Transfer Applicants

Yale Law School welcomes applications for transfer admission for students currently enrolled in the first year of law school. An undergraduate degree and an outstanding record at an accredited law school are prerequisites. Transfer applications will be considered only between the applicant's first and second years of law school, as incoming transfer students must complete two years of work at Yale Law School. 

Yale Law School is no longer accepting transfer applications for the Class of 2022. The transfer application for the Class of 2023 will be available through the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) by no later than May 1, 2021. The Law School requires applicants to submit their applications through the LSAC electronic application service included as part of a Law School Credential Assembly Service (CAS) subscription. 

Transfer applications must be accompanied by a non-refundable $85 application fee. If you would like to request a need-based fee waiver of your Yale Law School application fee, a fee waiver application will be available on this website in early 2021. Need-based fee waivers are generously granted, and parental information is not requested as part of the fee waiver application.

If you were accepted or waitlisted to Yale Law School in a prior admissions cycle, you are eligible to submit a Fast Track Transfer Application. Information about that process is below.

To learn more about Yale Law School’s transfer application process, a recent transfer applicant online open house is available for on-demand viewing. You may also schedule a time to speak with an admissions representative about the transfer application process.

Transfer applicants must earn a grade of B or higher (or its equivalent) in all course work in order to be eligible to apply.

Applications will be considered only from applicants enrolled at U.S. law schools approved by the American Bar Association.

Applicants in part-time and evening law school programs must earn the equivalent number of credits as a rising second-year student in their schools’ full-time programs to be eligible to matriculate.

The Fast Track Transfer Application is available only to individuals who were accepted or waitlisted as first-year applicants to Yale Law School. All other individuals should use the regular transfer application, which is also available through LSAC. If you are not eligible to apply as a Fast Track Transfer candidate and submit this application, your application will be considered invalid and will not be reviewed.

Applicants eligible for the Fast Track Transfer Application will automatically receive an application fee waiver.

Visiting Student Applicants

In special circumstances, a student enrolled in a J.D. program at another ABA-approved U.S. law school may apply for admission on a full-time, non-degree basis. Visiting students may attend Yale Law School for a semester or a maximum of one year, earning credit toward a degree at their own institutions. Applicants must have completed the equivalent of a year of law school before enrolling at YLS under this status.

Students applying as visiting students should complete the J.D. application in the paper format and mail it to the Admissions Office, along with a $85 application fee. Please contact the Admissions Office to request a Visiting Student application.

A complete Visiting Student application must also contain a written statement explaining your interest in studying at Yale Law School, a law school transcript, a CAS Report, two letters of recommendation from law school professors, dean's certifications from all degree programs in which the applicant has been enrolled, and a letter from the applicant’s degree-granting law school giving permission to earn credit for course work at YLS. The Admissions Committee considers past academic performance as well as special circumstances when reviewing applications; decisions are made on a rolling basis.