Center for Pre-Law Advising
A Resource Center for Pre-Law Students and Alumni

Information for international pre-law students and alumni

You belong here! International students are integral parts of the UW-Madison community. We are proud to support all students and alumni - of all immigration statuses - through the law school exploration and application process.

For students of international backgrounds, the process of applying to law school in the United States can be complicated. This is because application and admission policies for international students can vary greatly by law school.  In addition to language requirements, international applicants must consider transcript evaluations (if you attended an undergraduate institution outside the United States for more than a year), financing options, and bar exam requirements, among other factors. The process of finding employment after law school is also often complicated by sponsorship requirements and limitations on employment for non U.S. citizens.

Students of international backgrounds are strongly encouraged to schedule an appointment with the Center for Pre-Law Advising if they are considering law school. Advisors will work with students to address individual needs and help craft application materials. The Writing Center at UW Madison is also available to review law school personal statements and other essays.

Beginning the Law School Exploration Process

It is important to research the areas of law you are interested in and find out what limitations your citizenship status may place on your ability to work in the legal field of your choice.  We strongly suggest setting up multiple informational interviews with lawyers and professionals in the field(s) of law you are interested in to find out more about how your status may impact job prospects in that area of law/with that type of employer. For example, only U.S. citizens or permanent U.S. residents can be registered to practice law before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, so this poses a barrier to international students wishing to practice patent law in the U.S.. Your work authorization may need to specifically allow you to work with patents if you want to take  an internship with a law firm that specializes in patent law.

There are two kinds of law degrees that international students might be considering: a Juris Doctorate (J.D.) degree or a Master of Laws degree (LL.M.).  In the U.S., earning a J.D. is the typical first step for a career in the legal profession. Graduates from an undergraduate institution in the United States would typically need to earn a J.D. to become licensed to practice law in most states.

The LL.M. degree is a masters of law degree and takes two primary forms:  

  1. An additional degree in a specialized area of law (i.e. Tax Law) that one might pursue after getting a J.D. OR
  2. Those with a legal degree granted outside the United States sometimes pursue a more generalized LL.M. program to allow them to sit for the Bar in certain U.S. states. This is especially helpful to international graduate students who have a bachelor’s degree in law from their home country. See more info on LLMs for international students here.

Using your degree outside of the U.S.: As you decide whether pursuing a legal education in the U.S. is the right step for you, consider the usefulness of a U.S. law degree in your country. Remember that law schools in the U.S. teach U.S law which may not translate well, if at all, to the legal systems in your country. If you are seeking to practice law in your home country, you may want to do some research and reach out to attorneys there for more information. You may be able to work at a branch of a U.S.-based law firm abroad handling cases between parties in that country and parties in the U.S., but you may be limiting your options if that is the only option for you to practice law in that country.

Using your degree inside of the U.S: Many international students hope to be able to work in the United States after law school, but finding a job after law school that will grant you a visa can sometimes be challenging. Often the organizations/firms who will hire law grads that need a visa will be foreign based ones that have offices here, or international U.S. law firms/organizations that have offices outside the country.

Your best bet is to look at very big firms and companies in the largest cities. Each firm and business has their own policies regarding hiring employees who need sponsorship in the U.S., so there aren’t any master lists you can check regarding where you can apply. 

How is the law school application journey different for international applicants?

Undergraduate planning: If you plan on going directly into law school, you will be preparing applications your junior year and applying at the start of senior year, so it’s helpful to do your research and begin your informational interviews early (freshman or sophomore year). 

Planning for post-law school employment: If you plan to practice in the United States,  you will need to study for and take the bar exam after law school graduation, and that can delay the process of finding a law job in the United States right away. The one state that is an exception to this rule is Wisconsin, where due to diploma privilege, you will be barred in the state of Wisconsin without taking a bar exam if you graduate from Wisconsin Law School or Marquette Law School. See more about admission to the practice of law in Wisconsin here

Many U.S. law schools may have limited financial aid funds for international students. In fact, many U.S. law schools may require you to submit, along with your application, proof of availability of funds to pay for the entirety of your legal education. In addition, international students do not qualify for educational loans from the U.S. government, which is how many American students pay for their legal education.

Here is a one page document summarizing the important financial resources available for law school applicants who are not U.S. citizens.

Your best source for any questions related to financing law school is the nonprofit AccessLex.  They have webinars, a scholarship search that allows you to filter for international candidates, and many more pre-law resources.  They also meet 1:1 with pre-law students and alumni for free to help you plan to afford law school.

It can also be helpful to reach out to individual law schools to find out what kinds of money might be available to international students (some may offer need based aid, some may offer merit scholarship aid based primarily on GPA and LSAT score).

See our Financing Law School page for more information and financial resources.

Many international students wish to go directly to law school in the fall after finishing undergraduate study so they can stay in the United States. Unfortunately some top law schools (ex. Harvard and Northwestern) actively prefer candidates who have gained additional experience between undergraduate study and law school. A large percentage of candidates for elite law schools will have that additional experience, and you will be competing with them. For example, Harvard reports that over 80% of accepted candidates have had at least 1 year of gap time, while more than 60% had 2 or more years of gap time.  This gap time could be in the form of masters degrees, job experience, or volunteer programs.

If you are a native of an English-speaking country*, or if you graduated from college in an English-speaking country, you probably won’t have to take a language test. If, on the other hand, you graduated from a college outside of an English-speaking country, you may.

Check the specific requirements of each law school, and note that schools often impose different requirements for LLM applicants and JD applicants. (If you can’t find the language requirements of your law school online, just send the admissions office an email or call them.)

Some schools require you to take the TOEFL or IELTS, and some require international students to complete an online interview to assess language skills.

This guide by 7 Sage gives more information about language testing requirements.

*“English-speaking countries” generally means the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland, often Canada, and occasionally Singapore, South Africa, Pakistan, and India.

International Pre-Law Student Resources