JD Application Process

Applications for fall 2009 admission must be transmitted no earlier than September 1, 2008, and no later than February 1, 2009 (11:59:59 PM, PST), to meet the application deadline.

It is your responsibility to make certain that all items arrive at the Office of Admissions. Your application may be treated as complete and a decision reached as soon as the minimum number of required documents is received.

1. Application for Admission (Form A). Applicants are required to complete the entire application form and submit it electronically through LSAC.
2. Application Fee. The application fee is $75. The application fee is non-refundable.
   
   The preferred method of payment is by credit card through LSAC. Please note this method allows us to process your application in a more timely manner. If you are unable to pay the fee by credit card, please print, sign and submit the Certification Letter along with the $75 fee by check (made payable to Stanford Law School) directly to the Office of Admissions.
   
   The fee may be waived in cases of extreme personal hardship. Applicants who feel unable to pay the fee should (1) review the SLS Fee Waiver Application Instructions, (2) complete and submit the SLS Application Fee Waiver Form, (3) transmit the application and required documents electronically through LSAC, (4) print and sign the Certification Letter, attach the completed SLS Application Fee Waiver Form and send the documents directly to the Office of Admissions.
3. Statement of Dean (Form B). Form B must be given to the current dean of students (or a comparable administrative official with access to the school's official records) at the college from which you received your baccalaureate degree. The official should send the completed form directly to the law school. Foreign-educated applicants need not complete Form B. Foreign-educated applicants are required to submit transcripts from any institution of higher education attended directly to LSAC.
4. 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.
   
   Any updates to your application must be submitted via e-mail to the Office of Admissions.
5. Personal Statement. Enclose a statement of about two pages describing important or unusual aspects of yourself not otherwise apparent in your application. The statement must be submitted electronically with your electronic application.
   
   While admission to Stanford Law School is based primarily upon superior academic achievement and potential to contribute to the legal profession, the Admissions Committee also regards the diversity of an entering class as important to the school's educational mission. If you would like the committee to consider how factors such as your background, life and work experiences, advanced studies, extracurricular or community activities, culture, socio-economic status, sex, race, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation would contribute to the diversity of the entering class and hence to your classmates' law school experience, please describe these factors and their relevance.
6. Two Letters of Recommendation. Stanford requires at least two letters of recommendation to be sent directly through LSAC utilizing the Letter of Recommendation Service.
   
   Please be aware of the high value Stanford places on school-specific letters of recommendation. If you choose to provide us with a targeted letter, note that your recommender must complete and submit a LSAC Letter of Recommendation form, the Statement of Instructor (Form C), and the letter of recommendation directly to LSAC. All three documents must be submitted to LSAC simultaneously for proper processing.
   
   The Statement of Instructor (Form C) should be given to instructors who have personal knowledge of your academic work, preferably those who have known you in a seminar, small class, tutorial program, or the like. Applicants who have been out of school for a significant period may substitute one letter from an employer or business associate. In some cases, these applicants may find it very difficult to obtain even one academic recommendation, in which event they may submit two nonacademic letters. If you choose to submit general letters of recommendation, the Statement of Instructor (Form C) is not required.
7. Right of Access to Recommendations. Federal law provides a student, after enrollment, with a right of access to, among other things, letters of recommendation in the student's file that are submitted to the law school on the student's behalf. This right may be waived, but such a waiver may not be required as a condition for admission to, receipt of financial aid from, or receipt of any other services or benefits from Stanford Law School. Please indicate your choice by checking the appropriate box at the top of Forms B and C before giving them to your recommenders. All additional letters of recommendation must also contain a statement as to your choice.
8. Law School Admission Test. All applicants are required to take the Law School Admission Test and to have their test scores reported to the law school. To register for the LSAT, please visit LSAC.
   
   Stanford applicants for fall 2009 admission must take the test no later than the December 2008 administration. We will accept scores up to five years old.
9. Law School Data Assembly Service Report (Transcripts). Transcripts from each college or university attended should be forwarded to LSAC, which will prepare and transmit a Law School Data Assembly Service (LSDAS) Report to Stanford Law School. To register for the LSDAS service, please visit LSAC.
   
   The report furnished to the school will include copies of all transcripts sent to LSAC. Applicants should not send copies of transcripts directly to the law school. Any updated transcripts must be sent directly to LSAC.
   
   Foreign-educated applicants are required to submit transcripts directly through the LSAC JD Credential Assembly Service at LSAC. Any postsecondary work completed outside the US (including its territories) or Canada must use this service for the evaluation of foreign transcripts. The one exception to this requirement is if foreign work is completed through a study abroad, consortium, or exchange program sponsored by a US or Canadian institution where the work is clearly indicated as such on the home campus transcript. This service is included in the LSDAS subscription fee. A Foreign Credential Evaluation will be completed by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO), which will be incorporated into your LSDAS report.

Supplemental Information, Visas, and Additional Matters

When the documents described above have all been received, an application is complete. Until the application has been finally acted upon, however, you are obligated to advise the school of any changes in the information previously furnished. In particular, you should promptly report to the school any additional grades received and any other facts that would have required a different answer to the questions asked in the application (Form A). Such changes may be reported informally by e-mail to the Office of Admissions; if official verification is required, you will be so advised.

You must have received, or expect to receive by the summer of 2009, a bachelor's degree (or the equivalent) from an approved college. A final transcript confirming your graduation should be submitted to LSAC as soon as it is available. All letters of admission are conditional upon graduation.

In order to register as students, Stanford University requires that all those who are not U.S. citizens or U.S. registered permanent residents must obtain and maintain an appropriate visa status for their stay in the United States.

If you are offered admission, Stanford reserves the right to withdraw that offer of admission if: 1) you show a significant drop in academic performance or fail to graduate; 2) there has been a misrepresentation in the application process; 3) we learn that you have engaged in behavior prior to matriculation that indicates a serious lack of judgment or integrity; or 4) you reserve a place in our entering class and make an enrollment commitment or place a deposit at another law school.

Stanford further reserves the right to require you to provide additional information about any such matter upon request; by submitting your application, you authorize the release of such additional information, and for Stanford to verify the information provided in the application process (including by contacting recommenders and school officials).

Interviews

The Admissions Committee does not grant interviews as part of the admissions process. However, applicants are encouraged to visit the school and can arrange to meet with a member of the admissions staff.

Notification of Acceptance

The law school uses a rolling admissions process, acting upon applications throughout the admissions season as they are completed. However, some applications are held until the committee has reviewed the entire applicant pool. This second review occurs in April, at which time the class will be filled. (A small number of applications will be held for possible use in filling vacancies that may occur during the summer.)

The Office of Admissions will make every effort to send applicants a first response (accept, deny, or wait list) by April 30.

To secure a place in the entering class, applicants accepted for admission must pay a deposit.

Acceptance Deferral Policy

Stanford Law School grants a limited number of requests for one-year deferrals. Any admitted applicant granted and accepting deferred admission is required (1) to submit a nonrefundable deposit that will be applied to tuition when he or she registers; and (2) to sign a statement that deferred status is not also held at another law school, that all prior applications to other law schools have been withdrawn, and that new applications will not be made to other law schools. Persons admitted from the waiting list are ineligible for deferment.

Reapplication Procedure

Applicants who wish to reapply for admission must complete a new application (Form A) and submit the application fee electronically through LSAC. Form B must be resubmitted if the undergraduate degree was awarded after the prior application was initiated. Applications for the fall of 2006, 2007, 2008 will be retained. Recommendations already on file need not be duplicated. We do require, however, that you submit: 1) one new letter of recommendation to LSAC utilizing the Letter of Recommendation Service, and 2) an updated personal statement electronically with your application. Updated transcripts showing conferral of degree and/or new LSAT scores must be submitted to LSAC.

Statement of Nondiscriminatory Policy

Stanford University admits students of either sex and any race, color, religion, sexual orientation, or national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the University. Consistent with its obligations under the law, it prohibits discrimination, including harassment, against students on the basis of sex, race, age, color, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, national and ethnic origin, and any other characteristic protected by applicable law in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarships and loan programs, and athletic and other University administered programs. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding this policy:

Director of the Office of Diversity & Access
Mariposa House, 585 Capistrano Way, Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-8230
Phone: 650 723.0755
TTY: 650 723.1216
Fax: 650 723.1791
E-mail: equal.opportunity@stanford.edu