University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law

Overview

The University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law is in Sacramento, California, capital of the nation's most populous state and one of the world's leading economies. The school is a member of the AALS, is accredited by the ABA, and has a chapter of the Order of the Coif.

Day- and evening-division programs provide the flexibility to earn a JD degree in three, four, or five years of study. More than 1,000 students pursue a JD, LLM, or JSD on Pacific McGeorge's unique 13-acre, law-school-only campus. The school's reputation for educating well-prepared, practice-ready lawyers grows from the vitality of students and faculty working together. The diversity of the student body is reflected in the 150 or more colleges and universities that students attended as undergraduates, the 50 or more major fields, the range in years from age 20 to over 60, and the gender and ethnic diversity represented annually by the growing number of students from a wide range of ethnic and cultural heritages.

Library and Physical Facilities

Pacific McGeorge's students study on a campus designed exclusively for legal education that includes class and seminar rooms; student center; technologically equipped trial courtroom; lecture hall; clinical legal education center; law library and computer center; administrative, faculty, and student services offices; recreational facilities; and student apartments.

The new Legal Studies Center is a comprehensive legal research facility that contains over 500,000 volumes. The Center includes a new state-of-the-art student study area, computer lab, group study rooms, and wireless Internet capabilities. Pacific McGeorge librarians are experts in legal research methodology and assist students in using the Center's electronic and traditional resources.

Curriculum

Pacific McGeorge offers more than 100 advanced elective course offerings, ranging from comprehensive courses in traditional areas such as business, constitutional law, criminal justice, and family and juvenile law, to a wide variety of courses in specialty areas such as environmental (both US and international), entertainment, labor, intellectual property, mass media, banking, and elder law. Certificate and concentration curricula are offered for those with specific career interests.

Clinical Experience: Pacific McGeorge believes that clinical education—working in a practice setting while guided by a faculty mentor—is a key part of the law school experience. On-campus clinics include Administrative Adjudication, Parole Representation, Victim's Rights, Bankruptcy, Immigration, Appellate Advocacy, Elder and Health Law, Mediation, and Federal Defender Clinic. Off campus, the internship program makes available more than 125 placements.

Certificate Programs

• Advocacy: Advocacy is an integral part of the law, including representing clients in civil and criminal litigation, at administrative hearings, or applying alternative dispute-resolution techniques to negotiate business matters or to avoid litigation. The Advocacy certificate especially prepares those interested in pursuing courtroom advocacy. Additionally, a one-year LLM in Experiential Law Teaching empowers international and domestic lawyers and law professors to implement advocacy principles in their practices and classrooms.
• International Legal Studies: Law and accounting firms, government agencies, and corporations require lawyers savvy in international law. The International Legal Studies curriculum balances public international law and private international law. Study-abroad opportunities include a Summer Institute in Salzburg, Austria, as well as opportunities to pursue an LLM in Transnational Business Practice, or an LLM or JSD in International Water Resources Law.
• Public Law & Policy: The Public Law & Policy certificate prepares students for private or public service careers in government. Students benefit from hands-on experience and develop networking contacts with governmental entities. Graduates practice as consultants, lobbyists, in-house counsel, or in staff and policy positions with legislative branches, executive departments, or administrative agencies. A one- or two-year LLM program in Public Law & Policy is also available.

Concentrations

• Business Law: The demands and complexities of a global economy require a strong basis in business law. The Business Law concentration prepares students to pursue general business law practice or specialized law practice in entertainment law, employment law, banking law, real estate law, and more.
• Criminal Justice: The Criminal Justice concentration offers wide-ranging electives, including sentencing and postconviction remedies, white-collar crime, capital punishment, criminal pretrial litigation, evidence courses, juvenile law, family violence, and problems in criminal justice. Internship and specialization opportunities provide hands-on training.
• Environmental Law: Local, national, and international laws govern myriad aspects of environmental law and vary from an extremely specific to a very broad focus. The Environmental Law concentration provides the foundation necessary to pursue careers working in environmental issues or environmental law.
• Intellectual Property: The diverse Intellectual Property concentration prepares graduates to practice in areas such as the entertainment industry, music and theater law, intellectual property litigation, sports, trademark and domain-name law, patent and biotechnology law, and computer and Internet law.
• Tax: The Tax concentration offers a specialized curriculum and a variety of elective tax courses to prepare graduates to work as tax, business, or estate planning specialists.

Student Activities

Over 40 professional, social, and academic student organizations at Pacific McGeorge represent the breadth of interests and diversity of the student community. Student staffs manage, edit, and write for the McGeorge Law Review and the Pacific McGeorge Global Business and Development Law Journal. Pacific McGeorge competition teams compete with notable success in a wide range of trial, appellate, counseling, and dispute-resolution competitions on the regional and national levels.

Admission and Financial Aid

Admission is competitive. Prelegal education includes at least a bachelor's degree or senior standing from an accredited college or university. An applicant's undergraduate record and LSAT results are important factors in the decision process. When there are multiple LSAT scores, the highest may be accorded significant weight. Other factors considered are grade patterns or trends, employment and career accomplishments, graduate work, and extracurricular or community activities. Ethnic, cultural, and experiential backgrounds that contribute to student-body diversity are valued. Strong merit- and need-based financial aid programs provide scholarship awards and grants to entering and advanced students. A knowledgeable financial aid staff provides counseling to assist students in minimizing student loan indebtedness.

Housing

Pacific McGeorge has 150 on-campus apartments, furnished and unfurnished, including one- and two-bedroom units, studios, and townhouses. Early application is advised. The school's full-time housing coordinator also assists in locating off-campus accommodations that are readily available in Sacramento.

Career Services

The Pacific McGeorge Career Development Office (CDO) provides comprehensive career search assistance for permanent, part-time, and summer employment. The CDO staff is available to help students identify their interests, introduce them to the vast array of career development and employment opportunity resources, and assist with career decision making. The CDO focuses on career counseling, individualized review and critique of résumés and cover letters, and job search strategy development.

Pacific McGeorge faculty and alumni play a major role in our programs, sharing their experience and offering advice to students seeking career opportunities in their fields of expertise. Alumni participate in a Day in the Life Speakers Series, the Alumni Mentor Program, and mock interviews. In addition, the CDO hosts employer on-campus interviews for students and maintains up-to-date listings of specific employment opportunities, as well as an extensive library of resource materials.

Applicant Profile

University of the Pacific, McGeorge 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	2.25– 2.49 Apps	2.25– 2.49 Adm	2.00– 2.24 Apps	2.00– 2.24 Adm	Below 2.00 Apps	Below 2.00 Adm	No GPA Apps	No GPA Adm	Total Apps	Total Adm
LSAT score 175–180	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1
LSAT score 170–174	2	2	5	5	4	4	5	5	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	19	19
LSAT score 165–169	29	28	34	34	28	28	25	25	23	15	15	3	2	1	1	0	0	0	1	1	158	135
LSAT score 160–164	67	65	101	100	102	98	111	108	60	46	29	17	15	3	6	2	3	0	1	1	495	440
LSAT score 155–159	109	104	245	243	224	159	181	76	111	33	67	14	19	2	9	0	1	0	9	4	975	635
LSAT score 150–154	102	31	188	78	214	35	198	8	125	1	61	0	27	0	9	0	4	0	10	0	938	153
LSAT score 145–149	26	2	88	4	117	1	123	0	80	0	53	1	33	0	14	0	0	0	7	0	541	8
LSAT score 140–144	9	0	32	0	45	0	54	0	38	0	34	0	23	0	3	0	1	0	7	0	246	0
LSAT score 135–139	10	0	13	0	14	0	23	0	20	0	14	0	20	0	4	0	1	0	4	0	123	0
LSAT score 130–134	1	0	5	0	2	0	5	0	5	0	5	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	6	0	32	0
LSAT score 125–129	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	1	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	6	0
LSAT score 120–124	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	355	232	711	464	751	326	726	222	466	98	280	35	143	6	48	2	10	0	45	6	3535	1391

Apps = Number of Applicants
Adm = Number Admitted
Reflects 99% of the total applicant pool; highest LSAT data reported.