General Information

At Stanford Law School, excellence is a given. Our community — engaged faculty and students, influential alumni, dedicated staff — is united in its belief that the education offered at Stanford Law School is a powerful tool for change. Our curriculum, programs, and academic centers cultivate professional skills and values, inspire new ideas, and engage leaders in developing solutions. And our resources — from cutting-edge facilities to the diverse advantages of Stanford University — make the Stanford Law campus an ideal environment for exploring and mastering the law.

Excellence, innovation, and a commitment to the future — these are Stanford Law School's legacy to each new generation of law students and lawyers. We invite prospective students, partners, and supporters to inspire, innovate, and lead with us.

The Exchange Program

Each year, Stanford Law School welcomes a select number of highly qualified law students from its partner institutions abroad to enroll at Stanford Law School for up to two quarters as non-matriculated students. Currently, our partner institutions are the Bucerius Law School in Hamburg, Germany; the Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE) in Mexico City, Mexico; the European University Institute in Florence, Italy; Peking University Law School in Beijing, China; the National University of Singapore and the Waseda University Law School in Tokyo, Japan. The program is designed to broaden visiting students’ understanding of the American legal system and legal culture. Students in this program are ordinarily eligible to enroll in upper division (second and third-year) Law School courses under the same conditions as Stanford Law School students.

Instruction in Stanford Law School courses is in English, and students must demonstrate the required level of proficiency in English to participate in the program. Students who wish to participate in this program at Stanford must first apply at their home law school. They must separately apply for admission to the Stanford Law School exchange program. Procedures for applying to the exchange program are linked on this page in the left–side navigation menu under the option "The Application Procedure".

Stanford's application deadline for the exchange program during academic year 2012-2013 — which includes confirmation that the applicant has been nominated for the program by his or her sending school — is April 1, 2012.

Academic Calendar

The 2011-2012 academic calendar is available here.

Language of Instruction

All instruction is in English. Non-native speakers of English seeking to attend SLS must have earned a TOEFL score of 260 (computer-based test), 620 (paper-based test), or 100 (Internet-based test), or must otherwise demonstrate equivalent proficiency in English.

Eligible Courses

Students from foreign law schools attending Stanford Law School as part of its student exchange program are subject to the following limitations on course selection:

• Exchange students may not ordinarily take more than 14 quarter units in a single quarter while enrolled at Stanford Law School. Although exchange students may in exceptional cases seek by petition to take a heavier load, Stanford Law School will be reluctant to permit students to take more than 15 quarter units in a single quarter, and in no circumstances may a student take more than 17 quarter units. All units taken at Stanford Law School or Stanford University count toward this total.
• Exchange students may not take any courses that are required as part of the first term of the first year of the JD curriculum and must petition for permission to take any courses that are required as part of any ensuing term of the first year of the JD curriculum.
• Exchange students may not ordinarily take courses at Stanford University outside the Law School, although students may in exceptional cases be permitted to do so. Exchange students may in no circumstances take more than 6 quarter units worth of courses elsewhere in the University and may not take any foreign or English language courses.

Academic Requirements for Admission to the Exchange Program

Exchange students must have completed one full year at their home school and must be in good standing. For students attending a school where law is taught as a first/undergraduate degree, students must be in at least their third year of studies. Non-native speakers of English seeking to attend Stanford must have earned a TOEFL score of 260 (computer-based test), 620 (paper-based test), or 100 (Internet-based test), or must otherwise demonstrate equivalent proficiency in English. Students must present an exceptional academic record at their home school.

Standard Course Loads

The minimum course load for Stanford Law School students to meet residency requirements is currently 9 quarter units. The standard course load for Stanford Law Students is 11-12 quarter units.

Course Enrollment and Registration

Stanford Law School uses AXESS, the University’s online registration system, for preregistering and for adding and dropping classes. Instructors can open their courses to all interested students (open enrollment) or limit the enrollment of their courses in one of two ways: (1) by lottery or (2) by consent of the instructor. Course descriptions will be posted under the “Course Descriptions and Schedules” tab on the Law School’s Office of the Registrar web site. In mid-May, pre-registration instructions for autumn courses will be sent to incoming exchange students. Pre-registration deadlines for winter and spring quarter courses will be announced autumn quarter.

All students have approximately two weeks after the start of each quarter to add and drop courses and to finalize their schedule. Specific deadlines will be announced in advance by the Office of the Registrar.

Grading System

The Law School’s grading system has four grades:

Some classes, primarily skills classes such as Negotiation, have a slightly different grading scheme to reflect the mandatory nature of the passing grade, i.e., that Honors is not a possible grade. In those courses, the grades will be as follows:

The Application Procedure

A writeable PDF application is available here and may be submitted via email to the Office of Admissions.

Along with their completed applications, students applying to attend Stanford through the Foreign Law Exchange Program must submit the following materials:

1. Confirmation from their home law school that they have been nominated for the student exchange program by their home law school;
2. A resume or curriculum vitae;
3. A personal statement of no more than two pages describing the student’s reasons for wishing to study at Stanford and any of the student’s important qualities he or she would like us to know about;
4. A TOEFL score report; and
5. An official transcript from their home law school.

EXCEPT FOR THE OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT, PDF versions of these materials may be submitted by the student either electronically via email to the Office of Admissions along with their application form or may be sent by mail to:

Foreign Law School Exchange Program Admissions
Office of Admissions
Stanford Law School
Crown Quadrangle
559 Nathan Abbott Way
Stanford, CA 94305-8610

IMPORTANT: Students must arrange to have official transcripts from their home law school sent directly by mail to the Office of Admissions at the above address.

Application Deadlines

The application deadline for incoming exchange students who wish to attend Stanford Law School during the 2012-2013 academic year is April 1, 2012. Students will be notified of their enrollment status in mid–April.

Housing Information

Housing for exchange students becomes available only after all enrolled students have been accommodated on campus. It is unlikely that exchange students will find on–campus housing in Fall or Winter Quarters. Exchange students are considered "non–matriculated graduate students", and most non–matriculated students find housing through other means and live off–campus. The following links provide information about applying for housing on campus as well as links to off campus housing options. Please carefully review your housing options as well as cost concerns

Stanford Housing for non-matriculated students and visitors:
http://www.stanford.edu/dept/rde/

Other Resources for Finding Housing in the Stanford Area:
Community and Short–Term Housing

SUPost for apartments and other listings from Stanford:
http://www.supost.com/

Craigslist for apartment and other listings in the San Francisco Bay Area:
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/ (Palo Alto area is “pen” or peninsula)

Oak Creek Apartments
http://oakcreek.prospectportal.com/

Visa/Immigration Information

Stanford Law School will forward visa information to accepted students and coordinate their visa application process with the Bechtel International Center. During the visa process, Stanford will confirm with students the earliest date that they will be allowed to enter the U.S. for their program. Students should not make travel or housing arrangements before confirming the arrival date with Stanford.

Details about immigration procedures and requirements for international students is available from the Bechtel International Center (I-Center) and may be found here.

The I-Center is located at:

International Center, MC: 8245
584 Capistrano Way
Stanford, California 94309
(650) 723 - 1831
(650) 725 - 0886
http://www.stanford.edu/dept/icenter/

Fees

Students visiting from law schools with which Stanford has a student exchange agreement will pay the tuition and fees they ordinarily pay to their home school for the period they are enrolled at Stanford. Visiting students will not be charged tuition and fees by Stanford. They will, however, be responsible for the costs of accommodation, travel, books, equipment, personal expenses (including the cost of any required health insurance), and all other expenses associated with exchange program.

Estimated Cost of Living per Quarter

Below are estimates of expenses that may be incurring during an exchange student’s time at Stanford Law School. Please note, however, that student expenses can vary significantly.

Health Insurance

Requirements

Stanford requires all registered students to have medical insurance that meets certain minimum coverage requirements. Therefore, each quarter students are charged a health insurance fee. However, exchange students are ineligible for coverage through Stanford. You must obtain health insurance through your home institution or through a private plan.

Department of State regulations require all J-1 visa holders and their J-2 dependents to be covered by medical insurance at all times. The Bechtel International Center is obligated, by federal law, to cancel the J-1 visa of any student who willfully neglects to obtain medical insurance for themselves or family members.

Individual Health Insurance Plans

Information and applications for individual health insurance plans are available through the web at www.ehealthinsurance.com. This company offers many medically underwritten, leading health insurance plans in California. Visiting exchange students can consult this site for information about cost and coverage for health insurance. Students may have a health insurance plan in their home country which will cover them in the United States, but should confirm this and obtain a statement from their insurer confirming this coverage. Upon arrival, students will be asked to show proof of insurance coverage for the duration of their studies in the United States.

Vaden Health Center

The Allene G. Vaden Health Center is located at 866 Campus Drive. Visiting students attending Stanford Law School are eligible to access certain health care benefits at Vaden on a fee-for-service basis. For more information, see the web site at vaden.stanford.edu or call 650-486-2336.

Program Contacts/Advisors Stanford and SLS

Allen Weiner
Senior Lecturer in Law
650 724.5892
aweiner@stanford.edu

Cathy Glaze
Associate Dean of Student Affairs
650 723.6203
cglaze@law.stanford.edu

Lucy LaPier
Executive Director, International Graduate Programs
650 736.2267
lelapier@law.stanford.edu

School of Law, Student Affairs

The Office of Student Affairs (OSA) at Stanford Law School acts as a resource to help law students achieve their academic and extracurricular goals.
www.law.stanford.edu/admin/student/
Phone: 650 725.0764

Graduate Life Office

The Graduate Life Office (GLO) at Stanford University works closely with students (both on and off campus) and with student groups, including Community Associates (student residence staff), the Graduate Student Programming Board, and the Graduate Student Council, to create an inclusive environment through a variety of welcoming and ongoing programs within the residences and campus-wide. The GLO staff also works with individual students who need information and support or who may be experiencing personal difficulties.
www.stanford.edu/group/glo/
Phone: 650 736.7078

SLS Library

Robert Crown Law Library

www.law.stanford.edu/school/campus/library/

The Robert Crown Law Library houses a print and online collection of over 500,000 volumes, searchable through the Stanford University library catalog. Students will also enjoy access to dozens of legal databases, including LexisNexis, Westlaw, HeinOnline, and Bureau of National Affairs. Students working on interdisciplinary and empirical research may also take advantage of the incredible array of databases available through Stanford University Libraries at http://library.stanford.edu/sulapp/databases/.

The law library is situated on four floors, with wireless internet access throughout. The first floor includes a beautiful, sunny reading room, with large tables, carrels, and easy chairs along with computers and seven study rooms equipped with teleconferencing equipment and LCD screens. The second floor offers students 24-hour access, a large reading room, an electronic information center, and a teaming area for collaborative projects. The third floor provides study carrels and houses the U.S. legal collection. Periodicals, mircoforms, and foreign and international materials are located in the basement. Students may access printers, scanners, and photocopiers on the first and second floors.

Professional librarians will work closely with students to answer a variety of research questions as well as help to identify and retrieve the legal and interdisciplinary materials. Items not available at Stanford may be requested via the inter-library loan service. The library loan desk maintains copies of course reserve items, and also loans laptops, digital cameras, noise-cancelling headsets, table lamps, power supplies, and bicycles.

Other Information

Orientation Programs

For Fall 2012, Stanford Law School will offer a course called Introduction to American Law for international graduate students prior to the start of the regular school year. Precise dates have not been determined yet, but it is likely that the class will begin September 4, 2012 and will run through on or about Friday, September 21, 2012 (with breaks for the weekends). This course is open to incoming exchange students attending Stanford Law School during the Fall quarter of academic year 2012–13, but it is not required. Because exchange students may not take courses taught during the first term of the first year of the JD curriculum, as noted in "Eligible Courses", the Introduction to American Law course provides an excellent opportunity for exchange students to gain exposure to foundational American law subjects. Incoming exchange students who will be attending Stanford Law School during the Fall quarter of academic year 2012–13 should let us know whether they plan to participate in the Introduction to American Law course.

If you arrive plan to participate in the Introduction to American Law course, we encourage you to plan to arrive at Stanford in late August, though the earliest allowed arrival date will be specified in your visa materials. You will be able to take advantage of Law School orientation activities for international students, which are tentatively scheduled for the last week of August 2012. These will include a welcome breakfast for international students, a visa orientation meeting at the Bechtel International Center, a campus tour, a library tour, as well as instruction on laptop configuration and an information technology orientation.

For students who choose not to avail themselves of the opportunity to participate in the Fall 2012 Introduction to American Law course, the regular class schedule for exchange students will begin September 24, 2012. Stanford’s Bechtel International Center offers a week–long orientation schedule for new international graduate students in September. When the orientation schedule has been finalized, information about the orientation programs will be posted on the Bechtel International Center’s website.