Visiting (Non-Matriculating) J.D. Students

General Information

Thank you for considering UCI Law for your legal education. All of the following information is important; you should read this in its entirety prior to beginning the application for admission. Please note that these instructions are for students seeking admission as a Visiting (Non-Matriculating) student from another ABA-accredited law school.

Permission to Visit

Applicants for visiting status must obtain permission from their current law school to be a visiting student prior to committing to UCI Law. UCI Law Admissions must have this permission in hand prior to submission of the SIR Deposit.

Dates & Deadlines

Visiting Application Information

UCI Law Application for Admission: The visiting application is available through the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC) website beginning on December 1 for Spring 2024.

To promote access to a legal education at UCI, there is no application fee. A fee waiver is not necessary. Due to our limited resources, we are unable to grant CAS report fee waivers.

When submitting your application for admission, please strictly adhere to all application instructions. In addition to completing the application form itself, we require additional essays or statements. Additional instructions regarding the following statements are included with the application:

• Personal Statement (750-word limit)
• “Why UCI Law” Statement (750-word limit)
• Current Resumé
• Character and Fitness/Conduct information, if applicable
• Optional Statements may be an Inclusive Excellence Statement, LSAT Addendum, and/or GPA Addendum. (While you may write about multiple topics, the total word limit among the optional statements is 750 words.) 

Please ensure the correct documents are submitted with your application; updates or revisions of documents are not accepted. Please follow formatting instructions and be sure to indicate your name, LSAC Account number, and the type of document (Personal Statement, Inclusive Excellence Statement, etc.) in the header of each document.

Credentials Assembly Service: All visiting applicants must register for and utilize the LSAC’s Credential Assembly Service (CAS). The CAS will house your transcripts, letters of recommendation, and, if applicable, your LSAT score and LSAT writing.

Education: In order to apply for admission, you must:

• Possess your bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited institution of higher education. (The accredited institution must be listed on the U.S. Department of Education’s database.) and
• have completed (or be in the process of completing) at least one-year of law study at an ABA-accredited law school.

Please note: students from law schools that are only state-approved are not eligible for visiting admission.

Transcripts: UCI Law requires transcripts from every college or university attended (except study abroad transcripts from foreign universities) must be submitted for inclusion in your CAS Report. Failing to include a transcript will result in your file being marked as incomplete (and may also delay delivery of a CAS report) and delay review by the Admissions Committee.

Law school transcripts may be included in the CAS Report or sent separately. Regardless of method, you remain responsible for your law school transcripts reaching UCI Law. With the continuing of the COVID-19 pandemic, we encourage you to use the CAS Report for your law school transcripts, but we will also accept electronic copies directly from the Registrar’s office to admissions@law.uci.edu. If you must send via US Post, they can be sent to:

Any transcripts that are mailed are deemed as not received until a member of the admissions team physically processes them and includes them with your file.

Letters of Standing: All visiting applicants are required to submit letters of standing as part of the application and must come from every law school you previously attended (even if no grades were issued). This letter may be included with your CAS Report or sent separately directly from the law school you attended to UCI Law Admissions. It is your responsibility to ensure the letter of standing is received by UCI Law Admissions.

We encourage you to utilize either the CAS Report or to have the letter e-mailed directly from the Registrar’s office to admissions@law.uci.edu. If you must send via US Post, the letter may be sent to:

Letters of Recommendation: UCI Law requires a minimum of one (1) but no more than three (3) letters of recommendation. One (1) letter must be from faculty at your current law school.

Letters of recommendation must be on file with LSAC and assigned to UCI Irvine School of Law. We will not receive your CAS Report until at least one (1) letter is assigned to UCI Law and on file with LSAC.

The optional two (2) letters of recommendation may come from either academic or professional sources. We do not suggest solely personal references.

Financial Aid

UCI Law does not offer merit scholarships to visiting students. If you are expecting Federal Financial Aid to pay for tuition and fees at UCI School of Law, you must contact your home institution's financial aid office and request that a visiting agreement (Consortium Agreement) be sent to the UCI School of Law Student Financial Services. Once the agreement is received, UCI School of Law Student Financial Services Office will certify the amount of funding needed for cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses. Your home institution will determine exactly what type of aid and how much aid is available to you. If financial aid is available, it is your respnsibility to ensure that the home institution submits the appropriate tuition billing payment by the tuition and fees deadline. 

JD Admission Decisions

Visiting applications are reviewed on a rolling basis as they are marked as Complete. All visiting applications received by December 15 and marked as Complete will receive a decision before the end of the calendar year.

 Page Updated 11/28/2023