The Application Process
Financial Aid
Career Services
Law Reviews
Transfer Application Information
Each year, Boston College Law School admits transfer applicants who have completed one year of full-time study at an American Bar Association approved law school. Transfer admission is based in large part on your performance at your current law school. Advanced standing credit maybe awarded for a maximum of 33 credits. The J.D. degree will be awarded after successful completion of the remaining two years of full-time study at Boston College Law School.
Timetable
Transfer applications may be submitted beginning on February 1.
Early Notification: Transfer applications received by March 15 will be considered for early notification. Complete first semester grades from your current law school must be received in order to be considered for early notification admission. Early notification decisions are not binding. For those accepted for early notification, a final law school transcript and a $1,000 non-refundable tuition deposit will be due by July 1.
Regular Notification: Transfer applications received between March 15 and July 1 will be considered on a rolling basis. Complete first year law school grades are required for regular notification consideration. Applicants are encouraged to apply as early as possible. For those accepted, a $1,000 non-refundable tuition deposit will be due by July 1, or by the date specified in the letter of acceptance.
Required Materials:
- Submit a completed and signed Transfer application to Boston College Law School.
- Submit a letter stating your reasons for wishing to transfer to Boston College Law School.
- Obtain a Letter of Good Standing from the dean of your current law school.
- Provide a transcript of all law school grades, including class rank if/when available.
- Submit a letter of recommendation from a current law professor.
- Request your LSDAS report from LSAC, to be sent directly to Boston College Law School.
- You may supplement your application by including a résumé.
- Submit an application fee of $75 (US Dollars). Fee waivers are not available for transfer applications.
Please contact our office if you have additional questions. We look forward to receiving your application.
To apply online, please visit www.lsac.org. To download a printable PDF of our application, click here.
Financial Aid Information
Transfer applicants: To apply for financial aid, transfer applicants must complete the BC Law Financial Aid Application, FAFSA, and electronically file the Need Access. Parental information is required if you would like to be considered for institutional funding (Boston College Law School scholarships, grants and low interest loans). Signed copies of yours and your parents' federal income tax returns are also required.
Admitted transfer students: If you are accepted for admission, please be sure to contact the Financial Aid Office at your former law school to notify them that you will be attending BC Law in the fall. If you have applied for loans through your prior law school, you will also need to cancel those loans and reapply through Boston College.
Stafford Loan applications: If you have a particular borrower you would like to work with, please contact that lender for an application. Otherwise you will be sent a pre-printed application in late July, or early August. If you have any questions regarding this process, please contact the Financial Aid Office.
Private loan applications: If you anticipate borrowing additional private loan funding to cover the cost of attendance, now is the time to obtain applications. Some of the more popular programs are listed below:
ACCESS GROUP Law Access Loan: 1-800-282-1550
LAWLOANS Law Student Loan: 1-800-984-0190
MEFA Graduate Education Loan: 1-800-842-1531
Fall tuition bills: Tuition is billed in June and payment is due by August 11th. Verified financial aid awards will be deducted from the billing statement. Any remaining balance must be paid by August 11th.
Refunds: If the aid you receive is more than what you owe Boston College, you may go online through the Agora Service and request a refund. If your funding is wire transferred to BC (ask your lender) you can apply for your refund over the phone or also online through Agora again. If your loan proceeds come into BC via check, you will need to visit Student Services in Lyons Hall room 100 to sign the check and negotiate a refund. Checks may be signed within 10 days prior to the first day of classes; however, refunds checks cannot be issued until after the first day of classes. Please note that refunds are not processed until the aid is received.
Loan deferment forms: Boston College participates in the National Student Loan Clearinghouse. This organization specializes in confirming student status for loan guarantors and servicers. They are updated electronically once per month with Boston College's enrollment data, and certify students according to the information that we provide. The contract mandates that all student loan deferments must be signed by an official at the Clearinghouse only. All deferment requests must be submitted to the BC Student Services Office, Lyons Hall, 140 Commonwealth Ave., Chestnut Hill, MA 02467. That office forwards the deferment form to the Clearinghouse for you. Please do not send the form to the Clearinghouse yourself.
Law School Financial Aid Office: 1-617-552-4243
Career Services
The schedule for Fall recruiting interviews and the bidding schedule will be posted on the career services website.
The deadline for participation in our off-campus and on-campus recruitment program is the middle of July. In order to participate in fall recruiting, a transfer student must have paid his/her non-refundable tuition deposit. Once the tuition deposit is paid, the student must meet with our recruitment manager and one of our career counselors. As we submit student resumes electronically to employers all at once, resumes of transfer students who pay their deposit after the career services deadline will not be included in the school’s submissions.
Law Reviews
Boston College Law School publishes 5 scholarly journals. Students who finish their first year in the top ten percent of the class are invited to join the review of their choice. The remaining 45 to 50 staff positions are filled from the pool of students who participate in a writing competition held at the end of exams in May. The reviews endeavor to keep a limited number of staff positions available for transfer students, however, who may participate in a writing competition that takes place in the 12 days prior to the first day of second year classes. The editorial boards will evaluate those submissions and, if they determine that the writing is exceptional, will make offers to transfer students on an as-available basis. Historically (and depending on the number of transfer students entering the second year class), roughly three to five students have received an invitation to join a publication. In the interest of full disclosure, you should understand that the Boston College Law Review will be fully staffed; your participation in the competition, therefore, is for a staff position on one of the remaining publications.