Overview

The JD application for Fall 2012 admission is available on September 1, 2011. Applicants may transmit the SLS application after September 15, 2011. The application deadline for Fall 2012 admission is February 1, 2012 (11:59:59 PM, PST).

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. Any updates to your application must be submitted via e-mail to the Office of Admissions.

1. Application for Admission. Applicants are required to complete the entire application form and submit it electronically through LSAC.

2. Application Fee. The application fee of $100 must be submitted by credit card through LSAC. The fee may be waived in cases of extreme personal hardship. Applicants who are unable to pay the fee should review the SLS Fee Waiver Application Instructions, complete the SLS Application Fee Waiver Form and submit it to the Office of Admissions as soon as possible to allow proper processing of the fee waiver request. Please note that you must submit your fee waiver request prior to submitting your SLS application. Please allow 5-7 business days for a decision and factor in this timing to ensure you adhere to the application deadline.

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.

4. 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, you may describe these factors and their relevance in a separate diversity statement.

5. Statement of Undergraduate Dean. The form 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 the form.

6. Two Letters of Recommendation. Stanford requires at least two and no more than four letters of recommendation to be sent directly through the LSAC Letter of Recommendation and Evaluation Service. Evaluations may not be submitted in lieu of letters of recommendation. Letters sent directly to the Office of Admissions will not be accepted.

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, please be sure to assign the appropriate targeted letter to Stanford Law School.

Recommenders should be 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.

Although not required, applicants may submit no more than two evaluations through the LSAC Letter of Recommendation and Evaluation Service. Please note that to be effective these evaluations should contain narrative comments. Applicants should not rely solely on the completion of an evaluation grid.

Please advise recommenders that should you choose to apply for a joint degree with another school or department at Stanford University, the letter of recommendation may be forwarded to that degree program for review upon your request.

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 the Statement of Undergraduate Dean and the LSAC Letter of Recommendation form before giving them to your recommenders.

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 2012 admission must take the test no later than the December 2011 administration. Scores received on tests taken prior to February 2006 will not be considered valid.

   While it is not to an applicant's advantage to sit for the February 2012 LSAT administration, we understand that extenuating circumstances may prevent an applicant from taking the LSAT by the December 2011 administration. Applicants who are unable to take the test until the February 2012 administration must submit a formal written request for an exception to our policy prior to transmitting an application. Such requests must be sent via email to the Office of Admissions and will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Please allow at least 5-10 business days from receipt of the request for a decision to be rendered. Should the Admissions Committee grant the request to accept the February 2012 LSAT, applicants must nonetheless transmit the application by the stated deadline of February 1, 2012.

   Please note that an applicant who submits a February LSAT score will be at a disadvantage in the review process given that the score will not be reported until March 2012 when fewer seats remain available in the class.

9. Credential Assembly Service Report. Transcripts from each college or university attended should be forwarded to LSAC, which will prepare and transmit a Law School Credential Assembly Service (CAS) Report to Stanford Law School. To register for the CAS service, please visit LSAC. The report furnished to the school will include copies of all transcripts sent to LSAC.

   Transcripts showing any coursework of less than one year completed at another institution (including but not limited to, community college, study abroad, consortium, exchange program, or language courses) and which are not clearly indicated on the home transcript must be sent directly to Stanford Law School.

   All non-US/Canadian transcripts listed during registration for the Credential Assembly Service are forwarded to the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) where they will be authenticated and evaluated except in cases where it is clearly marked on the home campus transcript. This service is included in the CAS registration fee. The data is assembled into a credential evaluation document that contains AACRAO's summary, copies of the transcripts and translations (where applicable), and will be sent to the Office of Admissions.

   Any updated transcripts must be sent directly to LSAC.

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 (and until the first day of attendance, if accepted and enrolling), 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. 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 2012, a bachelor's degree (or the equivalent) from an approved college. All offers 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 or breach of any of the terms of the Stanford Law School (SLS) application process; 3) we learn that you have engaged in behavior prior to the first day of enrolled SLS attendance 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 and/or authorization for the release of information about any such matter.

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 submit the following:

1. New application and application fee,
2. Updated resume and personal statement,
3. Updated Statement of Undergraduate Dean if the undergraduate degree was awarded after the prior application was initiated,
4. New letter of recommendation to LSAC utilizing the Letter of Recommendation and Evaluation Service, and
5. Updated transcripts showing conferral of degree and/or new LSAT scores through LSAC.

Please note that recommendations already on file need not be duplicated. Applications for the Fall of 2009, 2010, and 2011, will be retained.

Application Status Check

In order to keep you apprised of your application status, we are providing an online status page. To view the status of your application, please click on the following link in order to access the password protected online status 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, and gender identity 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, Stanford prohibits unlawful discrimination, including harassment, on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, sex, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law in the administration of the University's programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding this nondiscrimination policy: the Director of the Diversity and Access Office, Mariposa House, 585 Capistrano Way, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-8230; (650) 723-0755 (voice), (650) 723-1216 (TTY), (650) 723-1791 (fax), [email protected] (email).

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 . A paper copy can be obtained by calling the Stanford Department of Public Safety at 650 723.9633.