J.S.D. Application Process

In addition to the instructions below, please review the J.S.D. Admissions section of our website, where you can find common questions about our application process and the online application. We also urge you to familiarize yourself with LSAC's requirements for the submission of official documents through the Credential Assembly Service, including the length of time they estimate for processing those documents. We cannot accept application materials by mail should you miss a deadline with LSAC.

• Changes Post-Submission: Once submitted, all components except changes to personal information (address, phone number, etc.) are considered final.

Third-Party Submissions
Educational Consultants: With the exception of Fulbright and its related partnership organizations, the Office of Graduate Degree Programs does not accept applications submitted by third-party educational consultants. Such applications will be withdrawn. If discovered after admission, a formal process to determine the authenticity of your application materials may be initiated, and may result in disciplinary action.

Academic Integrity
Failure to submit complete, accurate, and authentic application documents consistent with these instructions may result in denial or revocation of admission, cancellation of academic credit, suspension, expulsion, or eventual revocation of degree. Applicants may be required to assist admissions staff and faculty involved in admission reviews in the verification of all documents and statements.

The following components must be submitted electronically through LSAC’s online application.

Application Components 

1. Personal Statement: Your personal statement should describe your background, academic and research interests, and professional goals. This document should be prepared without the assistance of others and should not exceed three pages. The format should follow general formatting guidelines: standard 12-point font, 1-inch margins, and double spacing. 

2. Résumé or Curriculum Vitae: Submit your most current résumé or curriculum vitae. 

3. Advisory Committee. You must identify, communicate with, and obtain the agreement of one Columbia Law professor to serve as chair and two Columbia Law professors to serve as members of your J.S.D. committee as part of the application process. You should include the names of the committee chair and the two other committee members in your dissertation proposal and all three committee members should submit letters of recommendation (see Letters of Recommendation below) in support of your candidacy clearly indicating they agree to serve as part of your J.S.D. committee.

You may obtain approval to have one non-full-time faculty as a member of your committee upon the request of the chair. You should include that request by the proposed chair with your application. 

When contacting a Columbia Law faculty member who you would like to consider supervising your work, please include the following: 

• Cover letter introducing yourself and your interest in pursuing a J.S.D. at Columbia Law School. 
• An abstract of your dissertation proposal that describes the thesis of your project, including the core question you seek to address, a description of why this is an important question, how you plan to address that question, and the kinds of literature from which you expect to draw. This abstract need only be 1-2 double spaced pages. 
• Explanation of why you think they would be a suitable chair or advisory committee member for your dissertation. 

4. Dissertation Proposal and Bibliography: Your dissertation proposal must be written in English and be in the range of 2,500 words (10 double-spaced pages) using a 12-point font with standard margins, and with a meaningful working title (citations are not included in the total word count). In addition to the 10-page proposal, you must include a two-page bibliography at the end of your proposal (for a total of 12 pages) that lists relevant works that proved significant in the formulation of your thinking about your project. 

Your proposal should: 

• List the names of the three Columbia Law faculty members who have agreed to be members of your advisory committee. Please indicate which member has agreed to be the chairperson.
• Demonstrate the originality of the research project, taking into account existing work and scholarly directions. 
• Indicate the importance of the project within your larger field of study. 
• Indicate the proposed use of sophisticated methodologies in the project and show that you are well-versed in those methodologies. 
• Acknowledge whatever problems or difficulties you foresee in formulating and completing the project. 

The application should convey your current level of mastery and control for an effort that will demand a great deal of time, independent research, and further study. 

The size of the document you upload can be up to 1MB. Please reformat your proposal if it exceeds this limit. 

5. Scholarly Writing Sample: Your writing sample must be originally written in English; translations of works originally written in another language do not qualify. 

The size of the document you upload can be up to 1MB. Please reformat your writing sample if it exceeds this limit.

6. Application Fee: Columbia Law requires a nonrefundable $85 application fee, payable by credit card (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover). Should you be admitted, this fee will not be credited toward your tuition.

The following components must be submitted through LSAC’s Credential Assembly Service (CAS): LSAC’s Credential Assembly Service is required for all Columbia graduate degree program applicants. We also require LSAC’s International Transcript Authentication and Evaluation Service (ITAES) in addition to the basic CAS service.

Transcripts and diplomas. Follow LSAC's instructions for submission of transcripts and diplomas as stated on their website. Submit an official transcript and, where applicable, a diploma or proof of degree from all postsecondary (university-level) institutions you have attended, whether or not you earned a degree. This includes foreign exchange programs, non-law programs, and programs or courses in which you are currently enrolled. If you are in school at the time you submit your application, submit your most recent transcript, and send an updated transcript to LSAC once your current semester grades are available.

Contact LSAC for further instructions if you are unable to send original documents to them. If the originals are not in English, you must submit an official, certified translation of each document in addition to the original document (although LSAC accepts translations completed by the applicant, Columbia Law School does not).

Statement of rank. While not required, if your university routinely issues a class rank statement, we strongly encourage you to include it in the documents you submit to LSAC.

Letters of recommendation. We require three original letters of recommendation from Columbia Law faculty who clearly indicate they have agreed to serve on your J.S.D. Advisory Committee. One letter should be a letter of recommendation and consent from a Columbia Law faculty member to serve as the chair of your Advisory Committee.

Your recommenders should submit their letters of recommendation directly to LSAC on official Columbia Law School letterhead, addressed to the Office of Graduate Degree Programs. If your recommenders are unable to print the letter on official letterhead, ask them to include an explanation as to why they are unable to do so.

English Proficiency Scores. An English standardized test score is required for all applicants, except those who are automatically waived and those who receive a waiver. The requirement is automatically waived for those who earned their first law degree entirely in English in a country where English is an official language. Professional experience in the English language is not sufficient for a waiver. Anyone who does not meet the criteria for an automatic waiver but nonetheless still wishes to request one must do so by submitting our Waiver Request Form before the application deadline.

Only the internet-based TOEFL (iBT) or the Academic Version of the IELTS will be accepted. Scores remain valid for two years. All score reports must be submitted through LSAC's Credential Assembly Service. Columbia will not accept score reports directly. To submit a TOEFL score to LSAC, use institution code 8395. To submit an IELTS score to LSAC, contact the IELTS center where the exam administration took place to send scores to Law School Admission Council LLM/JD Credential Assembly Svc.

Applicants should attempt to obtain scores that meet the following minimum requirements. If scores fall below the following levels, chances of admission could be adversely impacted despite strong factors elsewhere in an application.

—TOEFL iBT (Test Center / Home Edition): 105 Overall Score
—IELTS (Test Center / Online): 8 Overall Score

Please note that throughout the application process the Admissions Committee reserves the right to request additional information for any applicant, including requiring an English proficiency score for an applicant who may be eligible for an automatic waiver. 

Due to the large volume of applications we receive, the Office of Graduate Degree Programs cannot report on the progress of applications. We will send each applicant an email confirming that we have received your online application. We cannot provide information regarding the receipt of specific documents.

Feel free to email g[email protected] with any questions. We strive to respond to all inquiries within two business days.

Should the Admissions Committee require any additional information about your application, they will contact you directly. In most cases, interviews are not a regular part of the application process.

For more information, visit the Office of Graduate Degree Programs.