time students are eligible to apply to transfer to BU Law, however, to apply as a transfer student, you should have completed the equivalent of our first-year curriculum of our JD program.
Transfer Early Action Program
Each year, some transfer applicants are accepted through the Transfer Early Action program by indicating on your transfer application that you wish to be reviewed with only one semester of grades. If you apply through the Transfer Early Action program, admission decisions will be based on only the first semester of 1L grades.
If you are admitted, you will be expected to confirm your intent to enroll with a $1,000 deposit within two weeks of admission. It is expected that students admitted based on only one semester of grades will perform at a level consistent with their first semester during their second semester.
Applicants who complete their applications early but are not admitted based on only their first semester of grades may be held for review again once their second-semester grades are received. The admissions committee will review complete applications on a rolling basis. Every effort will be made to provide applicants with decisions as quickly as possible.
Please note that students enrolled in BU Law’s LLM in American Law or the LLM in Intellectual Property wishing to transfer to the JD program are not eligible to participate in the Transfer Early Action program.
Prior Applicants to BU Law
Students Enrolled in an LLM Program at BU Law
Advanced Standing for Foreign-Trained Lawyers