How to Apply for Clinics, Practicums & Externships
Clinics, externships, and practicums offer students an opportunity to gain practical lawyering skills and have a real-world impact. These courses satisfy the BU Law requirement that every JD student must take at least six experiential learning credits.
How do I apply for 2027-2028?
Interested in clinics and/or practicums? The application period will be March 2027.
Interested in an externship? If you’d like to pursue an externship placement, please complete our Externship Program Interest Form. We work with with students to identify and secure placements for fall and spring on a rolling basis. Once an externship placement is accepted, students must notify the Externship Program by emailing extern1@bu.edu. Contact extern1@bu.edu to learn more.
Upcoming Dates & Important Application Information
The 2026-2027 application period for clinics and practicums has closed. The Externship Program uses a separate interest form and will work with students to find placements on a rolling basis.
The 2027-2028 application period for clinics and practicums will open in March 2027. Please check back for upcoming dates and events.
For general questions regarding our programs or the application process, please contact lclinic2@bu.edu.
What if I missed the deadline to apply for clinics or practicums?
If you missed the deadline, please contact Clinical and Experiential Programs at lclinic2@bu.edu. We continue to accept applications until the clinics are full, although students applying after the deadline may not be guaranteed their first choices. You can continue to pursue externship placement opportunities on a rolling basis.
What is the difference between a clinic, externship and a practicum?
Experiential classes cement doctrinal knowledge by allowing you to apply these principles in the context of live cases, projects, or scenarios. They also help to prepare you for the bar examination by exposing you to subjects tested and allow you to develop lawyering skills likely to be tested on the Next Generation Bar Examination. Experiential offerings also prepare you to practice law by providing opportunities to develop lawyering skills, like trial advocacy, negotiation, client counseling, and more. You have the opportunity to go deep or wide across areas of law to develop lawyering skills that will transfer to your career as a lawyer.
Clinics offer students the chance to engage directly with clients or projects under the supervision of a full-time faculty member. Clinics generally feature a small seminar with a 8-t0-1 student/faculty ratio, allowing students to receive detailed feedback and reflect as they gain critical lawyering skills. Clinics can be year-long or semester-long.
Practicums provide students with the opportunity to engage with clients and projects under the supervision of a faculty member, who usually works at an offsite placement. Practicum faculty teach a seminar connected to the fieldwork that provides students with opportunities to learn lawyering skills and reflect upon their fieldwork.
Externships provide students with the opportunity to work under attorney supervision in the field in diverse placements, from criminal law to corporate counsel to environmental law. Students must participate in a seminar taught by BU faculty, where they learn about lawyering skills and reflect upon their fieldwork. The seminar is for graded credits, and the fieldwork course is for ungraded credits. The Externship Program includes both part-time and full-time opportunities (Semester in Practice and the NY Pro Bono Scholar Program are full-time).
Welcoming All
We warmly welcome all applicants and remind students that Boston University policy prohibits discrimination against any individual on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, military service, pregnancy or pregnancy-related condition, or because of marital, parental, or veteran status, and acts in conformity with all applicable state and federal laws. This policy extends to academic programs, including School of Law’s Clinics, Practicums, and Externships. The Program works with students and BU’s Office of Disability & Access Services to arrange reasonable accommodations as appropriate.
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