J.D. Admissions: Transfer & Visiting Students

Visiting Applicant Timeline

September 1, 2024 - Visiting applicants may apply for the 2025-2026 academic year.

Enrolled students at an ABA or Internationally accredited law school may apply to visit for the 2025 academic year by submitting the required information listed below. Visiting students may apply for a semester or a year. Admissions decisions are made on a rolling basis depending on the semester for which you are applying. Early application is encouraged.

Students may apply as visiting students during or after their second year of study at another law school. If you are applying to visit at Richmond Law, you must comply with the general application instructions listed below. In addition to the other requirements, your Letter of Good Standing must state a willingness by your home institution to accept grades earned here at Richmond Law as credit towards your degree. Visiting applicants should address specifically why they would like to visit Richmond Law in their personal statement or elsewhere in their application.

Transfer Applicant Timeline

September 1, 2024 - The transfer application opens for the 2025-2026 academic year.

Applicants interested in transfering are encouraged to apply as early as possible with all first-year grades and course descriptions included with their application. Decisions are released on a rolling basis and cannot be rendered until the first year of law school is complete. All transfer applicants must complete their application by July 15, 2024 for admission consideration to accomodate the timeline for course evaluation and registration prior to the start of orientation. 

Application - The submitted application must be completed in full, with all required and any relevant optional questions answered in order to be considered. Failure to do so may delay the processing of your application. All applications MUST be submitted through the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC).

Transcripts - Registration with the LSAC Credential Assembly Service (CAS) is required. After you register for the CAS, you must have a transcript sent to LSAC from each undergraduate, technical school, graduate, and law institution you have attended (as a matriculated or non-matriculated student), whether or not a degree was earned. This includes any dual credits earned in high school, college-level summer school, and all transfer credits, etc. This must also include an official transcript showing your grades and class standing at the end of the first year of law school. Either the transcript or required Letter of Good Standing must indicate your class rank or the reason that no rank is provided.

Please note that the J.D. program requires that, at minimum, a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent has been earned prior to the start of your J.D. coursework. No later than October 15 of the year of matriculation, you must ensure that the Law School has received your official transcripts verifying all previous academic credits undertaken and degree(s) conferred. If the Law School does not have your transcript(s), you will not be permitted to enroll in subsequent semesters until the official transcripts have been received.

Academic Course Descriptions - Transfer students must submit an official course description for all law courses that you have completed or will complete prior to enrolling at the University of Richmond School of Law. These course descriptions are required to have your first year law transcript assessed for transfer credit. They will be used in determining which course credits will transfer in and which degree requirements have been met. This will help you and your academic advisors plan your 2L course schedule.

Letters of Recommendation - Applicants should use the Letter of Recommendation Service offered through CAS. Although Letters of Recommendation are not required, we strongly encourage at least one Letter of Recommendation, preferably from a professor at your current law school. Up to four letters will be considered. Note: Letters of recommendation are held in confidence. The submission of your application constitutes your waiver of any and all rights to review letters of recommendation retained by this law school. Letters are used for law admissions purposes only.

Letter of Good Standing - The appropriate Dean or Registar of the law school you are presently attending must send a letter to the Richmond Law Admissions Office stating that you are in good standing and eligible to continue your studies there.  Letters of Good standing may be sent directly to the Admissions Office.  Either the Letter of Good Standing or required transcript must indicate your class rank or the reason that no rank is provided.

Résumé - The résumé may be of any length and in any appropriate format for a professional résumé or CV. It should provide chronological information about your academic background, work experiences, extracurricular or charitable activities, publications, and accomplishments.

Personal Statement - The required personal statement should be approximately two pages in length and can address any topic you deem relevant that will provide additional insight into your experiences, qualifications, and interests. We encourage you to provide information about yourself otherwise not found in your application. We do not recommend explaining any legal or educational issues associated with your application here. If needed, please address these issues in an addendum. We do encourage addressing why you wish to transfer or visit. Please note that everything in your personal statementmust be entirely your own original work and may not be produced in any part with ChatGPT or any other artificial intelligence or large language model system.

Optional Supplemental Statement - Recognizing that applicants may have more to share beyond their required personal statement and other contents of their application file, we offer this option to submit a supplemental statement. This statement is not required and no applicant will be penalized for choosing not to submit one.

Richmond Law believes that a legal education is more than just learning the law. Diverse life experiences, viewpoints, and values inside and outside of the classroom will enhance discussions, challenge students in their own perspective, and ultimately prepare them better for their legal career. Please consider sharing significant life experiences, challenges, perspectives, or identities that have shaped you as a person and may influence your contributions to our community and the legal profession.

Note that any written submissions must be entirely your own original work and may not be produced in any part with ChatGPT or any other artificial intelligence or large language model system. If you choose to submit a supplemental statement, please include it in the appropriate "Attachments" section.

Addendum - An addendum must be submitted to address any legal, character and fitness, or educational issues associated with your application. If there are multiple issues, each should be addressed in its own addendum. Brief optional addenda may also be useful to explain LSAT score discrepancies, grade inconsistencies, gaps in work history, or to provide context for reviews on any topicyou feel is relevant to their decision. There is no required format.

TOEFL Waiver for International Applicants - International applicants are expected to demonstrate fluency in the English language. Candidates for whom their native language is not English are required to take either the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exam.  All scores must be submitted through LSAC; paper copies of scores are not accepted.

International applicants who believe they are fluent in English or have completed their undergraduate (or other advanced degrees) at an institution where the primary language of instruction is English may request a waiver of the English language testing requirement.  Applicants must submit a written statement indicating their level of proficiency and how they achieved it, i.e., either through school instruction or work experience in an English-speaking professional position.

GRE Takers - Applicants who were admitted to law school with a GRE score in lieu of the LSAT, must submit both their GRE score(s) and an explanation of why they took the GRE in place of the LSAT.  Both total and individual scores must be reported.

State Bar Character and Fitness - An applicant’s character and fitness to practice law must be established as a prerequisite for licensure. When you apply to sit for the bar exam, you are required to provide relevant, detailed background information that will be carefully evaluated by the bar examiners in the state in which you apply. Any information discovered during this background investigation that negatively reflects on your character and fitness to practice law may be treated as just cause for further analysis.

As part of the process, all applicants must disclose any information regarding events both before and during law school. The State Bar’s Character and Fitness Committee will compare your answers to its questions with those provided in your law school application. Any discrepancies can result in adverse consequences, so the information you provide on your law school application must be accurate and complete.  Should the committee find that your responses on the law school application are inconsistent with those provided on the bar exam application, the Board of Bar Examiners will likely initiate a more intensive review of your file. Should this review occur, you may be subject to sanctions, including revocation of law school admission and/or a delay in certification of fitness.

For additional information on loans, check our Financial Aid Office website and contact them at finaid@richmond.edu or 804-289-8438.

Educational Loans
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the application for all federal aid at the University of Richmond School of Law. Ideally, the FAFSA should be received by the federal processor by February 25 or as soon thereafter as possible (FAFSA available for submission on October 1). The FAFSA may be submitted online here.

Parental information is not required on the FAFSA for law students. Our FAFSA code is 003744.

Incoming transfer students working in qualifying public sector positions are eligible for funding through the School of Law’s Summer Public Service Fellowship Program. Qualifying public sector employment is unpaid, law-related work for a government agency, public interest organization, or the judiciary. To qualify for a full fellowship of $5,000, you must work full-time for at least eight weeks between May and August. If you do not enroll in the School of Law in the fall, you will be required to repay the fellowship. 

You may contact the Career Development Office for more information about the program.

The University of Richmond prohibits discrimination and harassment against applicants, students, faculty or staff on the basis of race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, ethnicity, age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, military or veteran status or any classification protected by local, state, or federal law.

As a recipient of federal funds, the University complies with federal laws prohibiting discrimination, including Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX). Title IX provides that: “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”

Admissions applications will be reviewed holistically. You are assured both by school policy and by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act that the information will be confidential and accessible only to school officials, government agencies and others with a legitimate educational interest in this information.

Richmond Law seeks to admit highly qualified applicants who have demonstrated the potential to complete not only a rigorous course of legal study but also possess the promise of contributions to the law school, the legal profession, and the broader community. Using a holistic review process, the Admissions Committee seeks to admit a student body of wide-ranging backgrounds, education, and experience.  In so doing, the Committee seeks to bring a variety of skills and perspectives to the classroom and campus community.

In determining an applicant’s suitability for the program, the Admissions Committee reviews academic factors such as the candidate’s GPA, transcripts, undergraduate institution, and the quality of the applicant’s prior academic experience. Emphasis is also placed on the applicant’s capacity for law school study, as reflected through appropriate evaluative mechanisms, including but not limited to standardized tests and writing samples.  In addition, the Committee recognizes that other factors such as location, ethnicity, leadership qualities, challenges overcome, and work experience can contribute to an applicant’s likelihood for success in law school.  The Committee further acknowledges that such factors can affect the applicant’s ability to constructively impact the legal profession as well as the society at large.

Character and Fitness

Applicants to Richmond Law are required to complete all questions in the Character and Fitness section.  Applicants have a continuing obligation to update their responses to these questions if the answers change, even after their application is complete. 

Admission Decisions

Once an application has been marked complete, candidates can expect a timely decision, usually within six to eight weeks. On occasion, some applications may be held for future review.

Offers of Admission & Deferral

Offers of Admission are good for the year in which the offer is made. An applicant who chooses not to enroll for the year in which the admission offer is made may reapply the following year by completing an updated application. Admission in one year does not, however, guarantee admission in subsequent years, and applicants are considered holistically each year.

Applicants may request a deferral of enrollment by emailing the Associate Dean of Admissions. Deferrals are evaluated on a case-by-case basis, and applicants must provide a statement explaining their reasons for requesting a deferral. Deferments may be granted for up to two years for military service, or other recognized paid service work such as Teach for America, Peace Corps, etc.

Applicants who are not granted deferral may reapply for admission in subsequent year(s) and will be considered with the applicant pool for that year.

The University of Richmond School of Law programs for professions that require licensure or certification are intended to prepare the student for Virginia licensure and certification requirements. Admission into any programs for professions that require licensure and certification does not guarantee that students will obtain a license or certificate. Licensure and certification requirements are set by agencies, not controlled by or affiliated with the University of Richmond School of Law, and licensure and certification requirements can change at any time.

The University of Richmond School of Law has not determined whether its programs meet other states’ educational or professional licensure and certification requirements. Students planning to pursue licensure or certification in other states are responsible for determining whether the completion of the University of Richmond School of Law programs will meet their state’s requirements for licensure or certification. This disclosure is made pursuant 34 CFR §668.43(a)(5)(v).