J.D. Admissions | Columbia Law School

Detailed Transfer Application Checklist

Transfer applicants must apply online through LSAC (www.lsac.org).

• Application Form
• Personal statement/essay regarding why the applicant is seeking to transfer to Columbia Law School.
• Minimum of two letters of recommendation from law professors.
• Letter from the dean of the law school from which the applicant is transferring, or his or her delegate, characterizing the applicant's law school standing and his or her recommendation for transfer admission.
• Dean’s appraisal(s)/Certification(s) from the Dean or administrative officer responsible for student affairs at any undergraduate, graduate, or professional institution(s) at which you matriculated toward a degree.
• Official transcript documenting all first-year coursework undertaken at the applicant’s former law school. If submitted through the CAS Report, applicants should also send an explanation key to transcripts to the Office of Admissions.
• CAS Report. All applicants must register for the Law School Credential Assembly Service (CAS) for us to access undergraduate and/or prior graduate degree transcripts. For more information about CAS, please call 215.968.1001 or visit www.lsac.org. Applicants may submit their current law school transcripts either through CAS or directly from their school's registrar's office. If submitting law school transcripts through CAS, the applicant must also forward an official explanation of the current grading system. Please forward updates of your transcripts to the Office of Admissions as soon as they become available.
• Application Fee ($85), payable to “Columbia University.”

Transfer applications are not evaluated until they are complete and generally are read in the order of their completion. The two factors that most frequently delay completion of most transfer files are our receipt of law school transcripts and the required recommendations from faculty at the applicant's original law school; factors beyond the control of Columbia Law School and, to some extent, beyond the influence of the transfer applicants themselves (dependent as applicants are upon faculty to grade final examinations and to write recommendations on a timely basis).