Application Instructions - Extended Master of Laws (LLM)
USC Gould School of Law

Eligibility

To qualify for admission to our Two-Year Extended LLM, you must have earned your first law degree (LLB or the equivalent) outside of the United States. However, you may be considered for admission if you provide evidence of recent legal work experience and hold a bachelor's degree or its equivalent in another field (from outside of the U.S.).

If you are currently earning your law degree and will complete it prior to the start of your LLM studies, you may be admitted but will be required to complete certain continuing registration requirements. You must submit final transcripts showing your degree was awarded before you begin the LLM.

If your degree was issued by an institution located outside the United States, you must have your transcripts authenticated and evaluated by the Law School Admission Council (LSAC).

We do not require work experience or an LSAT score to be considered for admission to any of our graduate degrees.

Qualified applicants will be granted admission to both the first-year certificate in U.S. Legal Studies and the second-year LLM.

You may not transfer credit from work completed at other law schools.

Application Process

To apply for admission, complete an online application through the Law School Admission Council (LSAC). After you create your LSAC account, follow the instructions for applying to USC Gould using our LLM Application.

Please refer to the LSAC Checklist for instructions on the LLM application process. If you experience technical issues with your application, contact LSAC for assistance at 215-968-1315 or llminfo@lsac.org.

We highly recommend that you only submit one application to the degree of most interest to you. We would be happy to consider you for one of our other degrees. Once you have submitted your application to your first-choice program, please email gipadmissions@law.usc.edu to let us know you have applied and to indicate any additional degree for which you would like to be considered.

Among the required information and documents you will submit through LSAC are:

• transcripts and degree verification
• a two- to three-page statement that describes your personal, academic and professional background, and your reasons for applying
• a résumé or curriculum vitae
• TOEFL or IELTS report (no minimum score is required)
  • Have your official test scores sent to LSAC if you submit your application through LSAC. LSAC's institutional code is 8395.
  • Test scores are valid for two years from the date taken.
  • TOEFL or IELTS waivers may be granted in exceptional circumstances; if you feel you should be allowed to waive this requirement, please submit your waiver request as an attachment to your application.
  • USC does NOT accept MyBest TOEFL scores of applicants as valid proof of language proficiency. We will consider the single best total TOEFL or IELTS score you submit along with the sub-scores from that test.

Letters of recommendation are not required, but we will accept up to two letters of recommendation at gipadmissions@law.usc.edu.

For your convenience and to streamline the application process, USC Gould requires prospective students to use LSAC's Document Assembly Service and International Transcript Authentication and Evaluation Service, which allows you to apply to multiple law schools while submitting only one set of materials. Credential evaluation takes 2-3 weeks to complete once LSAC has received all of your documents; there may be further delay during LSAC's peak processing periods or if LSAC determines that additional information is required to complete its review. We therefore suggest that you apply as early as possible so that there is no consequential delay in LSAC transmitting its evaluation report to us.

Financial Statement

If you are admitted, you will be required to provide a financial statement that certifies that you have sufficient funds available to meet your living (housing, meals, etc.) and tuition expenses while at USC (unless you are a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, or have been granted political asylum). At that time, you also must submit a copy of the photo page of your passport (and passport copies of any dependent(s) traveling with you).

Application Fee

USC Gould requires a $75 application fee, which will be waived if you apply by the priority deadline.

Fees charged by LSAC for utilizing its services are payable to LSAC. Please visit LSAC's website for more information about fees charged by LSAC, including its refund policy.

Application Deadlines

Students may begin our Two-Year Extended LLM in the fall in August of each year. Below are the priority and final application deadlines for the 2023-24 academic year:

Program Start Date	Priority Deadline	Final Application Deadline
Fall 2023: August 21, 2023	March 1, 2023	June 1, 2023

Applications become available in September.

We highly encourage you to apply by our priority application deadline in order to provide sufficient time to process any required documents, including I-20 documentation for student visas, and to allow you the option to apply for USC campus housing. Students who apply by our priority application deadline will receive priority consideration and will receive a $75 application fee waiver.

If you are planning to take the TOEFL or IELTS exam after our priority application deadline, we highly recommend that you go ahead and submit your application (and any other completed materials) prior to taking the exam and we will accept your test scores after you receive your official results. The Admissions Committee will make a final admissions decision upon receipt of your complete application file.

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis only as space is available until our final application deadlines listed above. Our Admissions Committee will provide admissions decisions within 2-3 weeks upon receipt of complete applications.

All applicants will be automatically considered for a scholarship award and do not need to submit any further documents to request an award.

Admission Decisions

Admissions decisions are made upon receipt of complete application files. We encourage you to apply early, as our Admissions Committee expedites admissions decisions within two to three weeks for complete applications received by our priority deadline. You will be notified via email and postal mail. No admissions decisions will be released over the phone. We will contact you if the Admissions Committee feels that a telephone or an in-person interview is necessary.