II. Enrollment Policies

Each first-year student is required to take the full schedule of required first-year courses, and may not enroll in additional units of instruction. Each second- and third-year student is required to undertake a minimum of 12 units per semester and may not take more than 16 units per semester without the written approval of the Dean of Students. The ABA currently limits students to a maximum of 17 units per semester.

A “credit hour” is an amount of work that reasonably approximates:

a) Not less than one hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction and two hours of out-of-class student work per week for fifteen weeks (including one week for a final examination), or the equivalent amount of work over a different amount of time (See also ABA Standard 310, Interpretations 310-1 and 310-2); or

b) At least an equivalent amount of work as required in II.A.1.a. for other academic activities, including Directed Research, simulations, externships, field place ments, clinical, and other academic work for which units of credit are awarded.

Standard Term Courses: The deadline for adding a law school course is noon on Friday of the second full week of the semester. After the Add Deadline has passed, a course may be added only between the third and end of the sixth full week of class. The request must be approved in writing by the course instructor and approved in writing by the Assistant Dean for Student Services. Students who add a standard term course between the third and sixth full week of the semester will be assessed a fee. After noon on Friday of the sixth full week, students can no longer enroll in a standard term course offered that semester.
Classes That Begin After the Sixth Week of the Standard Term: The deadline for adding a law school course that begins after the sixth week of the semester will be determined by the Assistant Dean for Student Services. The deadline will be published in the law school catalogue and announced in writing to the student body. The request to add the course must be made in writing to the Assistant Dean for Student Services. Students who add the course after the sixth full week of the semester will be assessed a fee.
Summer Externships: The deadline for adding a summer externship course is noon on Friday of the second full week after the summer externship class begins. After the Add Deadline has passed, a summer externship course may be added only (a) between the third and end of the fourth full week of summer class and (b) after receiving approval in writing by both the Director of Externships and Assistant Dean for Student Services. After noon on Friday of the fourth full week, students can no longer enroll in a summer externship course.

Standard Term Courses: The deadline for dropping a semester-long law school course is noon on Friday of the second full week of the semester. Faculty may set an earlier deadline to drop a class; the earlier deadline must be published in both the Course Catalogue and in the class syllabus. If an earlier deadline is set, it is a violation of the Law School Honor Code to drop a class after that deadline without written permission from the instructor and the Assistant Dean for Student Services.
After the second full week of the standard term semester has passed, a standard term course may be dropped only between the third and end of the sixth full week of class. The request must be approved in writing by the course instructor and approved in writing by the Assistant Dean for Student Services. Students who drop a standard term course between the third and sixth full week of the semester will be assessed a fee.
After noon on Friday of the sixth full week, students can no longer drop a standard term course offered that semester.
First-year students cannot drop a class except in extraordinary circumstances as determined by and with the permission of the Assistant Dean for Student Services.
Short-Session Courses: The deadline for dropping an upper-level law school course offered during the short-session is 9:00 a.m. on the second day of short-session instruction. Students cannot drop a short-session course after the second day of short-session instruction except in extraordinary circumstances as determined by and with the permission of the Assistant Dean for Student Services.
Courses that Begin after the Sixth Week of the Standard Term: The deadline for dropping a law school course that begins after the sixth full week of the semester will be determined by the Assistant Dean for Student Services. The deadline will be set for a date after the class begins. The request to drop the course must be approved in writing by the course instructor and approved in writing by the Assistant Dean for Student Services. Students who drop the course after the sixth week of the semester will be assessed a fee. The deadline will be published in the law school catalogue and announced in writing to the student body.
Summer Externships: The deadline for dropping a summer externship course is noon on Friday of the second full week after the summer externship class begins. After the Drop Deadline has passed, a summer externship course may be dropped only (a) between the third and end of the fourth full week of summer class and (b) after receiving approval in writing by both the Director of Externships and the Assistant Dean for Student Services. After noon on Friday of the fourth full week, students can no longer drop a summer externship course.

Standard Term Courses: The deadline for changing the grading option of a semester-long upper-level law school course is noon on Friday of the second full week of the semester. After the Grading Change Option Deadline has passed, the grading option for a standard term course may be changed only between the third and end of the sixth full week of class. Any change in the grading option for Directed Research courses must be approved in writing by the course instructor and approved in writing by the Assistant Dean for Student Services. Students who change the grading option between the third and sixth full week of the semester will be assessed a fee. After noon on Friday of the sixth full week, students can no longer change the grading option in a standard term course offered that semester. First-year students cannot change the grading option.
Short-Session Courses: The deadline for changing the grading option of a short-session upper-level law school course is noon on the last day of short-session instruction. If the last day of the short-session falls on a Saturday, the deadline to change the grading option of the short-session class is 8:00 a.m. the following working day.
Courses That Begin After the Sixth Week of the Standard Term: The deadline for changing the grading option in a law school course that begins after the sixth week of the standard term will be determined by the Assistant Dean for Student Services. The deadline will be set for a date after the class begins. Students who change the grading option in the course after the sixth week in the semester will be assessed a fee. The deadline will be published in the law school catalogue and announced in writing to the student body.

Auditing of classes is not allowed. UCI Senate Regulation 340 states: “No student may enter upon any organized instructional activity until the student has registered and enrollment has been approved by the appropriate study list authority.”

The Law School values interdisciplinary studies, including having students from other departments take Law School courses and law students taking courses in other departments. To facilitate this, consistent with the needs of the Law School:

Only graduate students will be considered for enrollment in law courses.
First-year law courses are not open to non-law student enrollment.
UCI graduate students can enroll in a maximum of two law school courses during a degree program. Exceptions for additional enrollments will be decided upon by the Law School's Assistant Dean for Student Services.
Students cannot use law courses taken during a graduate degree program and apply them toward a J.D. degree, if they are admitted to the UCI School of Law at a future date. Exceptions, including law concurrent-degree students, will be determined by the Assistant Dean for Student Services.
Faculty members shall indicate whether their classes are open to graduate students from other departments and, if so, the percentage of seats (if any) that shall be reserved for students from other departments.
Non-law students will use authorization codes to enroll in law courses. Authorization codes will be distributed by the Law Registrar's Office after the appropriate approval signatures are received.
Non-law students are responsible for obtaining home department and Law School faculty and Assistant Dean for Student Services approval prior to receiving authorization codes.
a) It is the students’ responsibility to check with their home department to determine how Law School courses will be treated by the department and Graduate Division.
b) Students and their departments are made aware of the delay in the posting of law school grades.
Non-law student enrollments will be issued midterm and final exam numbers, receive access to ExamSoft, and be graded anonymously.
The student is responsible for adhering to the Law School Academic Calendar and Exam Schedule.
Exams must be taken on the published exam date at the published time and place. No exams will be rescheduled, except by express permission of the Assistant Dean for Student Services.

Second- and third-year students may earn credit for Directed Research projects including, among others, individual self-education projects, group research-and-writing or study projects, and individual research-and-writing projects. Directed Research is a student-initiated project conducted under the active supervision of and with the written permission of a full-time member the faculty or full-time staff serving as a Unit 18 lecturer. Students must obtain written permission from the Assistant Dean for Student Services and the supervising instructor to enroll in a Directed Research project with an adjunct, visitor, or non-staff Unit 18 lecturer. Students may earn one, two, or three units of credit for any one Directed Research project. These projects will be evaluated on a graded basis, unless the student(s) and the instructor agree in advance and indicate on the appropriate petition to the Assistant Dean for Student Services that work on the project will be evaluated on a Credit/No Credit basis.

Classroom instruction is a crucial component of law school learning. Students are required to attend all classes for the courses in which they are enrolled. Students are not permitted to enroll in courses, including courses outside the law school that have conflicting class schedules.

Second- and third-year students may, with the prior written permission of the Assistant Dean for Student Services, enroll in upper division or graduate-level courses given by other faculties of the University and receive J.D. credit for this work. Such courses must be taken on a graded (as opposed to a Credit/No Credit) basis. In the event a course is only offered on a Credit/No Credit basis, the law student must seek written approval from the Assistant Dean for Student Services of the School of Law prior to enrolling in the course. The grades earned in such courses (graded or Credit/No Credit) will not be calculated into the law student’s overall GPA.
The Assistant Dean for Student Services may limit the number of courses and amount of unit credit to be counted and may impose minimum grade requirements and other conditions as a prerequisite to receiving credit toward the J.D. The number of J.D. units awarded for courses taken outside the School of Law shall be determined by the Assistant Dean for Student Services, but shall not in any event exceed 18 units.

Second- and third-year students in good academic standing who wish to take courses during the academic year at another ABA accredited law school toward satisfaction of their J.D. degree requirements must obtain the prior written permission of UCI School of Law’s Assistant Dean for Student Services, and then only for a compelling reason. Visits may be for one or two terms.
The Assistant Dean for Student Services may limit the number of courses and amount of unit credit permitted, and may impose other conditions as a prerequisite to receiving credit toward the J.D.
If granted permission to visit another school, students must:
1. a) Enroll full-time;
2. b) Receive written approval of the student’s course schedule from UCI School of Law’s Assistant Dean for Student Services;
3. c) Take all courses for a letter grade; and
4. d) Obtain a “C” or better in order to obtain unit credit.
The UCI School of Law’s transcript will reflect the units earned as transfer credit. The transcript will not post the grades earned or courses taken at another school. Transfer grades will not be factored into the student’s UCI School of Law grade point average.

Students may take up to 6 units of credit during the summer to be counted toward the J.D. degree. This rule applies both to courses taken at an ABA-accredited school’s summer program and to upper division or graduate-level non-law classes given by other schools or departments of the University.

The Law School requires that students attend the classes in which they are enrolled and for which they will be receiving academic credit. Students are expected to be prepared for and promptly attend all class meetings for a course.
If a student must miss a class because of an unavoidable urgent matter, the student is responsible for contacting the instructor or the Assistant Dean for Student Services as soon as the problem presents itself.

J.D. students shall have enrollment preference in registering for classes.