The application period for the 2013-2014 LL.M. Program is
now closed.
Admission decisions will be announced via email on a rolling
basis throughout the spring.
Creating Your Online Application
Creating Your Online Application
To begin your application to the LL.M. Program, please create an account at the
UCLA LL.M. Application Homepage. To create your account, enter your name, email address, and a password as instructed. You may then login and proceed to fill out the online application form, which requests basic biographical information and poses several short-answer questions regarding your career goals and planned course of study.
As you fill out the application form, you may save, close, and return to it at any time. If you have established an account with the
LSAC LL.M. Credential Assembly Service, please enter your account number when requested on page 10 of the online applciation form. If you have not yet established an LSAC LL.M. account, please do so by following the instructions below.When you have completed the application form, click "Submit" on the final page. (Applications that have been initiated but not submitted by the application deadline will not be considered.) Please note that once you have submitted the online application, you will not be able to make changes to the form. Your application will be considered complete and will be reviewed by the Graduate Studies Committee after all supporting documentation has been received.
Applicants must submit their transcripts and letters of recommendation through the LSAC LL.M. Credential Assembly Service (CAS) Document Assembly Service. If you have not already done so, please
create an LSAC LL.M. CAS account by visiting http://llm.lsac.org/login/signup.aspx.
Creating an account requires a fee of $75. As a courtesy and to help applicants offset this cost, we have waived our $75 application fee for all applicants to the 2013-2014 LL.M. Program.
After establishing your LSAC account, please carefully follow the checklist at
http://www.lsac.org/LLM/Applying/LLM-checklist.asp to ensure that your transcripts and recommendation letters will be processed in a timely manner. LSAC requires an additional fee of $16 for each Document Assembly Service report it generates and transmits to a law school on your behalf. Therefore, if you have created your LSAC account but not yet paid the $16 fee to have your report transmitted to UCLA, please pay the fee to LSAC as soon as possible to ensure that we will receive your documents.
Please note that you are
not required to register for the LSAC CAS LL.M. International
Transcript Authentication and Evaluation service, which requires an
additional fee of $125. (Only the $75 fee for creating your Document Assembly Service account and the $16 fee to send your report to UCLA are required.) Nonetheless, you are welcome to use the evaluation service. Doing so may result in
faster processing of your application and the Graduate Studies
Committee's announcement of its admission decision.
Domestic applicants: Please note that LSAC's LL.M. Credential Assembly Service is separate from the LSAC service through which you previously applied to J.D. programs. As such, you must create a new LSAC LL.M. account by following the instructions above. As LSAC does not enable applicants to link their LL.M. account to their previous J.D. account, we ask that you please submit your undergraduate transcripts, law school transcripts, and letters of recommendation to the LSAC LL.M. Credential Assembly Service so that they will be transmitted to UCLA.
Application Deadline: Please submit items 4-6 below to LSAC by February 15, 2013. As it takes LSAC some time to process documents, compile a report, and transmit it to UCLA, you will not be penalized if your LSAC report is received by UCLA after the February 15 deadline.
Required Supporting Documents:
1. $75 Application Fee
The application fee is waived for all applicants to the 2013-2014 LL.M. Program.
2. Current Résumé or Curriculum Vitae (Email to UCLA School of Law)
A standard résumé listing your academic qualifications and relevant work experience is required. You may submit a more detailed curriculum vitae if desired. After submitting your online application to the LL.M. Program, please email your résumé or c.v. to llmapplicant@law.ucla.edu. Please attach your résumé or c.v. to your email in PDF or Word format, and include your full name and application confirmation number in the body of your email.
Within 1-2 weeks after receiving your email, our staff will update your record at the Application Homepage to reflect that the document has been received and added to your application file.
3. Personal Statement (Email to UCLA School of Law)
An important aspect of the application is the personal statement, in which applicants describe their objectives in pursuing graduate legal studies at UCLA School of Law. Discuss any matters relevant to your ability to succeed in law school and the practice of law, and any attributes, experiences, or interests that would enable you to make a distinctive contribution to UCLA School of Law and the legal profession. The personal statement should be typed double-spaced in 12-point font, and should not exceed three pages in length.
After submitting your online application to the LL.M. Program, please email your personal statement to llmapplicant@law.ucla.edu. Please attach your personal statement to your email in Word or PDF format, and include your full name and application confirmation number in the body of your email. Within 1-2 weeks after receiving your email, our staff will update your record at the Application Homepage to reflect that the document has been received and added to your application file.
4. Official Transcripts (Submit to LSAC LL.M. Credential Assembly Service)
Applicants must submit transcripts from all graduate and undergraduate coursework evidencing their completion of a prior degree in law, such as a J.D. or LL.B. Please also submit transcripts for any other subjects in which you have earned an undergraduate or graduate degree. Transcripts should include all courses and exams taken and grades received for all university work, and must be translated into English. If your school is unable to provide an English translation of your transcripts, please obtain one from a certified translation service.
If your transcript does not indicate a relative class standing or rank, and such information is available, please have a school official indicate class standing or rank, and include this notification with the supporting materials you submit.
After creating your LSAC LL.M. Credential Assembly Service account, please carefully follow the instructions to ensure that your transcripts will be received and processed by the Document Assembly Service in a timely manner.
5. Two Letters of Recommendation (Submit to LSAC LL.M. Credential Assembly Service)
Applicants must provide two letters of recommendation from knowledgeable persons who can tell the Graduate Studies Committee about the applicant’s academic qualifications and career interests. The letters are most helpful when the writer can provide the Committee with specific firsthand information on your academic and (if applicable) professional capacity and performance. If possible, please include at least one academic reference. While employer references are acceptable, letters from academic sources will be viewed more favorably.
After creating your LSAC LL.M. Credential Assembly Service account, please carefully follow the instructions to ensure that your recommendation letters will be received and processed by the Document Assembly Service in a timely manner.
6. Official TOEFL Score (Submit to LSAC LL.M. Credential Assembly Service or Directly to UCLA)
International applicants who are not native English speakers, or do not hold a law degree from an institution at which the primary language of instruction is English, are required to submit a TOEFL score. When taking the exam, please indicate School Code 4837 and Department Code 03 so that the score will be transmitted to UCLA School of Law. To speed up the process, you may submit your TOEFL score report to the LSAC LL.M. Credential Assembly Service so that it will be sent to UCLA with your transcripts and recommendation letters.
Applicants should plan to take the TOEFL in
advance of the application deadline, as it can sometimes take several
weeks for scores to be transmitted. For more information on the TOEFL, contact ETS at http://www.ets.org or (609) 921-9000. Click here for more information on UCLA's TOEFL requirements.
Exemptions: International applicants whose native language is English, or who hold a law degree from an institution at which the primary language of instruction is English, are not required to submit a TOEFL score. Domestic applicants who hold a J.D. and/or LL.M. degree from a U.S. law school are also exempt from the TOEFL requirement. When completing the online application, please click "Exempt" in the "Language Skills" section on page 5.
Checking Your Application Status
After you have submitted your transcripts and recommendation letters to LSAC and confirmed that your LSAC report has been sent to UCLA, please allow at least 1-2 weeks for our staff to process your transcripts and recommendation letters and add them to your application file. After that time, you may log in to the Application Homepage to view the status of your documentation. (You will see a green checkmark next to each item that has been received and processed, and a red "X" next to items that have not yet been received and/or processed. Applications are considered complete and will be reviewed by the Graduate Studies Committee after all items have been received.)
If you have specific questions about your application after submitting it, or believe that your record at the Application Homepage is inaccurate, please email llmapplicant@law.ucla.edu.
Receiving Your Admission Result
The Graduate Studies Committee will begin reviewing an application after all of its corresponding supporting documentation has been received. Admission results will be announced on a rolling basis from January through April. (Due to the large volume of applications received, it is difficult to predict when a decision regarding a specific application will be reached.) Applicants will receive an email informing them of the Committee's decision as soon as it is made, and an official letter will follow by post.