Incoming Transfer Students Information

Previous Communications

Email 1 (7/23/25)
Email 2 (7/25/25)
Email 3 (7/29/25)
Email 4 (8/1/25)

Key Dates

Orientation

A detailed Orientation schedule will be posted on the Orientation website during the week of August 1. In the interim, please note the following important dates:

Wednesday, August 6 – Transfer Orientation Part 1 - Virtual Session

This virtual program is designed to introduce transfer students to the GW Law community from wherever you are currently located. The program will consist of two sessions covering a variety of topics, including an academic advising overview of planning your program, addressing graduation requirements, curricular and co-curricular offerings, available resources, a Transfer Journal Competition Information panel, and Q&A for all of the above. More information, including the Zoom link, will be sent closer to the event.

Wednesday, August 6 – Journal Transfer Competition Information Session

The GW Law Journal Competition leadership will provide an opportunity for incoming transfer students to ask questions about journal membership and participation in the competition. In the interim, should you have any questions, please email gwjournalcompetitionlaw [dot] gwu [dot] edu (gwjournalcompetition[at]law[dot]gwu[dot]edu).

Monday, August 11 – Transfer Credit Memos

Transfer Credit Memos (TCMs) will be sent out to all incoming students whose official transcript was received from their previous institution by July 31. This memo will indicate the number of credits transferring to the GW Law transcript and will show which, if any, course(s) a student must take. Before receiving your TCM, we encourage you to use this time to become familiar with the extensive course listing GW Law has to offer and to begin to plan a coherent academic program for your time at the Law School. The Law Bulletin contains course descriptions, and you may find the Bulletin and the information for the Fall 2025 Semester on the Records Office web page.

Wednesday, August 13 – Transfer Orientation Part 2 - In-Person Session

Check-in for this session will open at 9:30 AM. One-on-one advising by faculty, program directors, and administrators will be held from 10 AM to 12 PM, followed by lunch. Our meet-and-greet-style lunch will be a great opportunity to meet and greet other incoming students.

If you have any dietary restrictions, please notify the Dean of Students Office by Friday, August 8 (deanofstudentslaw [dot] gwu [dot] edu) so we can make the appropriate arrangements.
Dress for orientation is summer business casual.

The advising session will provide an opportunity for one-on-one guidance regarding upper-level requirements, course selection, and a balanced academic program specifically tailored to the needs of each student. Though advising is not required, this session is offered by the Dean of Students Office specifically for incoming transfer students, and participation is strongly encouraged. Representatives from offices and programs that will be critical to your experience here (e.g., Records, Field Placement, and the various concentration programs) will be available for “one-stop” advising. Should you choose not to attend, you may attend general “first-come, first-served” advising sessions offered to all GW Law students during the “Add/Drop” period. The Add/Drop period is the time at the outset of the semester when a law student may add or drop a course or courses from their schedule without a required signature from the Dean of Students Office.

Wednesday, August 13 – Online Registration Opens

Registration for incoming transfer students via the GWeb Information System. GWeb is the system that allows students to access online services, including registration. GWeb is currently closed for registration transactions and is scheduled to open on August 13. You can register remotely at that time. Information for law students on how to register using GWeb will be provided closer to this date, but you may familiarize yourself with access instructions on the Records Office GWeb page. Note that registration for students transferring into GW Law is the beginning of the Law School’s Add/Drop period for the Fall 2025 semester and runs through Tuesday, September 2.

Thursday, August 14 – Monday, August 18 – Journal Competition

GW Law’s student journals will conduct a write-on competition for transfer students beginning Thursday, August 14 at 9 am ET and ending Monday, August 18 at 9 am ET. Competitors will have the ability to rank participating journals to be considered for membership.

Monday, August 18 - Classes Begin for Incoming First-Years

IMPORTANT! Any incoming transfer needing to satisfy the first-year curriculum requirements of Contracts (6202), Torts (6206), or Civil Procedure I (Federal Systems) should note this is the first day of class(es) for these courses.

Monday, August 25 - Classes Begin for Upper-Level Courses

Any incoming transfer needing to satisfy the first-year curriculum requirements of Property (6208), Legislation & Regulation (6209), or Constitutional Law I (Federal Systems) should note this is the first day of class(es) for these courses. [Criminal Law (6210) is only offered in spring semesters.]

Orientation Recordings

Wednesday, August 6 Virtual Session

Recording (forthcoming)
Slide Deck (forthcoming)

Academic Information/ Curricular Offerings at GW Law

2025-2026 GW Law Academic Calendar

You will find the Academic Calendar along with other important course scheduling and enrollment documents on the Records Office Fall 2025 page. Incoming transfers have one of two start dates for the fall semester. If you need to take Civil Procedure or Torts you will be required to take it this fall. Classes for these required 1L courses begin Monday, August 19 when first-year, first semester classes commence. If you need to take Property, Legislation and Regulation, and/or Constitutional Law I this fall to complete GW Law’s first-year curriculum/graduation requirement, these classes start on Monday, August 26 when all other upper-level courses begin.

Journals and Transfer Journal Competition

Recognition of Juris Doctor Concentrations

Candidates for the Juris Doctor degree may earn a Recognition of Concentration in eleven substantive fields. Recognition requires students to complete a minimum number of credit hours in the concentration area, after completion of the required first-year curriculum. Specific requirements are established by the concentration directors, listed below, who are responsible for the administration of the recognition. Students who wish to receive a Recognition of Concentration are required to register that intention with the concentration director prior to their final semester in law school, but preferably earlier in their upper-level years. The concentration directors will advise interested students on the concentration area, program requirements, and course options.

More information specific to each concentration is available in the 2025-2026 GW Law Bulletin. In the meantime, the Concentration Directors and Coordinators for the upcoming academic year are listed below. Feel free to reach out if you are considering a concentration.

Business & Finance Law, Assistant Dean Michael Rand
Energy Law, Assistant Dean Kristoffer Svendsen
Environmental Law, Assistant Dean Randall Abate
Family Law, Associate Dean Laurie Kohn
Government Procurement Law, Assistant Dean Jessica Tillipman
Health Law, Professor Sonia Suter
Intellectual Property Law, Associate Dean John Whealan
International and Comparative Law, Associate Dean Rosa Celorio
International Business Law, Associate Dean Rosa Celorio & Assistant Dean Michael Rand
National Security and Cybersecurity Law, Associate Dean Lisa Schenck
National Security and U.S. Foreign Relations Law, Associate Dean Lisa Schenck

Registration & Advising Information

Maximum Transfer Credits Allowed

By way of reminder, GW Law will accept up to a maximum of 31 credits to be transferred from a student’s prior studies at an ABA-accredited institution. For those non-U.S. law school graduates participating in the LLM-JD Transfer Program this does not impact the number of advanced standing credits awarded for legal studies completed outside the U.S..

Final, Completed, Official Transcripts – Transfer Credit Memos

Please be mindful that the credit memo is based upon the transcript submitted to the Admissions Office with your application. Should you have pending grades, you will need to submit your final, completed official transcript to the Admissions Office as soon as possible to complete your admissions file AND for review by the Dean of Students Office for any credit eligible for transfer to your GW Law transcript. The deadline for submitting your final, completed transcript is October 15, 2025 but sooner rather than later is preferred.

Exclusive Use of Law School Email Account for Communication

Your TCM will be sent to both your personal and law school email addresses. Hereafter, communication from the law school will be sent only to your @law address as email correspondence to a student’s official law school email account is the one fully acceptable means for student notification.

Registration Preparation & Information on Fall Exams

To prepare for registration on Wednesday, August 13, please review the GW Law Bulletin for course descriptions as well as the course scheduling materials found on the Records Office portal under Fall 2025 Semester Information. You will want to review these important registration documents: The Course & Exam Schedule, Schedule of Classes with CRNs (Course Registration Numbers), and the Bulletin Supplement. You can also access a draft schedule of the Spring 2025 course offerings, which may aid you in your long-term course planning. By way of a heads-up, you will be registering for your spring courses in mid-October, just 8 weeks away. Embedded here and posted to the Incoming Transfer Checklist is a listing of Selected Fall 2025 Noteworthy Courses (forthcoming). These are just some of the excellent courses and professors you can take.

Examinations at GW Law

The Law School does not have a flexible exam policy. Exams are scheduled a year in advance to provide notice to students. It is important to note the date and time of your exam when scheduling your classes. Multiple examinations on the same day or examinations on several consecutive days do not constitute an exam conflict and will not result in being excused from the scheduled day and time of the exam. We do not recommend scheduling exams on the same day and, if possible, avoid consecutive days.

In-person exams are administered using the Exam4 software suite. Exam4 software is

updated twice a semester: once for midterms and once for finals. You must have the most recent update in order to take your exams. The Records Office will let students know when the new software builds are available. Students are responsible for ensuring their computers are in good working condition and are strongly encouraged to download and test the latest version of Exam4 at least a week before the exam.

Registration & Advising Session

Registration for the Fall 2025 Semester for incoming transfer students via GWeb begins at 9 am, Wednesday, August 14. Information on how to access and use GWeb may be found on the Records Office home page. You may register remotely, and you do not need to register at 9 am promptly.

Feel free to bring a list of prepared questions and a rough schedule to the Academic Advising Session from 10 am – Noon on Wednesday. Representatives from the Dean of Students Office and the Law School’s programs will be on hand to answer questions you may have about curricular and co-curricular programs. Following the advising session there will be a Meet & Greet lunch and an opportunity to speak with an SBA representative about getting involved at GW Law. In the event you are unable to attend, you can always schedule an advising appointment, or you can attend a Dean of Students open advising session. These first-come, first-served advising sessions are held frequently during the ADD/DROP period which corresponds with the first week of classes for upper-level law students.

Technology at GW Law

Please visit Technology at GW Law for key information regarding your technology needs and resources while at GW Law, including a New Student Technology Checklist.

Law School Email – Your law school email (@law.gwu.edu) is your official email account of record at the Law School. You can sign into your Law School email via this link to GMail. Although announcements regarding orientation and the onboarding process have been sent to both your personal and @law accounts, following receipt of your Transfer Credit Memo on Monday, August 11, all law school correspondence will be sent to your @law account. We highly recommend you forward your @gwu.edu email to your @law.gwu.edu email. Here are Gmail forwarding instructions.

Laptop Computer Requirements

All students are expected to have a laptop computer that meets the specifications for Exam4, the exam software used to administer exams. For questions about this, please contact LawITlaw [dot] gwu [dot] edu (LawIT[at]law[dot]gwu[dot]edu).

Technology Overview

For your convenience, the Jacob Burns Law Libary’s Office of Instructional Technology has consolidated all the current technology information you need on the Technology@GW Law: Info for New Students website. Here you will find everything you need to know about technology at GW Law including:

IMPORTANT! REGISTRATION FOR ONLINE RESEARCH SERVICES

On Thursday, August 14, you will receive an email, to your law school email account, from the Jacob Burns Law Library with the subject "Registration Information for Library Research Accounts." This email provides instructions to register your GW Law assigned Bloomberg, Lexis, Westlaw, and CALI accounts. Your individual registration codes will be embedded in the instructions. Support contacts for all four accounts are provided in the email. You should receive this email by early afternoon on August 15. If you do not see this email in your GW Law inbox, please check your spam folder before reaching out for assistance.

We encourage you to register your accounts at your earliest opportunity to have these set up in advance of the beginning of the semester as it can takes 24 hours to access your new account.

If you want to move research folders from the account at your prior institution, follow the directions in the Transfer Instructions for Westlaw Precision, which will be posted on the Technology@GW Law website.

You should review this information and related video tutorials prior to your arrival. In order to have your technology questions answered quickly, please be certain to direct them to the appropriate office.

Questions related to account and computer contact GW IT at lawitlaw [dot] gwu [dot] edu (lawit[at]law[dot]gwu[dot]edu)
Questions related to MyLaw, Canvas, and academic recording contact OIT at oitlaw [dot] gwu [dot] edu

Transfer Credit Memos

Your GW Identity and Account Activation (Due: ASAP)

Your GW identity is a collection of elements that uniquely identify you as a member of the GW community. If you have not done so already, please activate/claim your GW identity as soon as possible. Please refer to the GW Account Activation for New Users for step-by-step guidance on how to claim your account. As part of the Identity claiming process, you will receive both GW and GW Law email accounts. These accounts use the same username and password. To access your GW Law email account, log in at https://mail.google.com/a/law.gwu.edu.

Law and Undergraduate Transcript Requirement: (Due: ASAP)

If you have not already done so, you must have an official copy of your completed, final transcript from your school of origin. A complete, final official transcript must be received to finalize your Admissions file. This is a requirement of the American Bar Association (ABA). If you are still enrolled in coursework or are waiting on grades to post, please have your transcript sent to the Admissions Office using inatgwlaw [dot] gwu [dot] edu (inatgw[at]law[dot]gwu[dot]edu) by October 15. If your final official transcript is not received, a registration hold will be placed on your account.

Resume Submission: (Due: ASAP)

Please complete and submit the Incoming Transfer Student Resume Form if you have not done so already. Responses are still being collected. These will be used to compile profile of the incoming cohort our community has a better sense of this transfer class.

Immunization Requirement: (Due: ASAP)

All matriculating students who will be under the age of 26 as of July 1, 2025, must submit their immunization records directly to Student Health Services. Once you receive access to your GW email address, you will be able to access the portal (please see above on activating your GW Identity). Please note that the Student Health Center website shows the deadline as June 15; as an incoming law student, you may still do so, but your records need to be submitted as soon as possible.

Update Your Chosen Name, Gender Identity, and Pronouns (Due: ASAP)

If you indicated a preferred name in your application to GW Law, that name will be entered into the various digital records across campus. If you need to update this information or want to change it, you can find more information on the process on the Office of Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement website.

Sign up for Information from the Law School Affinity Groups (Due: ASAP)

The law school has over 80 student-led organizations that serve as the backbone of the law school community. Chief among them are the many student affinity groups; if you are interested in outreach, please complete this Affinity Group Interest Form.

Set up your GWorld Mobile Card (Due: August 4)

The GWorld Mobile Card is the official ID card at GW and is required to access academic buildings, campus libraries, the health and wellness center, and other facilities and services. More information on how to set up the card on your mobile device can be found here.

Purchase the Tuition Insurance (Due: August 17) (Optional)

We hope you plan to join us in August, but if your plans change, please note the University's tuition fee policy, which can be found via The George Washington University Law School Bulletin.

While we hope every student enjoys a smooth and successful semester, we recognize that unexpected challenges—such as medical or mental health issues—can sometimes arise. To help protect your educational investment, the university has partnered with GradGuard to offer tuition insurance. This optional coverage can reimburse up to 100% of your tuition, room, and board, depending on your selected coverage level, in the event of a covered withdrawal.

Please note that any financial aid you receive may impact the amount of reimbursement.

Tuition insurance must be purchased before the start of each fall or spring semester and is available through Student eBill or directly from GradGuard at www.gradguard.com or by calling 877-794-6603.

Character and Fitness Disclosures (Due: August 18)

Please ensure your application to GW Law provides disclosure of any legal violations, college disciplinary matters, or similar issues, including any that may have occurred after you submitted your application. State boards of bar examiners will note any issue disclosed in your bar application that occurred before you enrolled in law school and specifically ask both your prior institution and GW Law whether the law school was aware of that issue when you enrolled. If an inconsistency exists between information obtained by the bar examiners and your law school admission applications, that inconsistency could impact your admission to the bar.

Please send any necessary disclosures to the Admissions Office on or before Sunday, August 17, using inatgwlaw [dot] gwu [dot] edu (inatgw[at]law[dot]gwu[dot]edu). Please err on the side of disclosure. If you have questions regarding whether something needs to be disclosed, please contact the Dean of Students Office. It is in your best interest to review your law school application to GW and email any updates to Admissions now before you formally "matriculate" as a law student.

Housing Resources

We wanted to share some last minute housing resources in case you are still apartment hunting, or have yet to sign a lease.

Check out the GW Law Housing Guide, a custom made resource from our trusted housing partner VeryApt, which contains valuable resources that can help guide your housing search.
Login to our new Roommate Portal, where prospective and current students have been connecting with each other.
UniversityHaus is a local property management company that has shared current availability at their Dupont property. You can complete their interest form, and additional information below:
- Expedited Approval for International Students: UniversityHaus offers expedited housing approval for international students with the necessary documentation.
- Financial Aid Utilization: UniversityHaus has programs that allow students to use their financial aid to cover housing costs.
- Rent Deferment Options: UniversityHaus provides a two-week rent deferment for students waiting on scholarships or financial aid disbursements.
- All-Inclusive Rent: Rent includes furnishings, WiFi, and utilities.
- Convenient Location: The housing is within walking distance of the campus and located in the highly desirable Dupont Circle neighborhood.
- Student-Only Units: UniversityHaus offers units and roommates exclusively for students.

If you have questions, or concerns, please reach out to nathanael [dot] whitelaw [dot] gwu [dot] edu (nathanael[dot]white[at]law[dot]gwu[dot]edu).

Mandatory GW SHIP Enrollment (Waiver due September 12, 2025)

All law students will be automatically enrolled in the GW Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP) for 2025-2026. If you have other acceptable coverage, you must waive enrollment by September 12, 2025, at University Health Plans. Please note that the waiver form will be available on August 1st.

Registration for Accommodations (ASAP, but no later than November 15)

Students requesting an accommodation based on the potential impact of a disability must contact the University’s Disability Support Services Office to establish eligibility and to coordinate reasonable accommodations. For additional information on this process for law students, please refer to the GW Law Dean of Students Office website.