Apply to the LLM Program

• Required Materials
  1. Completed Michigan Law Graduate Programs application form (submitted through LSAC’s website)
  2. LSAC Credential Assembly Service Report that includes:
     • Academic records from all postsecondary institutions attended
     • Two letters of recommendation
  3. English proficiency materials
  4. Résumé or CV
  5. Two essays that discuss the topics provided in the Michigan Law application
  6. $75 application fee or waiver
• Optional Materials
  1. Supplemental essays, according to the topics offered in the Michigan Law application form
  2. Additional letters of recommendation
  3. Addendum
• Application Submission Tips

  Proofread Before Submitting

  While answers to some questions in our application form may be pre-populated based on the information you provide in your LSAC account, please proofread all the answers in your application form, as this will help us maintain accurate records.

  When we review an application, our goal is to gain insight into who a candidate is, and so you should provide complete and accurate information in the application form. If you leave several blank answers in your application form, it may cause processing delays and will likely raise questions for our reviewers.

  Confidentiality

  Please be assured that the Admissions Office recognizes the utmost importance of keeping the contents of your application confidential.

  We will often pass on the names and contact information of admitted applicants to current students, alumni, and faculty who have similar interests. However, if you indicate in your application form that you do not wish to be contacted by members of the Law School community, we will not pass on your contact information to these groups if you are admitted.

  Corrections and Updates

  If you realize that your submitted application contains an error, please email us right away.

  If you have new or updated academic records, please submit them to LSAC, and LSAC will send us your updated records automatically.

  A new letter of recommendation can be submitted through LSAC’s Letter of Recommendation Service or emailed to us directly from the recommender.

  You are welcome to email us if you would like to provide updated application materials (e.g., an updated resume or a new essay or addendum). Please be aware that we cannot substitute or remove materials that have already been submitted; we can only supplement.

About the Application Materials

• Official Transcripts and Degree Confirmations

  You should submit academic records to LSAC from every postsecondary institution you have attended, even if you never received a degree or have just enrolled in the institution.

  In your LSAC account, you should list all the postsecondary educational institutions you have attended, regardless of whether you earned a degree. This includes study abroad and exchange programs, programs in which you are currently enrolled but have not completed yet, and programs you started but did not complete.

  If you have pursued post-secondary studies in fields other than law, you should also list these institutions in your LSAC account.

  Sometimes we notice discrepancies between the postsecondary institutions applicants list in their LSAC account compared to the institutions and degrees they list in their resumes. 

  These discrepancies can cause confusion for our reviewers, and we follow up with applicants to ask them to submit additional academic records to LSAC. To avoid potential confusion, we advise you to follow LSAC’s instructions in listing all your postsecondary institutions in your account and make them consistent with the academic credentials you provide in your resume.

  Academic records must be in English or accompanied by a certified English translation.

  Whenever available, transcripts should include an official certification of your class rank, cumulative grade average, and honors. It is very helpful for records to include a description of the institution’s grading system and an indication of the normal length of the academic program.

  How to Submit Academic Records

  You should request your academic records from your educational institutions, and the institutions must send your records directly to LSAC.

  It can take up to two weeks for LSAC to process academic records from educational institutions in the United States, and it can take four weeks or longer for LSAC to process international records. We strongly recommend submitting your academic records to LSAC as early in the application process as possible, even before you begin working on other application components.

  Applicants who submit their academic records to LSAC before the end of November have a significantly higher likelihood of having their records processed by our January 15 deadline. As a result, these applicants tend to have more favorable admissions outcomes than those who submit their academic records later.

  After you submit your application, LSAC will send us copies of your academic records. Please do not send academic records directly to our office, as we will consider only records submitted via LSAC for our admission review.

  If you are enrolled in a postsecondary academic program when you submit your application, then you should submit updated transcripts and records to LSAC once new grades become available. LSAC will process your updated academic records and send them to our office automatically so that we can add them to your application.

  Required Academic Records      Submit Records to LSAC

• English Proficiency Materials

  To be prepared for the rigor of the LLM curriculum, students must have a high level of English proficiency in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Unless an exemption applies, all applicants must submit at least one mode of the English proficiency materials we accept.

  We accept any of the following English proficiency materials:

  • TOEFL score
  • IELTS score
  • MET score
  • ECPE score
  • LSAT score
  • InitialView interview

  Although we review all complete applications, we look for an overall score of at least 100 on the TOEFL iBT, 7.0 on the IELTS Academic, or 64 on the MET 4-skill exam. Most admitted students have higher overall scores.

  We advise applicants with scores below 100 on the TOEFL iBT, 7.0 on the IELTS Academic, or 64 on the MET 4-skill exam to consider submitting an addendum that discusses their English language abilities.

  Due to the volume of applications we receive, our team submits applications for review once we confirm we have all of a candidate’s required materials, including at least one of the English proficiency measures that we accept.

  Although we do not universally place applications on hold for pending English proficiency materials, we recommend that you indicate all of the materials that you plan to submit in your application form. If you complete an English proficiency evaluation after you submit your application, you should notify the Graduate Admissions Office by email.

  As our reviewers consider your application, they will be able to decide whether to wait for future English proficiency materials. If they feel comfortable making a decision before receiving pending English proficiency materials, they will do so.

  TOEFL and IELTS

  The TOEFL iBT and IELTS Academic are available widely throughout the world. Both the TOEFL iBT and IELTS Academic are administered at test centers, but we also accept TOEFL iBT Home Edition and IELTS Online scores.

  We do not accept TOEFL MyBest scores.

  If you choose to submit TOEFL or IELTS scores, then you should request that these testing institutions send your score reports to LSAC. If you have taken multiple TOEFL or IELTS tests, then you should submit all your results to LSAC.

  TOEFL and IELTS scores are valid for two years, and so we accept scores that are within two years of our application opening. During the 2024-25 admission season, we will accept TOEFL or IELTS scores from September 1, 2022 or later.

  Learn More about TOEFL     Learn More about IELTS     

  Submit TOEFL or IELTS Test Scores to LSAC

  MET or ECPE Scores

  The Michigan English Test (MET) is administered online, and you can take the MET almost anywhere year-round. If you are considering the MET, then you should take the digital, 4-skill exam, which has a 155-minute duration.

  Prospective applicants to our LLM program can register to take the MET at a discounted rate.

  MET scores are valid for two years, and so we accept scores that are within two years of our application opening. During the 2024-25 admission season, we will accept MET scores from September 1, 2022 or later.

  The Examination for the Certificate of Proficiency in English (ECPE) is a 4-skill, paper test that is administered in May and December. ECPE scores are valid for life, and so we can accept any valid ECPE score as a measure of English proficiency, regardless of the test administration date.

  If you choose to submit a MET or ECPE score, then you should share your result with the University of Michigan Law School LLM Program in the Michigan Language Assessment Portal.

  Learn More about MET     Learn More about ECPE

  Submit Your MET or ECPE Test Scores

  LSAT Scores

  The Law School Admission Test (LSAT) consists of four 35-minute sections and is typically offered 8 to 9 times per year. You can take the LSAT at a test center or online.

  If you have taken the LSAT within the past five years (from June 2019 or later), then we can accept a valid LSAT score as a measure of English proficiency. If you indicate that you will be submitting an LSAT score in your application, then we will work with LSAC to receive your LSAT score information.

  Learn More about the LSAT

  InitialView Interview

  InitialView conducts live, unscripted interviews that provide you the chance to demonstrate your English communication skills and discuss your background and goals. The entire process takes about an hour, and you can complete an interview almost anywhere online.

  If you choose to do an online interview, then you should select a “Graduate/Professional School” interview. The interview is based on your résumé and is conducted by one of InitialView’s interviewers. The writing sample, which we strongly recommend (but do not require), is an open-ended question to which you will write a response. Neither the interview nor the writing sample is scored.

  Prospective applicants to our LLM program can register for an InitialView interview with a 30 percent off discount by entering the following code: xwADZJe

  If you choose to participate in an InitialView interview, you should submit your interview to the University of Michigan Law School via the InitialView portal.

  Learn More About InitialView

  Register for an InitialView Interview

• Exemptions From English Proficiency Materials

  The vast majority of candidates are required to submit at least one mode of our accepted English proficiency materials as an integral part of their application.

  However, an applicant who meets either of the following criteria is exempt from submitting English language proficiency materials:

  • English is the applicant’s native language (i.e., one of the first languages an applicant learned from birth and a primary language that the applicant speaks at home)
    
    OR
     
  • The applicant has completed at least three years of full-time, postsecondary education at an institution where English was the sole language of instruction.

  If you meet either of these criteria, you can indicate your eligibility for an exemption in the “Language” section of the application form. Please note that we will not send a separate communication to indicate our granting of an exemption.

  We strongly recommend that non-native English speakers submit English proficiency materials as part of their applications, as non-native English speakers in our LLM program receive 25 percent extra time on their final exams in their first semester.

  However, LLM students who are exempt from submitting English proficiency materials in their admissions applications do not receive this extra time on their final exams.

• Your Letters of Recommendation

  We require a minimum of two letters of recommendation, but you are welcome to submit up to four.

  Recommenders should submit their letters through LSAC’s LLM Letter of Recommendation Service, and they should write their letters in English or obtain a certified English translation if they write their letters in another language. We strongly prefer that letters be on recommenders’ official stationery.

  Content

  Letters of recommendation should be from people who know you well and can evaluate your capacity for advanced legal studies and professional success.

  Letters of recommendation are most helpful when they discuss the extent and nature of the recommender’s acquaintance with you and comment candidly on your qualities, such as your:

  • intellectual and scholarship abilities
  • capacity for original thought
  • ability to analyze and critically assess information
  • quality of oral and written expression
  • growth potential
  • achievements
  • personality

  Your Recommenders

  At least one letter of recommendation should be by a law faculty member who taught you in your postsecondary education. Because an LLM program is an academic endeavor, we find an academic perspective to be useful.

  However, if you completed your postsecondary education years ago, then we recognize it may be challenging to secure an academic letter of recommendation. If you have been out of school for four or more years, then you are welcome to substitute an academic letter of recommendation with one from a non-academic source.

  Letters of recommendation from employers—particularly if you have significant work experience—can provide extremely informative input. In addition, recommendations from mentors, advisors, volunteer supervisors, coaches, or others who know you well and have had the opportunity to review your abilities and contributions may be worthwhile submissions.

  We strongly discourage personal recommendations from family members or friends, as we attribute bias to these recommenders. We also advise against submitting letters from recommenders who have little or no direct knowledge of your qualities.

• Your Résumé or CV

  Your résumé or CV should contain information about your postsecondary education and employment experience. We appreciate details about your experience, and so we do not impose a page or word limit for this section.

  Your résumé or CV should list all postsecondary institutions that you attended, including:

  • name and location of each institution
  • dates of attendance
  • name of the degree in the original language (not an English translation)
  • cumulative grade average
  • class rank (if applicable)

  You should also provide information about your full-time and significant part-time employment, including:

  • name and location of your employer
  • your job title
  • dates you held the position
  • major responsibilities and activities
  • any other information you think will be useful

  In addition, your résumé or CV should include:

  • date and location of your bar admission (if applicable)
  • your significant extracurricular and non-work-related activities
  • academic and non-academic honors and awards you have received, including fellowships, prizes, and memberships in honor societies
  • your hobbies, special interests, or academic pursuits (not just those related to law)

  If you are not currently employed or enrolled in an academic program, please specify how you are spending your time in your résumé or CV. Whether you are applying for jobs, studying for a bar exam, traveling, or doing something else, we are grateful for any information you can provide.

• Required Essays

  We are proud of our kind and welcoming student body, and our goal is to enroll students with a broad range of perspectives and experiences to generate a vibrant culture of comprehensive debate and discussion. Essay submissions are an extremely helpful tool for evaluating your potential contributions to our Law School community.

  To this end, we require all applicants to submit two required essays in response to each of the prompts below.

  1. Please submit a personal statement that allows us to gain insight into who you are and understand why you are interested in pursuing graduate legal studies. (Maximum of 500 words.)
      
  2. Why are you interested in earning your graduate degree at Michigan Law? Why might Michigan be a good fit for you culturally, academically, or professionally? (Maximum of 300 words.)
• Supplemental Essays

  Supplemental essays give you the opportunity to provide us with relevant information that you were unable to include elsewhere in your application.

  Although supplemental essays are not required, we encourage you to consider submitting your responses to one or two (but no more) of the prompts listed below.

  Each supplemental essay should be no more than 400 words.

  Supplemental Essay Topics

  • What unique perspective or experience do you have that has made a meaningful impact on your life?
     
  • Describe a challenge, failure, or obstacle that you have faced and overcome, whether long-term and systemic (e.g., socioeconomic, health, or complex family circumstances) or short-term and discrete (e.g., a workplace scenario or a particularly challenging course). How did you confront it? Would you do anything differently if you faced this situation again?
     
  • We seek students who are encouraging, kind, and collaborative, even when it is not convenient or easy. Describe a recent experience where you exhibited these characteristics.
     
  • Tell us about a time in your recent past when you changed your mind about something significant.
     
  • Think of an acquaintance who knows you, but not very well (i.e., not a family member or close friend). How would your acquaintance describe you? Would their description be accurate? Why or why not?
     
  • If you could have dinner with any prominent person (living or dead), who would it be and why? What would you discuss?
• Application Addendum

  If you would like to provide clarification or context in your application (for example, explanations regarding particular grades in your postsecondary education, a history of standardized testing that is not reflective of your academic capabilities or English proficiency, gaps in studies or employment), you have the option to submit that information in an addendum to your application. 

  You are welcome to submit as many addenda as you need.

• Requesting Financial Aid

  All candidates are welcome to request consideration for financial aid from Michigan Law in the application form.

  • To request consideration, go to the “Financial Arrangements” section of the application and find the question “Please indicate whether you would like to be considered for financial aid from the Law School if you are admitted.”
  • Select “Yes.”

  Requesting consideration for financial aid does not affect a candidate’s admission decision, as our admission and scholarship evaluations are separate processes. We evaluate an applicant’s request for financial aid only after we decide to give them an offer of admission.

  All admitted students who request financial aid in their admissions applications are considered automatically for all available scholarships from the Law School. Scholarships are granted based on academic and professional merit and future promise in contributing to Michigan Law and the legal profession. 

  Because we make scholarship decisions based on the strength of an admission application, you should submit the highest quality application you can to increase your chance of being awarded a scholarship. Academic records and résumés are important, but you should also write thoughtful, genuine essays, and secure enthusiastic and detailed letters of recommendation.

  It is well worth devoting time and effort to your entire application, as this not only affects our admission decisions; it also plays a crucial role in our scholarship decisions.

  Because our scholarship decision process is separate from our admission review, scholarship information is not included in our offers of admission. Instead, we email scholarship decisions after we send an offer of admission. Admitted students who have requested financial aid consideration in their admission applications can expect a scholarship decision within four weeks of their admission offer.

  Financial Aid for LLM Students

  Finding a Funding Source

  Due to the many outstanding applications we receive, the demand for financial aid always exceeds the amount of available Law School scholarships. Therefore, applicants are strongly advised to seek financial support from other public and private sources.

  EducationUSA is a US Department of State network that promotes US higher education to students around the world. Every year, EducationUSA publishes a Global Guide that includes sections on “Foreign Government and Private Funding” resources in various countries; this can be useful to identify potential funding sources.

• Application Fee

  The application fee is $75, which is payable by credit card on LSAC’s website.

  We grant application fee waivers to highly qualified applicants through LSAC’s LLM Candidate Referral Service (LLM CRS). To be considered for an application fee waiver, you must have an active LLM CRS account indicating your intended enrollment year.

  If you register for LLM CRS and qualify for a fee waiver, it will automatically appear in your account on LSAC. We email recipients to make them aware they have received a fee waiver.

  Register for LLM CRS

Applications

• What should I write about in my personal statement?

  As much as we enjoy offering insight into our LLM admissions process, this is a question we’re unable to answer for you. The personal statement is your chance to illustrate who you are to our admissions team, and so you (not the well-meaning folks in the Graduate Admissions Office) are best equipped to think about what you would like to highlight about yourself.

  There is no set format or topic to write a successful personal statement, and so you have a lot of flexibility to decide what you want to write about. We hope your personal statement will give us information about why you would be an asset to the LLM class—whether it might be about your identity or interests, challenges you’ve overcome, unique experiences, or something else entirely.

  No matter what you choose to write about, your personal statement will be evaluated on construction in addition to content. We want your personal statement to sound like you, as this will help us envision who you are and understand how you would contribute to the Michigan Law community. Your goal is to write your personal statement well and have it channel your voice.

• Will my application be at a disadvantage if I don’t submit a supplemental essay?

  We truly mean it when we say supplemental essays are optional and are not required for admission to our LLM program.

  That said, one of our goals is to have LLM students who enjoy being part of the Michigan Law community. Supplemental essays can be very helpful for us to gauge fit, as they provide additional insight into who an applicant is. We don’t have any preferences among the supplemental essay topics, and so we hope you can choose one or two topics that resonate with you.

  We will provide a caveat about supplemental essays: submitting one does not automatically increase your chance of admission. In fact, submitting a weak essay does not confer benefits in our admission process, and it will cause our reviewers to have doubts about an applicant.

  If you submit a supplemental essay, we advise you to take the time and care to write it well.

• Do titles or footnotes count toward the word limit for each application essay?

  Titles, essay prompts, and footnotes do not count toward essay word limits. 

  However, we want to clarify that we’re looking for essays that provide information about who you are—not academic writing samples. 

  While you’re welcome to include footnotes in your essays if you believe they’ll be useful for clarification or contextual information, we don’t expect academic journal citations. (You will have plenty of opportunities to learn about the particularities of journal citations during your LLM year!)

• How do I reapply if I submitted an application in a previous admission cycle?

  First, if you were denied in a previous admission cycle, please allow us to assure you that your new application will not be at any disadvantage. Your new application will be considered on the same basis for admission as first-time applications.

  If you were admitted in a previous admission cycle, then it will be very helpful to provide information about why you have decided to reapply in an essay or addendum.

  To reapply, you must re-register for LSAC’s LLM Credential Assembly Service and submit a new application via LSAC’s website. If you completed any additional coursework since your previous application, you should submit new transcripts to LSAC. 

  You should submit all required materials in your new application, even if the content has not changed.

  Although you aren’t required to change any components in your new application, we do have access to applications from previous cycles. We encourage you to consider whether you would like to edit or change parts of your new application (for instance, updating your résumé or personal statement, or submitting a new supplemental essay or letter of recommendation).

• May I submit my application form before my Credential Assembly Service (CAS) Report is complete?

  Yes, you’re welcome to submit your application form via LSAC’s website, even if LSAC has not finished processing all your academic records, letters of recommendation, or English proficiency test scores. 

  You do not need to wait until your CAS Report is complete to submit your application form.

  If you’re comfortable doing so, we encourage you to submit your application form as early as you can, as this helps make our office’s subsequent processing stages more efficient. 

  After you submit your application form, LSAC will send us your CAS Report automatically as soon as it finishes processing your materials.

  Learn More About CAS Reports

• How will I know if my application is complete?

  Shortly after you submit your application form via LSAC (often within minutes), we will send you an email to confirm that we received your application form. To ensure you don’t miss updates about your application status, please save [email protected] to your contact list.

  We are unable to begin processing your application until we receive both your application form and CAS Report from LSAC. 

  If we don’t receive your CAS Report within two weeks of you submitting your application form, we will send you another email to notify you that your CAS Report is missing.

  Within 7 business days of our office receiving your CAS Report from LSAC, we will email you with information about your application status. This application status email will indicate whether your application is complete or missing materials. 

  If your application is missing components, the email will inform you what materials you need to submit for your application to become complete.

  Once we confirm your application is complete, we will submit it for review.

Admissions Procedure

• How many applications do you receive, and what is the size of the LLM class?

  In each admission cycle, we usually receive 500 to 650 applications for a target class size of 30 to 40 students.

• Is work experience required for admission?

  Work experience is not required for admission to our LLM program, as it may make sense for some applicants to pursue an LLM right after they complete their previous legal studies. We recognize this can be the norm in some countries.

  Nonetheless, it’s typical for about 80% of our LLM class to have at least one year of postgraduate legal experience, with a median of 3 to 4 years of work experience. As a general matter, we believe many applicants benefit from having postgraduate work experience, as it gives them an opportunity to build their professional identity and understand how an LLM will contribute to their careers.

• If I send you my transcript and résumé, can you tell me my chances of gaining admission?

  We regularly receive emails from prospective students who provide us their academic records and résumés and ask us to evaluate their chances of admission. 

  But, even when a prospective applicant gives us information about their background and experience, we are unable to gauge their likelihood of admission, as it’s impossible to predict an outcome. 

  This is because many factors go into an admission decision, and we make our decisions within the context of the overall applicant pool, which changes every year.

  We aim to have bright students who will meet the demands of our LLM curriculum, and so we pay particular attention to evidence of academic success in an application. 

  Academic excellence is not the sole determining factor for admission, though. 

  We value the close community among our LLM students and the wider Law School, and so we also look for indications of how an applicant would contribute to this type of environment. 

  These factors aren’t captured by grades or test scores, and so this is why we need to review a complete application to make an admission decision.

• How is my application evaluated?

  We review everything that you submit in your application, and submitting all the required components is not sufficient for admission. 

  Quality matters. You should make each application component as strong as it can be.

  When we review applications, we examine an applicant’s academic performance in their previous studies and their English proficiency as a starting point. Because these measures do not give us the whole story about an applicant, we also carefully evaluate the strength of an applicant’s essays and letters of recommendation, the rigor of their previous studies, their significant work and life experiences, and their community involvement.

  Because we review your entire application, we advise you to avoid repeating the same information across multiple sections. 

  If you list your job responsibilities in your résumé, you can be confident our reviewers will be aware of them, and so you don’t have to recite them again in your personal statement. We hope this will free some space in your essays!

• Are interviews part of the admission process?

  We do not conduct evaluative interviews, but we occasionally contact applicants to clarify specific elements of their application. 

  Please don’t be alarmed if you receive an email from us with a request for clarification. We’re an inquisitive group, and so additional information can assist us in reaching a decision.

  If you would like to discuss your background and goals in an interview setting, we accept InitialView interviews as an English proficiency measure.

  Learn More About InitialView