International

Master of Science (Legal Studies) (M.S.L.S.) Degree Program

Cornell Law School plans to offer a Master of Science (Legal Studies) (M.S.L.S.) beginning in the fall of 2008 (subject to university and state approvals). The M.S.L.S. will be a one-year degree program intended for advanced graduate students and post-doctoral fellows at Cornell University who have no prior legal training and who do not intend to obtain a Juris Doctor (JD) degree. The degree may be of interest to doctoral students in several fields, including psychology, history, sociology, or engineering.

Requirements:

Admission to the program is extremely selective (limited to no more than four students per year).

• Applicants must be currently enrolled in a graduate degree program or hold post-doctoral status at Cornell University.
• Applicants must identify a Cornell Law School faculty member who is also a member of Cornell University’s Graduate School faculty, and who agrees to serve as the student’s Law School faculty advisor and as an ad hoc or minor member of the student's Graduate School Special Committee.
• Applicants must also have the approval of their home fields or departments. Normally, a graduate student would obtain approval from his or her Special Committee chairperson; a post-doctoral fellow would obtain approval from the faculty member who is supervising or hosting the post-doctoral fellow.

The Law School Admissions Committee considers the applicant's academic records and other application materials, including the advisor's recommendation. In making M.S.L.S. admissions decision, the Committee considers whether the applicant's academic record and background are sufficient to allow completion of a rigorous Law School program of study and the likely benefits of the M.S.L.S. to the student's program of graduate study. The standard for admission is similar to that for Juris Doctor applicants, although the general GRE score will be accepted as a proxy for the LSAT score for those M.S.L.S. candidates who have not taken the LSAT.

M.S.L.S. students must be in residence at the Law School for two semesters and complete at least 32 credits hours in Law School courses. The first-year JD curriculum, plus a thesis/project, is the regular curriculum.

Applications for the program are available through the Graduate Legal Studies Program Office.

The M.S.L.S. is not a professional law degree and it does not qualify a student to sit for the bar examination in New York or any other state.