LL.M. Admission and Application Information

Eligibility

Applicants to the LL.M. program must hold a J.D. degree or the equivalent from a law school that, if in the United States, is accredited by the American Bar Association, or, if outside the United States, has comparable standing.

Application Deadline

Postmarked or submitted online by April 1, 2013.
(LLM applicants may only apply for fall admission. Applicants may begin to apply on September 1, 2012)

Check List for International Applicants

(Applicants who received their first law degree outside of the U.S.)
Internationals Applicants must do the following:

Register with the LSAC’s LLM Credential Assembly Service: The LLM Credential Assembly Service will collect, authenticate, and process all of your transcripts/university records and related documents for a $200 fee. This includes transcripts/mark sheets, copies of degrees/diplomas, degree and graduation certificates, and TOEFL scores. You will be required to submit the documents in their native language and to provide English translations. You are only required to submit records from your law school. We encourage but do not require you to send your university records from other schools that you have attended. *Please note that registration with the LLM Credential Assembly Service is valid for five years and allows you to make your transcripts and TOEFL scores available for multiple law school applications.
1. Instructions and Registration for LLM Credential Assembly Service: https://llm.lsac.org/llm/logon/introduction.aspx
2. Questions - If you have questions about the LSAC’s LLM Credential Assembly Service, please send an email to LLM@info@LSAC.org . Once your university records have been processed, the law school will order your report and the LSAC will mail it to the law school. There are no fee waivers available.
Submit an LLM application form online through LSAC. You must submit the following materials through LSAC (LSAC will compile these documents and will deliver them in the form of a Credential Assembly Service or CAS report to the law school):
1. $70 Non-refundable Application Fee payable online by credit card through the LSAC. There are no fee waivers available.
2. Submit a resume or curriculum vitae. Submit a complete résumé or curriculum vitae detailing your education, employment, skills, honors, awards and accomplishments.
3. Submit a statement of scholarly intent. The Maryland LL.M. Program requires its students to undertake in-depth scholarly explorations of pressing legal issues and complete an original thesis of substantial length and publishable quality. Applicants must submit a statement of scholarly intent with their application. In no more than 1,000 words, you should present information and perspectives about your goals in pursuing an LL.M. degree, a detailed description of the area of legal study you intend to pursue, including potential research topics for your thesis, and the courses in which you have an interest. Your statement of scholarly intent will be evaluated by potential faculty supervisors as well as the Admissions Committee.
4. Submit two letters of recommendation. A completed application must include two letters of recommendation. Ideally the letters should come from law professors or others who have personal experience instructing and evaluating the applicant. An applicant may also submit a letter from an employer who can attest to the applicant’s intellectual, analytical, writing and (if necessary) English language abilities. A third letter of recommendation is encouraged, but not required. Letters must be mailed to the Office of Admissions (by the recommender or the applicant) in sealed envelopes that have been signed by the recommenders.
5. Submit official transcripts/university records of all previously attended schools directly to LSAC.
6. Submit a TOEFL score, if applicable. Because facility with written and spoken English is necessary in order to successfully participate in our academic experience, applicants for whom English is a second language or not their primary language must take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). TOEFL scores are only valid for two years, and scores from prior test dates will not be accepted. Please contact the Educational Testing Service (www.ets.org) and request that they send your TOEFL scores directly to the LSAC (institution code 5814 03). Upon your request, the Educational Testing Service will provide your score to LSAC to include in your LSAC report which will be submitted to the law school.
7. Diversity Statement (Optional): The University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law is committed to promoting diversity in legal education and in the profession as a whole. Toward that end, the Admissions Committee invites applicants to submit a statement explaining how you would contribute meaningfully to the diversity of the law school. The qualities of students we seek may be reflected in background characteristics such as geographic origin, age, cultural and language, racial, social, disability and economic barriers overcome; and other special characteristics that demonstrate the capacity for making a special contribution to the community. Limit the length of the statement to approximately 250 words.
Submit a Financial Aid Application (FAFSA form) online at www.fafsa.ed.gov as soon as possible after January 1 using our school code: 002104. The FAFSA priority deadline is March 1.
Mail or fax an Application for In-State Status Classification directly to the law school (Maryland Residents Only). See our contact information here.

Check List for U.S. Trained Applicants

To apply, U.S. Trained Applicants must do the following:

Submit an LLM application form online through LSAC. You must submit the following materials through LSAC (LSAC will compile these documents and will deliver them to the law school):
- $70 Non-refundable Application Fee payable online by credit card through the LSAC. There are no fee waivers available.
- Submit a resume or curriculum vitae. Submit a complete résumé or curriculum vitae detailing your education, employment, skills, honors, awards and accomplishments.
- Submit a statement of scholarly intent. The Maryland LL.M. Program requires its students to undertake in-depth scholarly explorations of pressing legal issues and complete an original thesis of substantial length and publishable quality. Applicants must submit a statement of scholarly intent with their application. In no more than 1,000 words, applicants should present information and perspectives about their goals in pursuing an LL.M. degree, the area of legal study they intend to pursue, and the courses in which they have an interest.
- Submit two letters of recommendation. A completed application must include two letters of recommendation. Ideally the letters should come from law professors or others who have personal experience instructing and evaluating the applicant. An applicant may also submit a letter from an employer who can attest to the applicant’s intellectual, analytical, writing and (if necessary) English language abilities. A third letter of recommendation is encouraged, but not required. Letters must be mailed to the Office of Admissions (by the recommender or the applicant) in sealed envelopes that have been signed by the recommenders.
- Submit a TOEFL score, if applicable. Because facility with written and spoken English is necessary in order to successfully participate in our academic experience, applicants for whom English is a second language or not their primary language must take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). TOEFL scores are only valid for two years, and scores from prior test dates will not be accepted. Please contact the Educational Testing Service (www.ets.org) and request that they send your TOEFL scores directly to the LSAC (institution code 5814 03). Upon your request, the Educational Testing Service will provide your score to LSAC to include in your LSAC report which will be submitted to the law school.
- Diversity Statement (Optional): The University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law is committed to promoting diversity in legal education and in the profession as a whole. Toward that end, the Admissions Committee invites applicants to submit a statement explaining how you would contribute meaningfully to the diversity of the law school. The qualities of students we seek may be reflected in background characteristics such as geographic origin, age, cultural and language, racial, social, disability and economic barriers overcome; and other special characteristics that demonstrate the capacity for making a special contribution to the community. Limit the length of the statement to approximately 250 words.
Mail or fax an Application for In-State Status Classification directly to the law school (Maryland Residents Only). See our contact information here.
Request that schools previously attended send official transcripts/university records directly to the University of Maryland School of Law.
Submit a Financial Aid Application (FAFSA form) online at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/ as soon as possible after January 1 using our school code: 002104. The FAFSA priority deadline is March 1

How to Apply

Submit your complete application, together with a non-refundable application fee of $70 via mail to:

Office of Admissions
University of Maryland School of Law
500 West Baltimore Street, Suite 130
Baltimore, Maryland 21201

Payment of Application Fee

Applicants may pay via check, U.S. money order or traveler's checks. Please make checks or U.S. money orders payable to the University of Maryland School of Law. All checks must be drawn on a bank that has a branch in the United States. We also accept American Express, Thomas Cook, and Barclay's traveler's checks. Postal money orders from other countries are not acceptable. Please do not send cash.

LSAC LL.M. Credential Assembly Service

All applicants educated in law outside the U.S. must register with the LSAC LL.M. Credential Assembly Service. This service will collect, authenticate and process your university records and TOEFL scores and prepare a report that is sent to the School of Law. Your registration with this credential processing service is valid for a period of five years, and the fee includes five law school reports. In order to allow LSAC time to process your materials please send them to LSAC well in advance of our application deadline.

Note: The application for LL.M. Program at the University of Maryland School of Law is separate from the LSAC LL.M. Credential Assembly Service. Internationally-trained applicants must complete and submit an application (by mail) and must also register with the Credential Assembly Service with LSAC (online).

Letters of Recommendation (Two)

A completed application must include two letters of recommendation. Ideally the letters should come from law professors or others who have personal experience instructing and evaluating the applicant. An applicant may also submit a letter from an employer who can attest to the applicant's intellectual, analytical, writing and (if necessary) English language abilities. A third letter of recommendation is encouraged, but not required. . Letters must be mailed to the Office of Admissions (by the recommender or the applicant) in sealed envelopes that have been signed by the recommenders.

Statement of Scholarly Intent

The Maryland LL.M. Program requires its students to undertake in-depth scholarly explorations of pressing legal issues and complete an original thesis of substantial length and publishable quality. Applicants must submit a statement of scholarly intent with the application. In no more than 1,000 words, applicants should present information and perspectives about their goals in pursuing an LL.M. degree and what area of legal study they intend to pursue. Please mail directly to the law school.

Résumé

Submit a complete résumé or curriculum vitae detailing your education, employment, skills, honors, awards and accomplishments. Please mail directly to the law school.

Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)

Because facility with written and spoken English is necessary in order to successfully participate in our academic experience, applicants for whom English is a second language or not their primary language must take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Our TOEFL code is 5814 03. TOEFL scores are only valid for two years, and we will not accept outdated scores. We will only accept TOEFL scores sent to us directly from Educational Testing Services (ETS). English proficiency is proven by an official TOEFL score of:

550 (paper-based exam)
80 (internet-based exam)

Non-Discrimination Policy

The University of Maryland School of Law does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, age, ancestry or national origin, gender, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, financial status or veterans status. The University is required by federal regulatory agencies to supply admissions and enrollment information by racial, ethnic and gender categories. Provision of the information is voluntary and will not be used to determine eligibility for admission.