University of California, Hastings, College of Law Admission
University of California, Hastings, College of Law Undergraduate Program
University of California, Hastings, College of Law Application

The Facts

The University of California, Hastings, is a rather large, public institution located in the appropriately titled town of Hastings, California, and has a combined graduate and undergraduate population of over 18,000 students. The school’s College of Law, however, is significantly smaller, and is home to about 1,244 graduate law students. The average age of enrollment is around 24, and it is fairly 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 legal skills, as well as for its abundant internship, externship, and clerkship opportunities. The school offers degrees in the 3 year JD, as well as a combined degree in the 4 to 5 year JD/MBA. Some of the most popular programs of study include courses in the areas of civil litigation, family law, international law, public interest law, as well as taxation.

Admission to the University of California, Hastings’ College of Law is extremely competitive among the many students who apply; last year, over 6,915 students applied for admission to the school and approximately 1,410 of those students were accepted. Eventually however, only about 427 of the admitted students actually enrolled for the coming semester. The admitted students had an average LSAT score ranging from 160 to 165, as well as an average undergraduate GPA of about a 3.5. 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 College of Law has 137 faculty members, all of whom come from very diverse legal and professional backgrounds. Students love the experience and approachability of their professors, saying they feel very comfortable approaching them to ask for assistance. The school has a less than stellar student to faculty ratio of about 21:1, and some students complain that their classes are a bit too large, however, they get quite a bit of one on one attention from their professors.

Employment Facts

Students at the College of Law don’t seem terribly anxious about finding jobs after graduating; in fact, over 92% 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 $88,740. Students are most frequently hired by employers such as various major law firms in San Francisco and Los Angeles, as well as various governmental organizations.

What's Good

“The professors are incredible established professionally, and they bring a lot of wisdom to class.”

“The career services office does a really great job of attracting the interest of prestigious firms.”

”There are a lot of opportunities to get practical experience before you graduate through internships and externships.”

What's Bad

“The administration could do a much better job of catering to our needs and actually listening to what we need.”

“There is never enough on campus graduate housing available, and what does exist is really expensive for what you get.”

“The facilities are adequate, but they could certainly use a good facelift.”

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