Transfer admissions is an opportunity for rising 2L students to join the Harvard Law School community after completing their 1L year at another law school. We encourage all interested and eligible applicants to apply.
The transfer application typically opens up in early May and the submission deadline is in mid-June. We aim to notify transfer applicants of their admission decision by early July.
Applicants for transfer admission must meet the following criteria:
Applicants must have completed one year of full-time study in a J.D. program (or one-third of the total credits required in a part-time program) by the application deadline.
Applicants must attend a United States law school that is accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA).
Applicants are not eligible for transfer admission if they have completed more than one-third of the total credits required for the J.D. program in which they are currently enrolled. Students may apply for transfer to begin the second year of J.D. studies in the fall semester only. Additionally, students are required to spend at least two years in residence at HLS.
Masters of Laws (LL.M) students are not eligible to transfer to the J.D. program at HLS. Current and former LL.M. students interested in the J.D. program at HLS should instead apply through the regular J.D. application pathway.
Transfer Admissions Events
Join one of our virtual information sessions, or current student panel, to learn more about the transfer application process at Harvard Law School.
Successful transfer candidates have excelled academically in their 1L year and often place near the top of their first-year law class. All applications are reviewed according to the Harvard Law Standards for Admission. Given the small number of transfer spaces available and a comparatively large and accomplished transfer applicant pool, some applicants who meet these characterizations cannot be offered admission. We cannot make estimates of an individual’s chances for admission.
Transfer Law Courses
Law courses taken before matriculation at Harvard Law School will be considered part of the transfer student’s first year of J.D. studies and may not be used to meet any Harvard Law School upper-level requirements. Additionally, courses taken during your 1L year will not be included in HLS Latin honors calculations.
Transfer students must satisfy the Law School’s first-year requirements by demonstrating completion of comparable courses at their prior institution or completion of qualifying courses after matriculation at HLS. The Harvard Law School Office of the Registrar can advise students on comparable courses.
Law courses taken at HLS by the transfer student–including first-year Law School courses and qualifying courses taken after matriculation to bring the transfer student into compliance with the School’s first-year requirements–may be used toward the upper-level credit requirements. Additionally, such law courses will count in overall performance in the 2L or 3L year according to the rules set forth in the Harvard Law School Handbook of Academic Policies.
Harvard Law Review
The Harvard Law Review encourages transfer applicants to apply for membership on the Review. If you wish to be considered for membership, you must participate in the Writing Competition at the same time as HLS 1Ls in May. Registration for the competition typically opens in April. Instructions on taking the Writing Competition may be found in Writing Competition section of the website.
Recognizing that the competition schedule poses unique challenges to prospective transfer applicants, the Review also allows transfer students to take the competition at the end of their 2L year. However, no student may attempt the competition more than once, and this option is only available to transfer students who did not previously take the competition.
Harvard Legal Aid Bureau
All transfer applicants are encouraged to apply to the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau (HLAB). To be considered for membership, each transfer applicant is required to submit a modified application and participate in a round of interviews.
If admitted to both the law school and the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, each transfer student will be required to attend orientation and training in Cambridge, MA in late August.
