Transfer Students
On average, 30 transfer students with outstanding first-year law school records are admitted to Michigan each year. We find that our community benefits strongly from this influx of new scholars with proven records of achievement. And just as the students who enter Michigan Law in their 1L year, our transfer students experience extraordinary success in their legal careers. Of the 135 students from 59 different law schools who have graduated in the past five years, 99% have reported jobs within 9 months of graduation. Almost 20% went to prestigious judicial clerkships, including clerkships at the federal court of appeals level. The three-quarters who went to jobs at private firms went to the best firms in the country; more than half of that group went to American Lawyer 100 firms, and more than three-quarters went to National Law Journal 250 firms. Those who chose not to work at firms went on to the best jobs in public interest (including one who received an extremely prestigious Equal Justice Works fellowship), government (such as the JAG Corps), and corporate in-house (including at Nike, a corporation that rarely hires recent graduates). All told, transfers who graduated over the last five years have spread out to more than 34 cities across the nation and overseas, and more than half have gone to the largest firms in the top five legal markets.
Applications for transfer will be accepted between May 1 and July 21, for the fall term only; we encourage you to complete your application by July 1, however, to maximize your chance of admission. (Please be aware that because the timeframe for transfer decisions is so short, it is necessary for transfer applicants to be particularly proactive in order to make sure we have received all necessary information.) Decisions are made beginning in mid-June. Admission offers are mailed in July and August. The number of admitted depends on a variety of factors, including the strength of the applicant pool. Transfer applicants who are admitted to Michigan are among those who have demonstrated outstanding academic promise as first-year students at other law schools by earning first-year grades that place them at or near the top of their class. Class rank is an important factor in our evaluation process; successful applicants are typically in the top 10 percent of their class, based on first-year grades at their current law school.
In general, transfer applicants must present one full year of academic credit and may expect a maximum of one year of transfer credit to be accepted toward the Michigan degree. At least two years of credit must be earned in residence at the University of Michigan.
If you wish to apply for transfer to the University of Michigan Law School you must submit, or have submitted on your behalf, the following documents directly to Admissions Office:
- Application for admission. Use our standard admission application, simply checking the box for transfer admission.
- Application fee ($60.00)
- A copy of the first page of your LSDAS report should be sent directly by the records office at your current law school. Note: If you applied to Michigan within the last two years, your LSDAS report will be on file in our office, and you do not need to have an additional copy sent. Alternatively, if you have maintained your registration with LSDAS, we are happy to request a copy directly from LSDAS, but you must be sure to explicitly request that we do so.
- A letter of good standing from the Dean at your current law school, stating that you are academically eligible to return to that school, should be sent directly by the Dean's office.
- A letter of academic recommendation from a faculty member at your current law school who has had you as a student. The letter may be sent directly by the faculty member, or you may use the LSDAS recommender service.
- A full, official transcript of your first-year grades should be sent directly by the records office of your current law school.
- A letter stating your class rank should be sent directly by the records office of your current law school. If your class rank is shown on your transcript, you need not provide a separate letter. If your law school does not rank students, please have the records office of your law school send a letter confirming that fact, and if possible, provide us with any other information that will assist in evaluating the strength of your academic performance.
Transfer students are eligible to join the staff of the Law School's six publications (the Michigan Law Review, the Journal of Law Reform, the Michigan Journal of International Law, the Journal of Gender & Law, the Michigan Telecommunications and Technology Law Review, or the Michigan Journal of Race and Law). Writing competitions for transfer students are held in the early fall, right after classes begin. Additional information about the journal writing competitions will be sent to all admitted transfer students.
Admitted transfer students register for classes and buy books during transfer-student orientation in late August. In our experience, transfer students do not suffer any particular disadvantage in selecting the classes they want.
Admitted transfer students participate, along with other second-year students, in our Early Interview Week. Approximately 700 employers visit the campus in the week prior to classes. Transfer students are eligible to bid for any interviews they wish; we allow no pre-screening of candidates by the employers.
Finally, transfer students are eligible for need-based grants and loans on the same terms as all other second-year students. For full details of the financial-aid application process, please visit the Web site of our Financial Aid Office.
Please feel free to contact the Admissions Office by telephone (734.764.0537) or by e-mail (law.jd.admissions@umich.edu) if you have additional questions.