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Doctor of Jurisprudence (JD)

How to Apply

Transfer Students

Students who have completed the first year of full-time legal study at an ABA-approved law school and have done well are invited to apply for transfer admission to Indiana Law. The following information applies to JD students only.

Each year, we receive between 30 to 40 applications for transfer and accept approximately 5 to 12 students. Accepted transfer students usually start classes in the fall semester following their accepted application but are not permitted to begin classes in January.

There is no deadline for submission of the application form. Although decisions on transfer applications are usually not made until the summer after all first-year grades are recorded, the committee will, upon special request, review an application with only one semester of law school grades and in some cases make a conditional offer of admission for the fall. If you wish your application to be reviewed early, you should submit the application as soon as possible after January 1 and make arrangements to have your first-semester grades, letter of good standing, and class rank sent to us as soon as they are available.

To Apply

• Complete our basic application.
• Submit the $35 application fee.
• Maintain a current subscription with LSDAS so that we can gain access to your LSAT scores and undergraduate transcripts. This requirement can be waived if you have applied to the School of Law in the past three years or if your current school will provide us with copies of your undergraduate transcripts, LSAT score, and writing sample.
• Submit your law school transcript, letter of good standing from the dean of your current law school, and class rank.
• We suggest you include a personal statement that illustrates why you are interested in transferring, as well as letters of recommendation.
• For more information, see our How to Apply page.

Criteria

Our Admissions Committee does not require transfer students to have a specific LSAT score, undergraduate GPA, or even law school GPA; the committee looks at all of the variables in an applicant’s file in making its decision. Typically, those who are admitted are in the upper quarter of their class with at least a B average and express compelling educational or personal reasons for transferring.

Participation in Activities

Transfer students are eligible to participate in moot court competitions, either as a 2L or 3L, and may attempt to “write on” to one of our three journals. Transfer students are not eligible for Order of the Coif.

More Information

If you have additional questions regarding transfer eligibility or the admissions process, contact jebrown [at] indiana [dot] edu (Jeanne Criswell).