Each year the Admissions Committee entertains applications from students who contemplate transferring to Stanford Law School with advanced standing. Transfer applicants are accepted, however, only to the extent that vacancies exist in the second year class, and only applicants with superior academic records in law study will be considered. The previous law study must have been undertaken at a law school which is a member of the Association of American Law Schools.

Applicants must have completed one full year of law study. The Admissions Committee will only grant admission with advanced standing to students who intend to spend two full academic years in residence at Stanford. Candidates may only apply for admission to begin the second year of law study commencing in the fall term.

The unit and residence credit to be given transfer students shall be formally determined by the associate dean for admissions and financial aid. Typically, a transfer student will receive three quarters of residency and no more than 40 quarter units of credit. In extraordinary cases, a student may receive more credit, but in no case shall a student receive more than 45 quarter units of credit for courses completed at another law school. Semester units are translated to quarter units as follows: one semester unit equals 1.3 quarter units. A student’s offer of admission shall set forth the residency and unit credit given.

Each transfer student’s transcript from the other law school will be evaluated to determine whether the student has completed the courses required of a Stanford Law School student in the first year. To the extent that a student has not completed those requirements, his or her offer of admission will set forth the required courses that must be completed.

Candidates applying for Fall 2024 transfer admission must submit the following documents:

1. Application for Admission. Applicants are required to complete the entire application form and submit it electronically through LSAC.  The transfer application will become available April 15, 2024.  The deadline to apply is June 1, 2024.
2. Application Fee. The nonrefundable application fee of $85 must be submitted by credit card through LSAC. The 2024 Stanford Law School Transfer Application Fee Waiver Form will become available in April 2024. Applicants who are unable to pay the fee should review the Stanford Law School Transfer Application Fee Waiver Instructions, complete the 2024 Stanford Law School Transfer Application Fee Waiver Form and submit it to the Office of Admissions. Please allow 5-7 business days for a decision regarding your fee waiver request. Applicants should allow sufficient time for our office to process the fee waiver request so that the transfer application is transmitted by the stated deadline of June 1, 2024.
3. Resume. Stanford requires a one–to–two page resume describing your academic, extracurricular, and professional activities. The resume must be submitted electronically with your electronic application. Please do not include a photo. If you have already submitted your resume and have included a photo, note that we have redacted that photo. No further action is required on your part and that original submission will not impact our review process.
4. Personal Statement. The personal statement describes important aspects of yourself not otherwise apparent in your application and provides your reasons for wishing to transfer to Stanford. The personal statement must be submitted electronically with your electronic application. Your statement should be approximately two pages in length.
5. Credential Assembly Service (CAS) Report. We will request this report from the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) upon receipt of your application. Please note that your subscription service with LSAC is active for five years from your original registration date. If you have taken the GRE only, our office will request your CAS report from LSAC for processing upon receiving an application submission.
6. Standardized Tests. Stanford applicants for Fall 2024 transfer admission must have taken the LSAT and/or GRE no later than the June 2023 administration. Tests taken prior to June 2017 will not be accepted.  Note our ETS school code is 4993 for the submission of GRE scores.
7. Undergraduate and Non–Law Graduate Transcripts. The official undergraduate transcript on file at LSAC must show conferral of your degree. Official transcripts for any graduate work (non–law) should also be on file at LSAC. If a graduate degree was granted, the transcript must show conferral of your degree.
8. Law School Transcript. An official law school transcript showing full first–year grades and class standing must be sent directly to our office from your current law school.
9. Letters of Recommendation. Two letters of recommendation, one of which must be from a law professor, are required.  Letters can be sent through the LSAC Letter of Recommendation Service or directly to our office from the recommender.
10. Letter of Good Standing.  A letter of good standing must be sent directly to our office from your current law school.

Application Status Check

To keep you apprised of your application status, we provide an online status page. To view the status of your application, please click on the link below to access our password-protected online status page.  Please note that bookmarking may make it difficult to access the page.

CHECK YOUR STATUS ONLINE

Nondiscrimination Policy

Stanford University admits qualified students of any race, color, national or ethnic origin, sex, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, or marital status to all rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the University. Consistent with its obligations under the law, in the administration of the University’s programs and activities, Stanford prohibits unlawful discrimination on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, sex, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, marital status or any other characteristic protected by applicable law; Stanford also prohibits unlawful harassment including sexual harassment and sexual violence. This policy applies to Stanford programs and activities both on and off-campus, including overseas programs.

The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding this nondiscrimination policy: Stanford’s Director of the Diversity and Access Office, Krista Martinelli, Kingscote Gardens, 419 Lagunita Drive, Suite 130, Stanford, CA 94305-8550; (650) 723-0755 (voice), (650) 723-1791 (fax), equal.opportunity@stanford.edu (email). Stanford’s Title IX Coordinator, Stephen Chen, has been designated to handle inquiries regarding sexual harassment and sexual violence: Kingscote Gardens (2nd floor), 419 Lagunita Drive, Stanford, CA 94305, (650) 497-4955 (voice), (650) 497-9257 (fax), titleix@stanford.edu (email).  Individuals may also file complaints directly with the Office for Civil Rights, within the United States Department of Education, by following the information on this website:  https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/complaintintro.html

Last revised September 13, 2023. For the most recent policy, please visit the Diversity and Access Office.

Campus Security

Stanford University complies with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act. Stanford’s policies and statistics under this act are posted on the Department of Public Safety website at https://police.stanford.edu/security-report.html. A paper copy can be obtained by calling the Stanford Department of Public Safety at (650) 723-9633 or by sending an email to PublicSafety@lists.stanford.edu.