Santa Clara University, School of Law Admission
Santa Clara University, School of Law Undergraduate Program
Santa Clara University, School of Law Application

The Facts

Santa Clara University is a rather small, private institution located in the town of Santa Clara, California, and is affiliated with the Roman Catholic church. The university has a combined graduate and undergraduate population of over 7,600 students, however, the university's School of Law is significantly smaller, and is home to about 940 graduate law students. The average age of enrollment is around 26, and it is quite rare for any of the students to enter the school directly from their undergraduate education. The school is perhaps best known for its emphasis on practical application of legal theory, as well as for its beautiful campus. The school offers degrees in the 3 year JD, the LLM in U.S. law for foreign lawyers, the LLM in international and comparative law, as well as the LLM in intellectual property law. The school also has combined degrees in the JD/MBA and the JD/MST. Some of the most popular programs of study include courses in the areas of intellectual property law, international law, as well as public interest law.

Admission to Santa Clara University's School of Law is quite competitive among the many students who apply; last year, over 4,538 students applied for admission to the school, and approximately 1,194 of those students were accepted. Eventually however, only about 309 of the admitted students actually enrolled for the coming semester. The admitted students had an average LSAT score ranging from 156 to 161, as well as an average undergraduate GPA of about a 3.2. Students are notified of their admissions status on a rolling basis, and are able to take advantage of the school's early application program if they so choose.

The School of Law has 94 faculty members, all of whom come from very diverse legal and professional backgrounds. The students generally rave about their accessibility and approachability, however, complain that some seem to be stuck in the past, and aren't the most charismatic lecturers. The school has a rather manageable student to faculty ratio of 19:1, and the small classes allow for plenty of discussion and interaction between students and their professors.

Employment Facts

Students at the School of Law don't seem to worry too much about finding jobs after graduating, and why should they? Over 96% of the most recently graduating students were able to find jobs within a few months of receiving their degrees, and had an average starting salary of about $106,296. Students are most frequently hired by employers such as Cooley Goodwin, Bingham McCutchen, Reed Smith Crosby Heafey, Morrison and Foerster, Ropers Majeski, Fenwick and West, Wilson Sonsini, Skadden Arps, as well as Miller Morton.

What's Good

"The career services office does an amazing job of networking with various firms. We have a lot of them recruit right here on campus."

"There is a nice sense of community here. People are actually involved in activities and organizations."

"San Francisco is about an hour away by car, which is a great place to go on the weekends."

What's Bad

"There are some professors here who are a bit stodgy. They could use a good updating themselves."

"Some of the classes are really a bit too big for what they're trying to accomplish."

"There is never enough financial aid given out, and the tuition is sky high right now."

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