Information for Non-U.S. Law School Graduates

The LLM Degree

As a rule, admission is granted to non-U.S. law school graduates for the fall semester only.


Deadlines

All application materials must be submitted by March 15. For applicants who also wish to be considered for a scholarship, the application, along with all other required materials, must be submitted by March 1.


Entrance Requirements

Applicants with a law degree from a law school outside of the United States must have earned the degree from a recognized institution. Non-U.S. law school graduates may also need to meet the minimum language test requirement (see information below in TOEFL section). All candidates for admission must have demonstrated excellence in academic standing and professional achievements, or positions indicating their capacity for performing master's-level work.

Advanced standing is not granted for credit earned from a candidate's first law degree or for credit earned at any time before the student was a degree candidate in the LL.M. program at GW Law. An exception may be made in the case of students who earned credit through the Oxford-GW International Human Rights Program and who subsequently are admitted in the LL.M. degree candidacy area of International and Comparative Law.


Application Requirements

All LL.M. applicants from non-U.S. law schools must submit the following to be considered for admission:

  • A completed application form accompanied by the application fee of $80 USD.
  • Official transcripts from all law, graduate, and undergraduate schools attended.
  • Two letters of recommendation, each accompanied by the recommendation form.
  • A brief essay describing the applicant's professional goals and areas of interest for the study of law (question 31 on application).
  • An official report of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or International English Language Testing System (IELTS) score. Students whose initial law degree was earned from a non-U.S. law school where English is not the language of instruction are required to take the TOEFL or IELTS test and receive a score in the 100-point range on the Internet-based TOEFL test or in the 600-point range on the paper-based TOEFL test. Those taking the IELTS test must receive a score of 7.0 or higher. 

Note on transcripts: Official transcripts must be sent by the issuing institution directly to the Graduate Programs Office, The George Washington University Law School, 2000 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20052. Unofficial records sent by the student will not be accepted. The official transcripts may also be enclosed with the application in envelopes that are sealed and signed by the issuing institution. If applying through LSAC, all transcripts must be submitted to LSAC for credential evaluation and additional copies do not need to be sent to the Graduate Programs Office.


Scholarship Information

The following scholarships are available for international LL.M. applicants:

  • Thomas Buergenthal Scholarship covers full or partial tuition and is awarded on the basis of academic merit and financial need.
  • Ben Gupta Endowed Fund for International Legal Education provides need-based scholarships to students from the developing world.
  • The Licks Attorneys LLM Scholarship provides tuition assistance to Brazilian law school graduates.
  • Richard P. Momsen Fun for Brazilian Law Graduates provides tuition assistance to Brazilian law students with a special interest in U.S. constitutional law or intellectual property law.

To apply for one of these scholarships, please fill out the Scholarship Application Form.