Transfer & Visiting Students

Brandeis Law welcomes both transfer and visiting students to apply to join our community. Transfer students have completed their first year of JD coursework at another law school but wish to complete their education at Brandeis Law. Visiting students have completed at least their first year of JD coursework at another law school and wish to remain enrolled there but wish to attend classes at Brandeis Law for no more than one academic year.

Transfer Students

A student who has completed the first year of JD coursework at another law school accredited by the American Bar Association may apply to join the second-year class at Brandeis Law. Transfer applicants are subject to the same entrance standards as first-year applicants, plus consideration of their first-year law school performance. An applicant who has been dismissed from another law school for academic insufficiency or for misconduct may not be eligible for transfer consideration.

Pursuant to ABA accreditation standards, Brandeis Law may award a transfer student up to, but no more than, thirty (30) credits for first-year JD coursework. Transfer credits are awarded only for courses in which the student earned a grade of C or better, and a student who receives transfer credit for a course cannot earn credit for a duplicative course at Brandeis Law. No credit will be awarded for coursework completed prior to matriculating at an ABA-accredited law school. An applicant must be admitted as a transfer student before a determination on the number of qualifying transfer credits will be made.

Your application to enroll as a transfer student must include everything required of a first-year application plus the following additional components:

1. a transfer statement, no more than 250 words in length, articulating why you wish to transfer to Brandeis Law;
2. your official transcript from your first-year law school, including your grades for the full first year of coursework; and
3. a letter of good standing from your first-year law school verifying the following as of the conclusion of your first year of JD coursework: (a) your cumulative law school GPA, (b) your class rank or closest approximation and (c) that you are in good academic and disciplinary standing.

In addition, we strongly encourage all transfer applicants to arrange for at least one of their letters of recommendation to be provided by one of their first-year law school professors.

Visiting Students

A student who has completed at least the first year of JD coursework at another ABA-accredited law school may apply to attend classes at Brandeis Law for no more than one academic year. In addition to submitting our online Visiting Student Application, you must arrange for the appropriate official from your law school to provide your official JD transcript and a letter stating that you are in good standing and have permission to attend Brandeis Law as a visiting student.