Transfer Admissions

A student who has completed one or more years at a law school accredited by the American Bar Association or at a state-approved law school may apply for transfer admission with advanced standing.

In addition to UMass Law's normal application materials, please submit:

• a CAS report, an official transcript, and a letter of good standing from your previous law school

• one of the two required letters of recommendation must be from a faculty member who taught you in law school

LSAT scores over 5 years old are not acceptable for admission consideration.

In no event will more than 30 credit hours of transfer credit be given. No transfer credit will be granted for courses taken more than 4 years before the request for transfer credit is made.

Transfer credit

Transfer credit may be granted only after UMass Law has received an official transcript from the school where the credit hours were earned. Transfer course work for which credit is given will be recorded on your permanent transcript without a grade designation. It will not be calculated in your grade point average.

Criteria for transfer credit

To qualify for transfer credit, you must provide evidence that:

1. You earned a grade considered "satisfactory" by the school where the course was taken. In no event may transfer credit be granted for courses in which you received a grade lower than C or its equivalent (2.0 on a 4.0 scale).
2. The course was worth at least 2 semester or 3 quarter credits. Credit for multi-term courses may be granted only if you have completed the entire course and received a satisfactory grade in every term.
3. The course was not taken more than 4 academic years before your matriculation at UMass Law.

In light of the nationwide effects of the COVID-19 public health crisis, the associate dean has the discretion to approve credits earned during spring 2020 at an ABA or state-approved law school under any form of pass/fail or credit/no credit system, provided that (1) the transferor law school changed to such a system during the spring 2020 semester, and (2) the student received a grade of Pass, Credit, or any other grade deemed satisfactory by the transferor law school.

For more information, consult the UMass Law Student Handbook‌ (PDF).