GUIDELINES ON DOUBLE DEGREE PROGRAMMES FOR LLB STUDENTS ENROLLED AT LSE

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1 GUIDELINES ON DOUBLE DEGREE PROGRAMMES FOR LLB STUDENTS ENROLLED AT LSE These Guidelines apply in general to the LSE Law Department s LLB/ JD (juris doctor) double degree programmes with Columbia University Law School and the University of Southern California Law School (referred to below as the Receiving Law School ) as open to students at LSE. The Guidelines do not apply to these programmes as open to students from Columbia or USC to study for an LLB or LLM at LSE. Those parts of the Guidelines that are specific to Columbia or USC are indicated as such. By way of background, the programme with Columbia was established in 2002; on average, two to three LSE students have taken part each year. The programme with USC was established in 2005 and, in its first year, three LSE students participated. Eligibility Both programmes are open to LLB students at LSE who are in their second year of study. LSE students spend their first two years at LSE, during which they must complete the Law Society/ Bar Council core or foundation subjects if they intend to secure a qualifying degree for professional exemption purposes in England and Wales. If admitted to the double degree programme, LSE students then transfer to the Receiving Law School for two years there, the first of which shall, if successfully completed based on the requirements of both LSE and the Receiving Law School, satisfy the requirements of their third year at LSE. For administrative purposes, students remain registered at LSE as LLB students in their first year of study at the Receiving Law School but not in their second year, during which they are registered at the Receiving Law School only. Coursework Students must complete all of their first year coursework at the Receiving Law School in order to be eligible for the award of their LLB from LSE. Students may choose from a range of courses at the Receiving Law School according to its academic requirements. In the first year at the Receiving Law School, students are required to complete part of its mandatory first year curriculum, but are entitled to be waived out of courses whose content is essentially similar to courses taken at LSE. It is up to the Receiving Law School to decide which courses students may be waived from. Typically, students must take courses in these first year subjects of American law: at Columbia Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, and in some cases (ie, where not previously taken) Property; at USC Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Legal Profession, Legal Research/ Legal Writing, and in some cases (ie, where not previously taken) Property. Waivers from mandatory first year courses are subject to final approval by the Receiving Law School based on its review of the student s complete, official LSE transcripts. Students are also required to complete an approved theoretical or conceptual course in their first year at Columbia in line with the requirement at LSE that Jurisprudence be taken in the third year of the standard LLB degree. The following is an illustrative list of courses at Columbia or USC that have been approved in past for this purpose. These courses will qualify in future years so long as they continue to be worth at least 2 course credits and evaluated by way of a numerical grade (ie, rather than pass/fail): 1

2 At Columbia: Asian Americans & The Law (2 credit); Comparative Law (3 credit); The Connection of Law to Literature (3 credit); Feminist Legal Thought (3 credit); Japanese Law and Legal Institutions (3 credit); The Rule of Law: Perspectives on Legal Thought (3 credit). At USC: Bioethics and Law (3 units); Comparative Islamic Law (2 units); Critical Race Theory (3 units); Globalization and Law (2 or 3 units); Law and Philosophy Seminar (3 units); Law and Public Policy (2 units); Law, Language and Interpretation (3 units). Following this course of study a student will be awarded the LLB degree from LSE (typically, in the summer after their first year at the Receiving Law School); and the Columbia Law School or USC Law School JD, as applicable, which will be equivalent to the standard 3-year JD for professional entry purposes in the US. Award of the JD is in all cases dependent on the student satisfying all graduation requirements of the Receiving Law School. Study in the US Students should be alerted that studying at a US law school may present challenges, both personally and academically. First is the challenge of adapting to life in a new city and country; further, students will be faced with a very different academic culture, one in which they may find that other students are more competitive than they are used to (eg, in pursuing job opportunities at law firms). Typically, US law students will have completed at least one university degree and often several, and as such LSE students will be part of an older and in some respects more focused cohort of students. In this context, students may find it difficult to perform at as high a level as that which they achieved at LSE, particularly during their first term of study. Given these challenges, students must not take lightly the decision to pursue the double degree programme. That said, LSE students have typically adapted well to life and study in the US, and performed at an academic level that is comparable to (although very rarely better than) that achieved at LSE. More broadly, both Columbia and USC offer a stimulating curriculum and an excellent foundation for pursuing future job opportunities in the US and elsewhere. Selection Criteria Students wishing to participate in the programme should apply to Ms Anna Ljungkvist, Law Department, LSE (see Application Process, below). Competition for admission is usually very tight. In general, students who do not achieve at least an upper second in their first year exams and any essays written in second year (Michaelmas Term) are unlikely to be admitted, and the cut-off may well be much higher than an upper second. Candidates will be selected by LSE, in consultation with the Receiving Law School, during their second LLB year. Candidates will be selected on the basis of academic performance, seriousness of purpose and maturity, and will be proposed for admission to the Receiving Law School conditional on sustained academic performance in their second LLB year. Given the upper degree status of law studies in the US, it is understood that there is a preference for more mature candidates who demonstrate a breadth of experience appropriate to undertaking US legal studies at the graduate level. Grading/ Award of Degrees 2

3 The LLB will be awarded from LSE on the basis of the student s performance on the final (second) year of study at the LSE and first year of study at the Receiving Law School, in parity with other LLB students at LSE whose degrees are awarded on the basis of their results in year 2 and year 3 (Part I and Part II). Grades awarded in individual subjects taken in the first year of study at the Receiving Law School will be weighted and translated so as to fall within the LSE degree-awarding rules. A standardized formula is used for grade translation, based on the proportionate distribution of grades at the Receiving Law School as compared to LSE. The Columbia or USC JD will be awarded on the basis of the grades achieved by the student during the two years course of study at the respective institution. In the event that students choose to take an essay course at the Receiving Law School, it is recommended that they submit all of their coursework by the regular deadline and not seek an extension, in order to allow for all of their grades at the Receiving Law School to be assigned and provided to LSE in time for LSE s exam board (usually held in June) at which LLB degrees are awarded. If coursework is completed too late, whether or not because an extension was granted, the award of the student s LSE degree may be delayed by as much as one year. Cautionary advice In light of the challenges of study in the US, as discussed above, students who are admitted to the programme and particularly those who obtain an average in their second year exams that is significantly lower than that in their first year exams at LSE are advised to consider very carefully whether to pursue the programme, particularly in light of its cost, the effect that their performance at LSE will have on their ability to compete for law-related jobs in the US, and the possibility that they may find it difficult to perform at a high level in a new and challenging academic environment. Note also that the Receiving Law School may require as a condition of admission that students obtain a particular result in their second year exams at LSE. In terms of financing, students are responsible for meeting their own tuition costs and living expenses while at Columbia or USC, and this cost may be prohibitive; opportunities to apply for funding at each Receiving Law School are discussed below. Students are also responsible for satisfying all immigration requirements to study in the US. Advice is available from the Receiving Law School with respect to financing, housing, immigration, and other matters (see below). Application Process Stage One: Acceptance by LSE This is a two-stage process. The first stage is an application to Ms Anna Ljungkvist of the Law Department, consisting of (1) a cv which should include, inter alia, details of (i) your entry qualifications to the LSE (eg A level grades), and (ii) your Intermediate (1st year) results at the LSE; 3

4 (2) a copy of every essay that you wrote in Michaelmas term of 2005, with tutors grades clearly indicated; (3) a letter of recommendation from your personal tutor which refers to the selection criteria mentioned above; this reference can either be in hard copy submitted in a sealed envelope or can be submitted directly by your tutor by to a.ljungkvist@lse.ac.uk; (4) a statement written by you which indicates why you are a suitable candidate for this programme, and which states whether you have attempted the Law School Aptitude Test (LSAT) and, if so, the year and the percentile obtained on each attempt. In view of the requirement of your personal tutor s recommendation, it is imperative that you make an appointment with your tutor in good time to discuss this with him or her. Regarding the personal statement: this need not be long. A brief explanation of why you are interested in attending Columbia or USC plus any further thoughts on why you would both perform well at USC and benefit from two years there is sufficient. Please feel free to include in your cv any information concerning outside interests or activities which you think indicate that you are the sort of person who would flourish in a US law school environment. Further references from, for example, employers may be included but are not essential. Students are strongly advised to explore the Columbia or USC Law School Website to get a picture of academic and extra-curricular life abroad before making an application. There is no application form. The aforementioned documents should be placed, UNSTAPLED and UNFOLDED, in an A4 envelope with your name clearly printed on the outside; staples should be removed from essays and replaced by paperclips. The purpose of complying with these instructions is for ease of photocopying of your entire application dossier. Whatever you do, please do NOT place the documents in any file, plastic sheets, or any other waste-of-money presentational device. Note that students are not required to take the Law School Aptitude Test (LSAT), which would normally be a requirement of admission by JD applicants at US law schools. As noted above, students must disclose information about previous LSATs they have written. Students who are interested in both the Columbia and the USC programme should submit a separate and complete application form for each programme, with a separate covering letter indicating, if appropriate, the institution they prefer to attend. The deadline for receipt of applications is the last day of Michaelmas term in December of the student s second year of studies; in the academic year , for admission to the Receiving Law School in 2007, the deadline will be 8 December Students may in some cases be asked to attend an interview early in Lent term. Stage Two: Confirmation of admission by the Receiving Law School The second stage of the application process applies only to those applicants who are selected to go forward, during the first stage, by the LSE Law department. These students application materials will be forwarded to the Receiving Law School for its consideration and confirmation 4

5 of admission. In all cases, acceptance to the programme is subject to approval by the Receiving Law School and LSE students should not make firm plans based on their acceptance to the programme by LSE until they have received confirmation from the Receiving Law School. In some cases, confirmation may provide for a conditional admission based, for example, on the student achieving a minimum average performance of 65 in their second year exams at LSE. In all cases, the Receiving Law School reserves the right to attach the conditions that it considers appropriate in light of the student s first-year academic performance or other criteria. Both institutions will strive to move this stage of the process along as quickly as possible. During this stage, students will also be required to complete a standard Columbia or USC Law School application form. This form will not need to be completed in full as its primary purpose is to get students into the system at Columbia or USC, especially in respect of applications for financial aid. Information specific to the double degree programme with Columbia Law School: For the general shape of the Columbia JD programme, students are directed to the Columbia website, Tuition at Columbia Law School for the academic year was US$38,1200 and this figure is likely to rise in future. Columbia Law School s Financial Aid Office may assist students in obtaining loans from commercial sources. There is also limited funding in the form of moral obligation loans to be distributed on the basis of demonstrated need. Income and assets of the student and the student s family will be examined to determine need. The maximum moral obligation loan available to the neediest student is approximately US$25,000. Finally, while students are eligible to apply for financial aid, and will be considered for assistance, preference is given to domestic, three-year JD students. Housing at Columbia cannot offer student residence housing as available to JD students. It is, however, common for students to live off-campus, and there is an Off-Campus Housing Assistance Office. Information specific to the double degree programme with USC Law School: For the general shape of the USC JD programme, students are directed to the USC website, Tuition at USC Law School for the academic year was US$39,132 and this is likely to rise in future. USC Law School s Financial Aid Office is available to help students in their applications for any applicable loans although funding for international students from US sources is very limited. In the past, USC Housing has offered space to single LSE students in shared apartments with other law school students. Where space is unavailable, students will need to seek their own accommodation off-campus. 5