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Dean's certification letter A handful of law schools still require a "Dean's Certification" or "Dean's Letter" as part of the application process. This is a letter from the undergraduate institution that details the applicant's disciplinary record (if any) and, in some cases, confirms the applicant's grade point average and class rank (if available). The Pre-Law Advising Office processes all Dean's letters for majors in the following Colleges and Schools: Humanities and Fine Arts, Natural Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences, and the Isenberg School of Management. For majors in other schools, please see your academic dean. In order to process your request, we require the following:
The Dean's Letter is NOT completed online and does NOT go through LSAC. It may very well be the only part of your application that must be completed on paper and that is sent directly to law schools. You must allow three weeks for processing of your request. Because we must request information from other departments of the University, your letter takes some time to complete. Do NOT put this off. The Pre-Law Advising Office has little control over the speed of the process and cannot hurry along your request just because your application deadline is approaching. A hard copy of the Dean's Letter Request is available from the Pre-Law Advising Office in 122 Thompson. Please print ALL pages, fill them out, and return them to the Pre-Law Advising Office. You will need Adobe Reader to view and print the files – download it for free here. Please DO NOT SEND FORMS DIRECTLY TO THE REGISTRAR OR DEAN OF STUDENTS OFFICE. We handle this process from beginning to end. All forms should be sent to the Pre-Law Advising office. Note about disciplinary records: The main purpose of Dean's Letters is to report on your disciplinary record, both regarding conduct and academics. Many students do not realize they have disciplinary records, especially when the record consists of something minor, like a noise or bathroom policy violation that resulted in a warning. For this reason, the Pre-Law Advising office always notifies applicants by email with the details of their record if one exists. Please see the page on Disciplinary and Arrest Records for more information on how law schools take these into consideration.
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Dean's letter Request Packet (PDF)
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The Pre-Law Advising Office completes
each school's Dean's Letter form, and
also sends along a standard letter
attesting to the student's GPA,major(s),
degree date (or expected date), and
any academic honors listed on the
transcript (e.g., Dean's List, Latin
honors). This is in addition to a
confirmation that the student does
not have a disciplinary record, or, if
s/he does, a brief statement of the
date, offense and sanction for
each violation.
Did you transfer to UMass? You may
need to send a Dean's Letter from
your former school as well; check with
each law school on its policy.
Brooklyn and UConn are among the
schools that still require Dean's Letters
for all applicants.
A few additional schools only require Dean's Letters for students who report
on their applications that they have
disciplinary records, including
Cardozo and Cornell.
Please note: schools' requirements
change frequently, and we
cannot monitor them.
YOU MUST CHECK YOUR LAW SCHOOL'S
REQUIREMENTS BEFORE SUBMITTING
YOUR APPLICATION!
This site is maintained by the Pre-Law Advising Office.