Our international students find a welcoming, engaging community. International Students at GW Law Each year, a select group of lawyers trained at law schools outside of the United States comes to GW Law to pursue graduate legal studies. The knowledgeable staff of the Graduate and International Programs office facilitates for these students a smooth transition to the United States and to the GW campus. The office provides services that range from academic advising and course selection to assistance with issues including housing, campus resources, and life in Washington, D.C. The office also organizes a variety of social, cultural, and informational programs and assists students in developing individual plans for their next steps after degree completion, whether the students plan to remain in the United States to gain practical training before returning to their home countries or plan to sit for a U.S. bar exam.
LLM–JD TRANSFER PROGRAM
On average, we receive applications from prospective students in more than 70 countries and welcome students from at least 40 countries in each LLM class. The top countries represented (in descending order) most frequently include the United States, Saudi Arabia, India, Korea, Brazil, Germany, China, Iran, Peru, France, Colombia, and Japan. Our typical class includes recent law school graduates, military judge advocates, solo practitioners, law clerks, human rights activists, prosecutors, corporate counsel, judges, and government officials, as well as Fulbright scholars.
After completing the LLM degree, some F-1 visa holders remain in the United States for one year of Optional Practical Training before returning to their home countries. Others return directly to work at the corporations, law firms, or posts from which they took leave to pursue the degree. A few remain in the United States for longer than a year. Between 30 and 50 percent of the law school’s international LLM graduates take a U.S. bar exam each year.
Our law school is diverse, and our students learn well from one another. Because international students at GW Law do not pursue a separate course of study from their U.S. counterparts, our U.S. and international LLM students take courses together, as well as with JD students. In our classrooms, therefore, international and U.S. students work side-byside and find fertile ground for discussions that incorporate global perspectives and insights from both experienced and burgeoning legal minds.
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GW LAW | GRADUATE LAW PROGRAMS
A limited number of international LLM students are eligible to be admitted into the GW Law Juris Doctor ( JD) degree program after completion of the LLM degree. If admitted to the JD program, a student might be eligible to transfer 28 hours of credit from the institution that granted his or her first law degree, thereby allowing the student to complete the JD with two years of further study after completing the GW LLM.
CAREER OPTIONS FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
To assist students with their career planning, our senior career counselor is dedicated exclusively to working with U.S. and international LLM students. In addition, the Graduate and International Programs staff and faculty advisors work with each of our students to develop an individual plan of study for degree completion and qualification for the bar.
