4|HARVARD LAW SCHOOL LL.M. APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS
words —anything exceeding this limit will be disregarded. Please note that footnotes do not count towards the overall word
limit as long as they are limited to providing sources and citations.
The Personal Statement must be solely the product of your own efforts. We reserve the right to disqualify the application of a
candidate who has submitted a Personal Statement written by, or with the help of, someone other than the candidate.
Your Personal Statement should address both of the following questions specifically, with Part (A) constituting at least half of
the total length:
(A) Briefly describe either an important issue in your field of interest or a current legal problem facing a particular country,
region, or the world, and then propose a theoretical framework or a legal analysis or strategy to address this issue.
(B) Please tell us something about yourself — in particular, why you wish to pursue an LL.M. degree at Harvard and how
doing so connects with what you have done in the past and what you plan to do in the future.
Please follow the instructions on the Personal Statement page of the online application to upload your Personal Statement.
Note that your Personal Statement must be uploaded and submitted with the rest of your application. We will not accept any
Personal Statement sent to us separately from the online application.
8. TRANSCRIPTS AND DIPLOMAS
You must submit a transcript and diploma (i.e., certificate of degree conferral) for every university or law degree you have
received. (Applicants who have received a degree from a U.S. educational institution are not required to provide a separate
diploma for that degree unless the transcript lacks a clear indication of degree conferral.) If you have a diploma supplement,
you must submit both a transcript and diploma supplement (not just the diploma supplement).
If you are enrolled in a degree program that is still in progress, you will need to submit a current transcript for that program. If
your school is unable to provide a transcript, you must provide an enrollment letter from your school’s registrar. In such cases,
your application will not be complete without an enrollment letter. Please note that your qualifying law degree must be
conferred by June 2024 in order to be eligible to attend the 2024-25 LL.M. program.
Law Exchange Programs
You must provide an official transcript for any exchange program for which you received credit for your law degree, unless the
name of the exchange school, all credits earned, and individual class grades from the program are clearly reported on your
official law school transcript.
Summer Programs/Certificate Programs
Please do not submit transcripts for summer programs, or for certificate programs shorter than 6 months.
Multiple Degrees from the Same School
If you have received more than one degree from the same university or law school, you may submit a single transcript (as long
as the transcript provides detailed information, including credits earned and individual class grades, for each degree).
Bar Schools or Programs
If you attended one of the following bar schools or programs in Australia, Barbados, Ghana, Hong Kong, Japan, Jamaica,
Kenya, Korea, New Zealand, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, or the United Kingdom, you should include the bar
school/program in the list of institutions on the Education page of your application, selecting "Other" for the level of study. You
will also need to provide a transcript for the bar school/program attended. Applicable bar schools or programs are Australian
Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice (GDLP), Commonwealth Caribbean Certificate of Legal Education, Ghana School of Law,
Postgraduate Certificate in Laws (PCLL), Legal Training and Research Institute (LTRI), Kenya School of Law, Judicial
Research and Training Institute (JRTI), New Zealand Professional Legal Studies Course, Nigerian Law School, Sierra Leone
Law School, Law School of Tanzania, Law Development Centre, Legal Practice Course (LPC), and Bar Professional Training
Course (BPTC f/k/a BVC). If you did not participate in one of those programs, or if you attended a bar school or
program in another country, please disregard this instruction.
A. Instructions for Submitting Transcripts and Diplomas
For the 2024-2025 application cycle, applicants must provide electronic versions of academic records (transcripts, diplomas,
enrollment letters, class rank statements, etc.) during the application phase either (a) through the LSAC Credential
Assembly Service; or (b) by email to the Graduate Program Admissions Office at
[email protected] (but not both).