The Pennsylvania State University, Dickinson School of Law

Introduction

Founded in 1834, Penn State Law is the oldest law school in Pennsylvania and the fifth oldest in the nation. The law school embraces the university's mission to improve the lives of the people of Pennsylvania, the nation, and the world through legal teaching, scholarship, and service. Over the past few years, Penn State University has invested more than $150 million in distinguished faculty appointments, new signature facilities, and exciting new clinics.

Our law school is an engaged, diverse, and multidisciplinary intellectual community that challenges students to research, think, and act like lawyers. Through an intensive and comprehensive program of study that includes both classroom-based and experiential learning, our students are prepared to practice law at the highest level in an increasingly global world. As part of a world-class research university, Penn State Law students have access to extensive academic and programmatic resources to enhance their learning experience. Courses are offered at Penn State's University Park campus in State College, Pennsylvania, and at the law school's historic home in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Faculty

Penn State's faculty includes one of the nation's leading scholars of corporate mergers and acquisitions, the world's preeminent scholar of DNA evidence and issues of statistics in law, the world's preeminent expert on Russian law, leading scholars of commercial arbitration, renowned scholars of antitrust and law and economics, former law clerks to United States Supreme Court Justices, a leading scholar of international banking and finance, the first legal counsel to the African Union, the legal counsel to the Greek Presidency of the European Union, and other active and influential teachers and scholars.

Our faculty scholars value academic rigor and are committed to sharing their knowledge, engaging students, and sustaining an intense and comprehensive legal program. They encourage students to participate in vigorous in-class discussion and provide abundant opportunities for thoughtful discourse and research outside of the classroom.

Curriculum

Our curriculum is designed to produce leaders and lawyers with high professional and ethical standards and the ability to navigate legal, policy, and social developments in all areas of human endeavor. After completing required first-year coursework, students can explore professional and intellectual interests by choosing elective courses in a variety of areas, including criminal law, trial advocacy, government and politics, and science and intellectual property. Experiential learning programs, including clinics, externships, moot court teams, concentrated research opportunities, and law journals enhance the curriculum by providing opportunities for students to distinguish themselves and explore their strengths.

Academic Programs and Activities

Experiential Learning: The law school's curriculum features a wide range of experiential learning opportunities, including semester-long government agency externships in Washington, DC, and clinics that focus on child advocacy, immigrants' rights, appellate civil rights litigation, rural economic development, international sustainable development, disability law, and family law. Clinical professors include the former deputy director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and the former deputy director of the National Immigration Forum.

Centers: Students can pursue focused scholarship through academic centers that include the Center for the Study of Mergers and Acquisitions; Institute for Sports Law, Policy, and Research; Institute of Arbitration Law and Practice; Center for Government Law and Public Policy Studies; Center on Children and the Law; and Agricultural Law Resource and Reference Center.

Joint Degrees: Students can pursue joint-degree programs and other forms of multidisciplinary study with other graduate departments within the university, including the School of International Affairs, Smeal College of Business, College of Education, and College of Agricultural Sciences.

Public Interest: In addition to our clinics, students can explore service-oriented careers through field placements with legal services, public defenders, and nonprofit public interest offices. Our Miller Center for Public Interest Advocacy works with a network of attorneys to enable students to participate in pro bono cases.

International Programs

As citizens of a global society, we provide a rich international curriculum with opportunities for immersion in international cultures and legal systems. Our integration with Penn State's School of International Affairs enriches the intellectual life of our law school and particularly our curriculum, which offers opportunities for international interactions and cross-border, interdisciplinary studies. Law students may take International Affairs electives and learn from a faculty of former diplomats, national leaders, and government analysts, as well as scholars of international economics, agricultural development, and business.

Many of our law faculty have exceptional depth in international issues, enabling the law school to offer advanced coursework in comparative and international commercial law, constitutional law, corporate law, and humanitarian law, among other areas. We have student exchange programs with the University of Cape Town in South Africa, the University of Maastricht Faculty of Law in the Netherlands, and Yeditepe University in Turkey, as well as an externship at the International Court of Justice. In partnership with leading universities worldwide, Penn State Law has produced The World on Trial, a public television series focused on international human rights issues. The law school also offers one of the oldest and most prestigious master of laws programs for foreign-trained lawyers, whose presence at the law school enrich the diversity of our educational experience.

Physical Facilities, Technology, and Library

The university has invested more than $120 million in new and renovated facilities for the law school in Carlisle and University Park. Our buildings reflect the serious academic nature of the study of law, with state-of-the-art libraries, classrooms, and gathering spaces that enhance opportunities for learning, spontaneous discussion, and passionate debate.

Our facilities are reciprocally designed and equipped with sophisticated and high definition audiovisual technologies that provide our students with access to technology, allow for the real-time delivery of classes and programs between Carlisle and University Park, and enable us to conduct courses and other collaborative projects with schools and institutions worldwide. In addition to electronic courtrooms, our facilities feature class and seminar rooms equipped with integrated high-definition video, personal video systems to complement the teaching experience, and advanced recording technologies. Consistent with Penn State's commitment to sustainability and "green" design, the law school buildings achieved Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification requirements and encourage efficient energy use.

With holdings of more than a half-million volumes and access to a wealth of electronic resources, the Penn State Law Library fully supports the research and study activities of students, faculty, and members of the bar. Additionally, legal and interdisciplinary research is greatly enhanced through access to the vast print and electronic collections held by other university libraries.

Our building initiatives, combined with an additional several million dollars annually for faculty and program development, represent one of the largest investments ever made in an American law school.

Student Activities

Law students may pursue activities in legal scholarship, trial advocacy, and public service to refine their legal skills and develop their leadership styles. Law students edit and publish three journals: the Penn State Law Review, the Penn State Journal of Law and International Affairs, and the Yearbook on Arbitration and Mediation. Second- and third-year students can also pursue valuable trial experience by engaging in moot court team competitions at both the regional and national levels. Our vibrant student body supports more than 40 active student groups that organize social events, serve the underrepresented, host speakers, and establish professional networks. Law students are also welcome to participate in the hundreds of organizations, events, and activities available at Penn State's flagship University Park campus.

Career Services

Dedicated to keeping in touch with a profession that is both fast-paced and nuanced, our Career Planning and Development Office offers a dynamic menu of programs and high-quality individual counseling sessions and programming to assist students in identifying and achieving their career goals. Our career services professionals maintain contact with employers across the country, resulting in two formal, on-campus interview programs and the posting of more than 1,500 positions annually. Students can participate in more than 20 job fairs, including one in the District of Columbia, two exclusively devoted to public interest, several minority job fairs, and one exclusively devoted to patent law.

Admission and Financial Aid

You can apply online at www.law.psu.edu. Admitted students may choose to attend first-year classes in University Park or Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

The Financial Aid Office works with accepted students to obtain the funding necessary to finance their education. All admitted students are considered for scholarship opportunities.

Applicant Profile

The Pennsylvania State University, Dickinson School of Law

This grid includes only applicants who earned 120–180 LSAT scores under standard administrations.

	GPA
LSAT Score	3.75+ Apps	3.75+ Adm	3.50–3.74 Apps	3.50–3.74 Adm	3.25–3.49 Apps	3.25–3.49 Adm	3.00–3.24 Apps	3.00–3.24 Adm	2.75–2.99 Apps	2.75–2.99 Adm	2.50–2.74 Apps	2.50–2.74 Adm	Below 2.50 Apps	Below 2.50 Adm	No GPA Apps	No GPA Adm	Total Apps	Total Adm
LSAT score 170–180	12	10	5	5	5	3	8	6	2	1	5	2	2	0	0	0	39	27
LSAT score 165–169	51	49	53	48	43	34	38	32	21	10	17	5	15	2	8	8	246	188
LSAT score 160–164	142	132	201	184	210	170	163	124	81	28	51	9	30	4	25	20	903	671
LSAT score 155–159	223	164	407	176	425	81	290	33	153	6	61	2	51	0	40	5	1650	467
LSAT score 150–154	139	40	230	29	281	28	242	18	163	3	74	0	58	0	30	0	1217	118
LSAT score 145–149	37	0	68	0	75	0	94	0	72	0	41	0	31	0	13	0	431	0
LSAT score 140–144	7	0	33	0	39	0	48	0	38	0	29	0	21	0	4	0	219	0
LSAT score Below 140	6	0	4	0	22	0	24	0	29	0	20	0	17	0	4	0	126	0
Total	617	395	1001	442	1100	316	907	213	559	48	298	18	225	6	124	33	4831	1471

Apps = Number of Applicants
Adm = Number Admitted
Reflects 100% of the total applicant pool; highest LSAT data reported.