MASTER OF COMPARATIVE LAW (MCL)
Admission Requirements
The Master of Comparative Law is currently offered in partner with Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Koguan Law School and offers students the opportunity to engage in a one-year comparative law experience, spending a semester of full-time enrollment at each law school. The program is open to those who have earned a first degree in law, those who are eligible for practice, or other qualified individuals. Candidates must apply through Koguan Law School and admission decisions are made collaboratively with Emory Law.
The following items are required to complete the application unless waived by the appropriate administrator:
• Application form and fee
• Interview (by invitation)
• English Proficiency Test administered by Emory Law representative or its designee
• TOEFL or IELTS score, for students interested into transferring into LLM program, submitted via LSAC’s document assembly service: Students whose native language is not English and students from non-English standard countries must submit either an official TOEFL Score Report (Test of English as a Foreign Language) from Educational Testing Service or an official IELTS score report with their application. An applicant may contact the admission office for a TOEFL waiver, based on previous course work in English, employment experience in English, and LSAT scores.
General Requirements
Degree Credit Hours
MCL students must complete a minimum of twenty-four (24) hours. Up to eleven (11) hours may be earned at a student’s home institution and applied to the MCL degree under the governing articulation agreement.
Required Courses
• Introduction to the American Legal System (two credits)
• American Legal Writing, Analysis and Research (two credits)
• One course in comparative law/comparative law experience (one credit or more)
Academic Standing
Academic standing is computed on the basis of work done at Emory Law alone. To be in good standing, students must maintain an overall cumulative minimum grade point average of 2.50 on all coursework. Any student not in good standing is presumptively ineligible to continue in, or graduate from, the MCL program.
A student who becomes presumptively ineligible to continue in the program because of a lack of good standing may petition the Academic Standing Committee for continuation in the program. Students granted continuation remain in the program on probationary status and must raise their cumulative grade point average to at least 2.50 by the end of the probationary period. It is the student’s obligation to petition for continuation and probationary status and to monitor his or her own probation and eligibility to continue in the program.
Residency
The MCL program is currently only open to students through articulation agreement with their home institution outside the United States. Students must spend two semesters (or a minimum of five months) in residency at Emory Law to complete the MCL degree. Students must complete the program within four (4) years of their initial admittance. Students who fail to complete the program within four years will be discontinued though they may apply for readmission. Additional residency or program completion requirements may be imposed by the governing articulation agreement between schools.