Review Process and Timeline
Applications for admission into the first year of the J.D. program will be accepted beginning October 1. The deadline for submission is February 1, 2010.
Application Review Process
You are encouraged to have their admission file complete and ready for review as early as possible. You are responsible for making sure all materials reach Berkeley Law's Admissions Office by the deadline.
Application Review Process
Notification of Application Status
The Admissions Office will take no action until it receives your application fee, transcript analysis from LSDAS, and personal statement. Normally, review of an applicant's file is deferred until all letters of recommendation are received. If you wish to have your application considered complete without the letters, indicate this in the space provided on the application form.
When we receive all of the required application materials, an e-mail is sent to you to confirm that your application is under review. Because of the large number of applications we receive, a fair amount of time may elapse between the submission of your application and receipt of notification that it is complete. Until you receive notice that your file is complete, you should assume it is incomplete and that no action is being taken.
If you have questions, please send them in writing rather than calling the office. Inquiries other than those prompted by a special concern only delay the processing of applications.
Contacting Applicants
Our concern for confidentiality normally precludes discussion of individual files with anyone other than the applicant. If you expect to be unavailable at any point during the review process, however, please appoint someone to act on your behalf and inform the Admissions Office in writing of the appointee's name and contact information.
Factors in Admission Decisions
Files are reviewed as they become complete. For more information about the criteria used for reviewing applications, you may also read our Faculty Policy Governing Admissions. Below is a brief overview of some factors in determining admission:
Letters of Recommendation
A recommendation form is provided with the application. Please make photocopies of the form if you are submitting more than one recommendation. We suggest that you provide letters of recommendation from two academic sources who are familiar with your classroom performance and who are able to assess your potential for the study of law. The letters may be from either professors or teaching assistants. If you have been away from academia for some time, a letter from a work supervisor or colleague may be substituted. Although you may submit more than two letters, your file will be deemed complete when the first two letters arrive. Note that LSDAS will transmit only three letters electronically.*Note: If you are applying as a transfer student, letters of recommendation from two law professors are required. These letters should be from law professors with whom you have studied.
If you wish to waive your access to any of your recommendation letters, sign the waiver form before giving it to your recommender. In evaluating your letters, no weight is given to whether or not you have waived access to them.
Grade Point Average
In evaluating your undergraduate GPA, the following factors may be considered: The age of the grades, exceptionally high grades, difficulty of coursework, time commitments while attending college, grading patterns at the school attended, and grade trends or discrepancies.
Socio-economic Questionnaire
If you have experienced disadvantages that have adversely affected past performance, and if you have successfully overcome such disadvantages, this information will be considered when assessing your potential to be successful in the classroom and to contribute to the educational process and the legal profession. To this end, you are invited to complete the Socioeconomic Questionnaire included with the application. Completion of the questionnaire is optional. If the questionnaire is submitted, the information will be used to augment the other factors considered during the evaluation process.
Other Factors
In making admission decisions, substantial weight is given to the undergraduate GPA and LSAT score. However, other factors are also considered.
Race, religion, sex, color, ethnicity and national origin are not used as criteria for admission to Berkeley Law. No weight is given to your political or ideological views, how you intend to use your legal education, or to your need for financial aid or employment during law school.
Evaluation
Administrative Review
Once each file is complete, it is evaluated on the basis of the admissions criteria. The Dean of Admissions admits a certain number of applicants who, under the governing criteria and on the basis of his experience, would have a high likelihood of admission if referred to the Admissions Committee. Similarly, applicants who would have a high likelihood of being denied if referred to the Committee are denied by the Dean of Admissions.
Committee Review
The remaining applicants are given more extended consideration by the Admissions Committee, which is composed of faculty and students.
The student role is consultative; the faculty members' decisions are final. Only students who are members of the Admissions Committee are permitted to read files. You may indicate on the application form whether or not you consent to have your file read by a student member of the Committee. In the evaluation of your application, no weight is given to whether or not you have consented to student review. In every case, complete confidentiality of all materials is maintained.
As a result of the Committee's consideration, some applicants are admitted, some are placed on a waiting list, and the remaining applicants are denied. The total number admitted is that which experience has indicated will fill the places available in the entering class. If the number of admitted students who accept an offer of admission falls below the number necessary to fill the class, a waiting list is used to fill the remaining places.
Notification of Decision
Decision letters are sent to applicants as decisions are made. For the majority of applicants, this is usually by mid-April. An admitted applicant has several weeks to respond to the offer, but in no case is an applicant required to respond before April 1st.
Acceptance Deposit
Berkeley Law does not require an acceptance deposit. Instead, we rely on the good faith of those who are admitted to provide candid responses about accepting the offer of admission. The absence of a deposit necessitates periodic reconfirmation of an accepted applicant's intention to enroll.
Reconsideration
Once an applicant has been denied admission, the decision is final. There is no reconsideration. Exceptions are made only in unusual cases in which an error -- for which the applicant was not responsible and which the applicant promptly brought to the law school's attention -- may have affected the decision. Because files are considered on a comparative basis, reconsideration would lay open the possibility of unfairly granting attention to individual applicants. It is therefore avoided.
Deferment of Admission
Students are expected to enroll for the year for which they have been admitted. However, deferment requests may be granted at the discretion of the Dean of Admissions. Sample reasons a deferment might be granted include admission to a concurrent degree program, serious illness in the family, award of a fellowship, or some other extraordinary opportunity.
