Create or log in to your LSAC account to begin your transfer application. 

The transfer application deadline is June 1. Materials supporting your application, including your Credential Assembly Service (CAS) report, official law school transcript, report of law school class rank, and a letter of good standing from the dean of your law school, should be on file in the UI College of Law as soon after the deadline as possible. All of these items must be received by the College of Law before your application will be considered.

• Explaining statement: Write a statement explaining why you want to transfer from your current law school to the University of Iowa College of Law.
• Personal statement: Submit a no more than two-page personal statement.
• Letters of recommendation: Submit letters of recommendation from your current law school that evaluates your work during your first year.

Visit the JD application process page for more information and guidance on personal statements and letters of recommendation.

When evaluating your first year's performance, we primarily consider whether or not you are in good academic standing.

Membership in the Order of the Coif is governed by the Coif Constitution:

• Section 5.1.a. of that Constitution provides: "Eligibility of Law Students." For each academic year, measured from July 1 to June 30, or any other twelve-month period designated by a member school, a Chapter may elect to membership in The Order any graduating senior (1) who has completed at least 75% of his or her law studies in graded courses and (2) whose grade record ranks in the top 10% of all the graduating seniors of the school.
• "Graded courses" are those for which academic accomplishment is recorded based on educational measurement involving four or more discriminators. This provision means that transfer students are not excluded from eligibility for Coif membership, and will be considered as having completed their first year of law studies in graded courses for calculating (1) above. 

For international students coming to study in the United States on F-1 and J-1 visas, obtaining employment after graduating from law school can be very challenging:

• U.S. immigration laws do not provide F-1 or J-1 visa holders with long-term work authorization after graduation, and the College of Law cannot provide sponsorship for employment-based visas for our graduates.
• Applicants who are not U.S. citizens or Lawful Permanent Residents (green card holders) are advised to make careful and concrete plans for their post-graduation employment, taking into account the limitations imposed by U.S. immigration law.
• The University of Iowa College of Law carefully reviews all applications from international students and will discuss those long-term, post-graduation employment plans with any applicants who are not U.S. citizens or Lawful Permanent Residents. Your personal statement should address questions including what you intend to do with your U.S. law degree.

As a transfer student, you must have completed at least one full academic year of law studies by June of the year you are seeking the transfer. Iowa Law will accept a minimum of 24 approved semester hours of credit and a maximum of 30 approved semester hours of credit (one-third the number required for the JD degree at Iowa) from another institution.

Iowa Law will count your transfer credits toward an Iowa JD. It will not count your grades for those transfer courses in your Iowa grade point average. In effect, Iowa Law considers your 24-30 semester hours of transfer courses to be ungraded, meaning that by the time you receive your Iowa JD, only 66%–70% of your coursework will be graded. This is a policy in effect at most law schools, incidentally, and has implications for Order of the Coif membership.

Credits earned at an institution within the U.S. must be from a law school accredited by the ABA. Credits earned at an institution outside the U.S. may be counted toward the Iowa JD degree, provided the requirements of the relevant ABA Standards are met.