You can apply to a dual degree program as an entering first-year full-time student or during your first year of law school.
- JD/MA in International Affairs with the School of International Service
- JD/MBA with the Kogod School of Business
- JD/MPA Law and Public Administration with the School of Public Affairs
- JD/MPP Law and Public Policy with the School of Public Affairs
- JD/MS in Justice, Law and Criminology with the School of Public Affairs
| Admissions Requirements | JDMA | JDMBA | JDMPP | JDMPA | JDMS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accepts LSAT in lieu of Graduate Exam | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Requires additional application form | Yes, online form - view webpage | Yes, online form view webpage |
Yes, online form view webpage |
Yes, online form view webpage |
Yes, online form view webpage |
| Requires additional application form | Must be admitted to JD first to be considered for JDMA. Proficiency in a foreign language required for MA portion of this dual program. | Must be admitted to JD first to be considered for JDMBA. Work experience required for MBA portion but Kogod School of Business can waive this requirement on a case-by-case basis. | File must be complete with JD admissions to be considered for JDMPP. SPA requires 2 Letters of Recommendation (LOR). If you only submitted 1 LOR with JD file, must have another recommender email letter to spaapp@american.edu. |
File must be complete with JD admissions to be considered for JDMPA. SPA requires 2 Letters of Recommendation (LOR). If you only submitted 1 LOR with JD file, must have another recommender email letter to spaapp@american.edu.
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File must be complete with JD admissions to be considered for JDMS.SPA requires 2 Letters of Recommendation (LOR). If you only submitted 1 LOR with JD file, must have another recommender email letter to spaapp@american.edu.
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Incoming first-year applicants
On the JD application form select Full-time Program and then the corresponding degree objective on your application. Please review the chart above to see if you will need to submit any additional forms or meet any additional requirements for the corresponding graduate school. If your application meets the requirements to be reviewed by the graduate school, you will receive separate decision letters from the law school and the graduate program. The decisions are independent and you could be admitted to one program and not the other. If you are admitted to both the JD program and graduate program, you would enroll your first year at the Washington College of Law. Your second and third years would be a combination of law and graduate coursework. You would complete your law school coursework by three years and the remaining 1 to 2 semesters would be graduate coursework. A dual program takes 3.5 to 4 years to complete as a full-time student. The exception is the JDMBA which would be first year of JD and then a full year of MBA (typically year 2 or 3) and then combination of law and MBA courses for year four.
Current JD law students
You may apply to a dual degree program during their first year of law school by emailing WCL's Associate Director of Admissions Brooke Sandoval (sandoval@wcl.american.edu) and requesting that an electronic copy of your JD admissions file be forwarded to the corresponding graduate program. Please review the chart above to see if you will need to submit any additional forms or meet additional requirements by the graduate school.