975 Bascom Mall
Madison, WI 53706
Phone: 608.262.5914; Fax: 608.263.3190
E-mail: admissions@law.wisc.edu; Website: www.law.wisc.edu
The UW Law School is one of the most intellectually exciting law schools in the country, attracting students from around the world. These students represent a variety of backgrounds, ages, interests, races, nationalities, and life experiences, encouraging a robust exchange of ideas.
Top applicants are drawn to the UW Law School because of its tradition of excellence, its beautiful setting in the heart of one of the world's leading research universities, and its law-in-action philosophy, an approach that differentiates it from other law schools.
The UW Law School is located in Madison, an affordable city strategically and conveniently situated in the middle of a triangle formed by Chicago, Minneapolis, and Milwaukee. As the state capital, Madison is home to many courts and state and federal government agencies—all within walking distance of the Law School.
A major indicator of the strength of any law school is its student body. The fall 2011 entering class of 242 students represents 30 states and 107 undergraduate institutions. Annually, approximately 43 percent of our students are from outside of Wisconsin, between 40 and 50 percent are women, and more than 25 percent are students of color. The UW Law School's admission policies enhance the diversity, vigor, social awareness, and academic ability of the student body. There is a special feeling of community in the school and an informal, supportive atmosphere, reflecting a strong commitment by faculty and administrators to student learning, morale, and well-being.
The UW Law School's nationally recognized faculty come from a wide range of backgrounds and offer students strong role models and a variety of experiences. They are leading scholars who are also actively involved in the law. They advise on stem cell issues, represent clients on death row, work with congressional staffers to draft legislation, and provide legal advice to poor farmers in the South. They are interesting lawyers doing interesting things, but first and foremost, they are excellent teachers who are committed to their students. A superb clinical faculty and an experienced adjunct faculty provide additional teaching resources and bring practical experience into the classroom.
Students at the UW Law School have many opportunities to experience law-in-action. An extensive curriculum places an emphasis on the dynamics of the law (how the law relates to social change and to society as a whole) while at the same time emphasizing skill development, particularly legal analysis and writing. The first-year small-section program teaches the fundamentals of legal analysis and reasoning in a supportive setting. Two of a student's first-year classes—a substantive law class and a legal research and writing class—are small sections consisting of 25 or fewer students. These small sections allow students to receive individual feedback, organize study groups, and form lasting friendships.
In the second and third year of law school, there is time both to explore the curriculum and develop the lawyering skills needed to practice. The UW Law School is a national law school that prepares future lawyers to work wherever they choose. Students select courses from an extraordinary breadth and depth of offerings, affording them the opportunity to explore cutting-edge legal issues in the classroom and/or to apply their knowledge in one of the many clinical programs.
Renowned for its interdisciplinary approach, the UW Law School offers many opportunities for students to combine the study of law with a graduate degree in another subject. There are many existing dual-degree programs. If one of the existing programs does not meet a student's academic needs, the Law School will help create an individualized curriculum.
The UW Law School strongly believes that practical experience is an essential part of legal education. With one of the largest clinical programs in the country, the UW Law School offers a wide variety of hands-on lawyering experiences with real clients and excellent supervision. From representing low-income clients, to teaming up with medical students as advocates for newly diagnosed cancer patients, or assisting inmates in state and federal prisons, these experiences are invaluable opportunities. Judicial internships, externships, and our innovative lawyering skills program provide additional hands-on learning experiences.
Ten professors devote their scholarship and teaching primarily to international or comparative law, and many others integrate analysis of foreign legal developments into their domestic law courses. The Law School hosts international students and professors, bringing diverse international perspectives to the classroom, and the university has one of the largest groups of international students in the country. Students can also study with one of the ten foreign law faculties with which the Law School has exchange agreements or participate in foreign study programs of other US law schools. Additional international opportunities are available through the Law School's East Asian Legal Studies Center, established to formalize and increase the Law School's interaction in East and Southeast Asia.
More than 30 organizations provide outstanding opportunities for students to pursue their talents and interests. Several moot court competitions at the UW Law School enable students to gain experience with brief writing and oral advocacy, and three student journals—Wisconsin Law Review, Wisconsin International Law Journal, and Wisconsin Journal of Law, Gender, and Society—give students an opportunity to gain invaluable training in legal research and writing.
Leading law firms, government agencies, businesses, and public interest organizations seek to hire UW Law School graduates. A broad range of legal employers from many major cities participate in the on-campus interview program. The Law School also participates in off-campus job fairs each year in cities such as New York; Washington, DC; Chicago; and Minneapolis. Our students receive assistance from many of our more than 12,000 alumni throughout the country, and our graduates typically accept jobs in more than 20 different states.
Admission to the University of Wisconsin Law School is competitive. The most recent entering class had a median LSAT score of 163 and a median GPA of 3.67. The Law School does not provide a profile chart because its admission decisions involve many factors that are not represented by undergraduate GPA and LSAT scores. While candidates with higher grades and scores tend to be admitted at higher rates, GPA and LSAT scores alone are not necessarily good predictors of admission decisions on individual applications.