University of San Diego, School of Law Admission
University of San Diego, School of Law Undergraduate Program
University of San Diego, School of Law Application

The Facts

The University of San Diego is a rather small, private institution located in the town of San Diego, California, and is affiliated with the Roman Catholic church. The university has a combined graduate and undergraduate population of over 6,500 students, however, the university's School of Law is significantly smaller, and is home to about 1,040 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 wonderful faculty, as well as its strong ties within Southern California's legal community. The school offers degrees in the 3 year JD, the LLM in general taxation, business and corporate law, and international comparative law for foreign attorneys, as well as combined degrees in the JD/MBA, the JD/MA in international relations, as well as the JD/IMBA in international business. Some of the most popular programs of study include courses in the areas of administrative law, children's' advocacy, civil procedure, commercial law, constitutional law, criminal law, human rights law, intellectual property law, international law, public interest law, as well as taxation.

Admission to the University of San Diego's School of Law is extremely competitive among the many students who apply; last year, over 6,020 students applied for admission to the school, and approximately 1,374 of those students were accepted. Eventually however, only about 352 of the admitted students actually enrolled for the coming semester. The admitted students had an average LSAT score ranging from 160 to 164, as well as an average undergraduate GPA of about a 3.4. Students are notified of their admissions status on a rolling basis, and there is currently no early application program available.

The School of Law has 92 faculty members, all of whom come from very diverse legal and professional backgrounds. In general, students rave about their dedication and accessibility, saying they always have open doors and are willing to talk to students about almost anything at any time of the day. The school has a very manageable student to faculty ratio of about 15:1, 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 terrifically anxious about finding jobs after graduating; in fact, over 90% 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 $75,400. Students are most frequently hired by employers such as Gibson Dunn and Crutcher, Cooley Godward, Gray Cary, Pillsbury Winthrop, the Department of Justice, Luce Forward, Heller Ehrman, as well as Snell and Wilmer.

What's Good

"The administration does a great job of making a rather large school feel like a rather small community."

"The school offers you a wide variety of courses to choose from, which I certainly enjoy."

"Even though it's a Catholic school, no ideology or dogma is forced upon you."

What's Bad

"The school is extremely expensive, and the administration doesn't seem too keen on giving out financial aid."

"There are some people who feel the need to be extremely cutthroat and competitive."

"I wish that there were more internships available. They're quite limited at the moment."

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