Since 1978, approximately five Berkeley Law students per year have taken their third year at Harvard Law School, and the same number of Harvard students have taken their third year at Berkeley Law. This program, unique in American legal education, has proven beneficial to students at both institutions. Students apply for this opportunity in the spring semester of their 2L year. A call for applications is sent out every spring to the entire second-year class. Participating Berkeley students receive their J.D. degree from Berkeley Law.
GENERAL POLICIES FOR PARTICIPATING IN THE PROGRAM
- Your Writing, Race and Law, and Constitutional Law requirements must be completed at Berkeley Law. If you are unable to meet these requirements before the end of your 2L spring semester, you will be unable to participate in the program. For more information on these requirements, feel free to contact one of our J.D. Academic Advisors. You can also review the Academic Rules here.
- The Professional Responsibility and Experiential Learning requirements must still be met. If you are planning to apply to the Berkeley-Harvard Exchange Program, you should strongly consider taking a course in professional responsibility and completing the required 6 experiential learning credits in your second year while at Berkeley Law. There is no guarantee that you will be able to take these classes at Harvard.
Inquiries about this program should be directed to the Office of the Dean of Students at saass@law.berkeley.edu.