Golden Gate University, School of Law Admission
Golden Gate University, School of Law Undergraduate Program
Golden Gate University, School of Law Application

The Facts

The Golden Gate University is a rather small, private institution located in the city of San Francisco, California, and has a combined graduate and undergraduate population of over 4,500 students. The university's law school, however, is significantly smaller, and is home to about 853 graduate law students. The average age of enrollment is around 26, and it is quite rare for any students to enter the school directly from their undergraduate education. The school is perhaps best known for its practical approach to legal theory and practice, as well as for its diversity of teaching methods and perspectives. The school offers degrees in the 3 year JD, and the 1 year LLM, as well as several combined degrees in the 3 to 4 year JD/MBA in business administration, the 7 year JD/PhD, as well as the 1 year SJD. Some of the most popular programs of study include courses in the areas of business law, criminal law, environmental law, intellectual property law, international law, labor law, litigation, property, public interest law, as well as taxation.

Admission to the Golden Gate University's law school is quite competitive among the many students who apply; last year, over 3,320 students applied for admission to the school, and approximately 1,262 of those students were accepted. Eventually however, only about 357 of the admitted students actually enrolled for the coming semester. The admitted students had an average LSAT score ranging from 151 to 155, as well as an average undergraduate GPA of about a 3.2. Students are notified of their admissions status on a rolling basis, and there is currently no early admissions program in place.

The university's law school has 31 faculty members, and students say that they are incredible knowledgeable and connected to the legal community. They also do everything they can to make themselves accessible to students, and students often come to talk to them or ask them for clarification. The school has a student to faculty ratio of 20:1, which is quite high for law schools. Students have complained about some of their classes being too large, making it difficult to have discussions.

Employment Facts

Students at the law school seem a bit anxious about job prospects after graduation. The school isn't nationally recognized, even though there are plenty of legal opportunities in the Bay area itself. Just over 60% of the most recently graduating class were able to find jobs within a few months of receiving their degrees, and had an average starting salary of around $58,000. Students are most frequently hired by private firms, government agencies, public interest organizations, as well as businesses and national corporations.

What's Good

"The legal community in San Francisco is very active, and there are a lot of opportunities to do some networking of your own."

"I love the diversity of the student body, as well as the diversity of San Francisco itself."

"The professors have a lot of experience in the professional world, so they have a lot of great advice to give us."

What's Bad

"The career services are nearly nonexistent. They need to do a much better job of bringing firms on campus to recruit."

"Because jobs are a bit sparse, people tend to get very very competitive."

"There isn't any on campus graduate housing available, and San Francisco's real estate scene is very expensive."

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