Explanation of Dean’s or College Certification or Questionnaire for Law School Applicants

Many law schools require that a dean’s or college certification or questionnaire be filled out by the applicant’s undergraduate institution. This certification typically requests the applicant’s class rank, status on physical or emotional health, and information on matters of discipline during the undergraduate years. On behalf of our candidates, we inform law schools that:

“Wellesley College does not rank its students. Permanent files of our undergraduates and alumnae do not contain information on physical and emotional health. The suspension, dismissal, or expulsion of a student resulting from a violation of the college’s honor code and occurring after July 1, 2004, will be recorded on the student’s transcript.”

In addition, we attach a letter to the form explaining unique aspects of Wellesley or of a candidate’s undergraduate experience.

If a Violation Has Occurred

In some cases, limited information regarding honor code violations beyond suspensions, dismissals, and expulsions occurring after July 1, 2004, is reported to the prelaw advisor. When the prelaw advisor is informed by the college of an honor code violation and its nature (i.e., academic or non-academic) – or when any applicant voluntarily tells the prelaw advisor that she has violated the honor code (regardless of whether or not the violation, according to college policy, warranted reporting to other institutions) – the prelaw advisor is obligated to both discuss the matter with the law school applicant and report the violation and its nature in her response to the dean’s/college certification. She will note in her response that the applicant will provide a description of the event. The law school applicant will be advised by the prelaw advisor to both report and explain the circumstances of the violation in her law school application.

The legal field seeks professionals of the highest caliber. A law school applicant’s credentials and background will be checked by admissions offices and later, often more thoroughly, by the bar association(s) in which the law school graduate may pursue membership. Law schools take very seriously any discrepancies between an applicant’s statements in her submitted materials and information or violations they may discover through other sources.

To Obtain the Dean’s or College Certification

If you are a current student, you will need to request the Dean’s or College Certification letter from your class dean. The prelaw advisor in the Center for Work and Service prepares the letter for alumnae.

An alumna requests this letter by completing and returning the Alumna Law School Applicant Questionnaire. Please keep your answers brief and highlight any points about your record or testing history that you would like the prelaw advisor to discuss and that would not be obvious from your transcript or other parts of your application. Please send the completed, signed questionnaire to the CWS with a copy of your resume, personal statement, and transcript. Please allow 4-6 weeks for the response to be written.

Be sure to read the CWS Policy on Reference Service. You must use a Reference Order Form when requesting college/dean’s forms or letters of reference to be sent out, and include a check payable to Wellesley College. A $3 fee for students and a $5 fee for alumnae covers the cost of sending one to five references per school; the same fee will apply if you request only the dean's form to be mailed.