How to Apply | School of Law | SIU

Applicants with undergraduate degrees from colleges or universities outside of the United States and whose native language is not English, or who have not obtained an undergraduate or graduate degree in the United States, must take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English System (IELTS). To be considered for admission, applicants must have a minimum score of 600 (PBT), 250 (CBT), or 100 (IBT) or a 7 (IELTS). Applicants must retake the TOEFL or the IELTS if the minimum score is not earned. In addition, applicants are required to complete the Application Material Checklist and must have international transcripts, academic records, mark sheets, and degree certifications sent directly to LSAC for transcript translation and evaluation.

International applicants who are admitted to the School of Law may be required to participate in the Southern Illinois University Center for English as a Second Language Graduate Student English Program or an equivalent program prior to matriculation.

International applicants who are admitted to the School of Law must submit the Certification of Finances form and a copy of their passport. Admitted international students who need an I-20 form to enter the U.S. should contact the Office of Admissions at the School of Law.

International Applicant Instructions

Students interested in applying as a transfer student must be in good standing and have completed at least one full year at an ABA-accredited law school, a non-ABA approved law school that has been granted the power to confer the JD degree by the appropriate governmental authority in the law school’s jurisdiction, or a non-ABA approved law school whose graduates are permitted to sit for the bar examination in the jurisdiction in which the school is located.

Except in unusual circumstances, an applicant may transfer no more than 30 semester credits from another law school. Transfer students must satisfy all graduation requirements of the SIU School of Law (90 semester hours), which may require taking a first-year course not taken at their original law school or that the Associate Dean determines is not the equivalent to courses taken at the original school. SIU School of Law will grant credit for a course from another law school only if the grade earned is equal to or better than the grade point average required by the other law school for graduation.

Applicants are required to complete the Application Material Checklist. In addition, transfer applicants must provide an official law school transcript from their current law school showing grades earned in all courses sent to the Law School Admission Council, a letter of good standing from the law school dean or registrar certifying their good standing, class rank, and the cumulative GPA needed to graduate for the original law school.

Admitted transfer students will be required to provide course descriptions or syllabi for all first-year law courses completed for a transcript evaluation of transfer credit. See Transfer Credit Policy.

Transfer Applicant Instructions

Students interested in applying as a visiting student must be in good standing and have completed at least one full year at an ABA-accredited law school, a non-ABA approved law school that has been granted the power to confer the JD degree by the appropriate governmental authority in the law school’s jurisdiction, or a non-ABA approved law school whose graduates are permitted to sit for the bar examination in the jurisdiction in which the school is located.

An applicant must seek to take no more than 30 semester credits at SIU School of Law as a visiting student and apply the credit toward the graduation requirements at the applicant’s home law school.

Applicants are required to complete the Application Material Checklist. In addition, applicants must have an official law school transcript from their current law school showing grades earned in all courses sent to the Law School Admission Council as well as a letter of good standing from the law school dean or registrar certifying their good standing.

Visiting Applicant Instructions