Although candidates can download and complete our application materials, they may not submit them electronically to our office. We have this policy because we have found that since some parts of the application such as recommendations and transcripts must come in hard copy form, it is more efficient for us to process an application if all the documents come in together in one package. This saves us filing time and that enables the completed application to be submitted to our Graduate Studies Committee as soon as possible. We do ask that you submit some information to us electronically via our Basic Information Form. You may also pay the application fee electronically with a credit card.

1) Our Web site has a PDF file containing the four application documents you will need (Application for Admission, Supplemental Forms, English Language Proficiency Form, and Recommendation Letter Form). Either fill out the application PDF file on your computer and then print it, or print the blank application PDF file first and then fill it out manually. You may refer to the two lists of countries and educational institutions used in the electronic Basic Information Form for LL.M. Students (see the link under section 4 below). If your answers to any of the questions require further explanation, or if there is other information not called for on the forms that you think may assist the Graduate Studies Committee considering your application, you are encouraged to attach an additional statement.

Candidates occasionally put lots of effort into preparing elaborate booklets or bound documents describing in extensive detail their work or background. Photographs are often included. Please do not do this! One of the ways an application will be evaluated is how well the candidate can effectively and efficiently present the important aspects of his or her background to us. We will be impressed by what you tell us about yourself – not the elaborate way you do it. Plain white paper will be fine.

Do not put any of your materials in a binder or enclose them in clear plastic covers. Our application file folders will not hold these items so we have to remove them when the application is received.
Please try to keep the number of envelopes you submit with your application to a minimum. We realize that your recommendation letters and academic records may be submitted in sealed envelopes. It is not necessary, however, to submit anything else in a separate envelope and certainly not a sealed envelope. Every extra envelope we have to open takes time and, perhaps more importantly, adds to the amount of unnecessary paper used in the process.

If possible, please use staples, rather than paper clips, to attach together the multiple pages of any documents such as the application or the statement of your academic and career interests.

2) You will need to provide transcripts (or the nearest equivalent documents) of your postsecondary school training. You may do this in either of the following methods:

• We recommend that international applicants register with the Law School Admission Council's LL.M. Credential Assembly Service and have their transcripts sent there. That service will collect, authenticate and distribute your university records (and TOEFL scores if required) to each of the participating law schools to which you apply. For information about this service, please go to www.LLM.LSAC.org.

OR

• Request officers at each of the universities you attended to provide you, in sealed envelopes, an official transcript. If the documents are not in English, they must be accompanied by a certified English translation. Include these unopened envelopes with your application. Officials may send those items directly to the Admissions Office if they prefer.

3) Give copies of the Recommendation Letter Form to at least two and no more than four people for confidential letters of recommendation to be sent to the Law School and indicate the names of those people on Supplemental Form number 1. Recommendation letters, in sealed envelopes, may be enclosed with the application.

4) Please supply the information requested in the Basic Information Form for LL.M. Students and submit it electronically before you send your application materials to the Law School via regular mail or FedEx/UPS/DHL or similar courier service. Although all of the information requested is also supplied by you on the hard copy Application for Admission, submitting this information to us electronically before you apply will enable the Admissions Office to expedite the processing of your application materials once they are received.

When you submit the Basic Information Form for LL.M. Students you will receive an acknowledgement statement which will contain a BIF code. This BIF code must be entered in question 12 of the hard copy of your application.

5) Please enclose with the Application for Admission:

• A description—in the form of a resume, curriculum vitae, or similar document—of your academic and professional background. This should include the following items: name, address, e-mail address, phone number, fax number, any academic honors you have received (describe as fully as necessary the significance of any honors or distinctions so that the Graduate Studies Committee may compare your academic performance with others), scholarly publications, employment in law or related fields including employer, title, dates of employment, and description of duties, membership of honorary, professional, or other societies. It may be helpful to look at the sample resume PDF posted on our Web page before preparing this document.
• A brief statement (1 to 3 pages) describing the academic interests you wish to pursue at Chicago and your career plans following completion of our program.
• The English Language Proficiency Form and a photocopy of the TOEFL or IELTS reports if required and available. If these reports are not available at the time you submit your application, please fax them to (773) 834-0942 when you do receive them.
• The Supplemental Forms, completed and cut into two separate pieces.
• The $75 application fee, paid either as an online credit card payment at or in the form of a check or money order drawn against U.S. currency payable to the University of Chicago. Travelers checks are also acceptable. The application fee will not be waived under any circumstances.

Send all of these documents to the LL.M. Admissions Office, University of Chicago Law School, 1111 East 60th Street, Chicago, IL 60637.

6) Although the application deadline is January 15, candidates are urged to submit their applications as soon as possible since applications are considered in the order in which they are completed. Our experience has been that the most promising candidates generally apply before the end of December. Any applications received after January 15 will be considered on a space-available basis only. Consideration of completed applications will begin in late November, and most candidates will receive a final decision by mid-April, when a standby group will be created. It is the responsibility of applicants to monitor the status of their applications.