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University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Law

Law Admissions Office, 71 Dodd Hall, Box 951445
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1445
Phone: 310.825.2080
E-mail: admissions@law.ucla.edu; Website: www.law.ucla.edu

Introduction

Located in the heart of Southern California and nestled in a beautiful and safe residential neighborhood, UCLA School of Law is less than seven miles from the Pacific Ocean, and is housed on the UCLA campus. UCLA Law acquired and maintains its strong standing by creating pioneering academic programs, cultivating top legal scholars, and educating students who go on to be leaders in our society.

Los Angeles offers unparalleled access to numerous recreational opportunities and activities, such as sporting events, theaters, museums, and live performances. UCLA Law is close enough to the thriving metropolis of Los Angeles for students to partake in the vibrant social and cultural scene, yet secluded enough for students to focus on their legal studies. The incredible weather, the international reach of the city, and the intellectually stimulating environment all contribute to a student's law school experience.

Curriculum

The law school offers a three-year, full-time course of study leading to a Juris Doctor degree. UCLA differs from many other institutions in that it invests major resources in its first-year Lawyering Skills program. This program combines the beginning of skills training, such as client interviewing and counseling, with traditional legal research and writing. The law school also provides students with a small, intimate learning environment that includes three small classes for the first-year and upper-level courses that meet off campus (including at faculty members' homes).

Faculty

The UCLA School of Law faculty is a treasured asset. Faculty members are leaders in their respective fields and are the mainstay of UCLA Law's high-quality legal education programs. They are some of the finest teachers in the academy, expanding the frontiers of interdisciplinary legal scholarship. Each year, the UCLA Law faculty demonstrates the caliber of its intellectual abilities by publishing groundbreaking scholarship in leading academic journals and law reviews, and the work is widely cited.

Special Programs

Academic Programs and Specializations: UCLA Law boasts numerous diverse programs and centers, each enabling students to study significant areas of the law. They include the Lowell Milken Institute for Business Law and Policy, Critical Race Studies Program, David J. Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy, Entertainment, Media, and Intellectual Property Law Program, Environmental Law Program, International and Comparative Law Program, International Human Rights Law Program, and the Law and Philosophy Program.

Research Centers and Programs: UCLA School of Law has always emphasized progressive research on relevant topics. Research centers and programs include the Center for Law and Economics; Emmett Center on Climate Change and the Environment; Empirical Legal Scholars Program; Empirical Research Group; Globalization and Labor Standards; Health and Human Rights Law Project; Native Nations Law and Policy Center; Negotiation and Conflict Resolution Program; Program on Understanding Law, Science, and Evidence (PULSE); Sanela Diana Jenkins Human Rights Project; UCLA-RAND Center for Law and Public Policy; Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy; and UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate.

Study-Abroad and Externship Programs: Law students may spend one semester abroad through student exchange agreements with universities in Argentina, Australia, France, Israel, Japan, Norway, Spain, and Switzerland. Some students also obtain approval for an individualized study-abroad program. UCLA Law has an extensive national and international student externship program. The law school has developed a core group of judicial and agency externships that include externships with federal judges, government agencies, public interest law firms, and nonprofit organizations. In addition, the UCDC Program is a uniquely collaborative full-time externship program in Washington, DC. Both full-time and part-time externships are available. Students can also propose new agency externships tailored to their academic goals.

Clinical Law Program: Since pioneering clinical legal education in the early 1970s, UCLA Law's Clinical Law Program has blazed a path of innovation and excellence. Typically, there are more than 30 clinical offerings each year with more than 300 clinical spots available for students. Some examples include the Civil Rights Litigation Clinic; Criminal Defense Clinic; Environmental Law Clinic; Immigration Clinic; Intellectual Property Clinic: Counseling Emerging Technologies and Enterprises; International Justice Clinic; and Supreme Court Clinic.

Joint Degrees

A number of students find it advantageous to pursue formal training in another field of study concurrently with their legal training. Typically, such concurrent-degree programs lead, after four years of study, to the simultaneous award of a Juris Doctor and an advanced degree from another school or department. Formal joint-degree programs are offered in the following areas: JD/MA (Afro-American Studies), JD/MA (American Indian Studies), JD/MBA (Anderson School of Management), JD/PhD (Philosophy), JD/MPH (Public Health), JD/MPP (Public Policy), JD/MSW (Social Welfare), and JD/MA (Urban and Regional Planning).

Student Life and Student Activities

A collegial environment at UCLA Law also affords students many opportunities for participation and leadership in numerous student organizations and student-edited journals. UCLA School of Law has 13 student journals on a wide range of topics that are managed and edited by students.

UCLA Law's student body is composed of a diverse group of future lawyers reflecting a broad range of backgrounds and experiences. We are immensely proud of our racial diversity and long-standing commitment to diversity in legal education. Our law school celebrates a multiracial community that helps all groups bridge racial lines and is a reflection of Los Angeles, where UCLA Law is located, one of the world's most vibrant and dynamic cities.

Diverse student interests are represented in approximately 40 student organizations. The Moot Court Honors Program is open to all second- and third-year students and offers a large and effective program of mock appellate advocacy. The program also hosts a first-year competition, as well as the prestigious Roscoe Pound competition.

Housing

There are many housing options open to UCLA Law students, and the law school hosts a web-based service to help students with their roommate search. There are both university-owned and privately owned apartments from which to choose. For more information, please visit www.law.ucla.edu/housing.

Admission and Financial Aid

All applicants must have a baccalaureate degree from an accredited university or college of approved standing and must take the LSAT no later than the February administration. Admission is based primarily on proven outstanding academic and intellectual ability, taking into consideration the LSAT and factors such as the breadth, depth, and rigor of the undergraduate educational program. The Admissions Committee may also consider whether economic, physical, or other hardships and challenges have been overcome. Distinctive programmatic contributions, community or public service, letters of recommendation, work experience, career achievement, language ability, and career goals (with particular attention paid to the likelihood of the applicant representing underrepresented communities) are also factors taken into consideration.

Both need- and merit-based aid are available. All admitted students are automatically considered for merit scholarships. To apply for need-based aid, the FAFSA and the Need Access application should be filed no later than March 2. Applicants admitted to the law school as nonresident students (for tuition purposes) are eligible to be considered for resident classification if certain eligibility requirements are met. Most nonresident law students are able to achieve residency status during the second year of law school.

Career Services

The Office of Career Services provides students and alumni with professional career services and acts as a liaison between students and employers. Each first-year student is assigned to a counselor who will assist him or her through all the phases of career preparation, from the first-year summer job to postgraduate employment. The office is also dedicated to advising and assisting students interested in pursuing postgraduate judicial clerkships. The office has one counselor dedicated to judicial clerkships and one dedicated to helping 3Ls and alumni secure employment.

The office coordinates on-campus interviews and off-campus career fairs with approximately 350 interviewers from law firms, corporations, government agencies, and public interest organizations visiting the school annually. The office also hosts numerous panels, programs, and events, including an annual Small/Mid-Sized Law Firm Reception, an annual Government Reception and Information Fair, and an Alumni Mentor Program.

UCLA Law graduates are in high demand among employers from all major sectors of the country, with California, New York, and Washington, DC, representing the largest employment markets for our students.

Students and graduates seeking to pursue public interest employment can take advantage of the opportunities offered by our Office of Public Interest Programs. There is a loan repayment assistance program to increase the ability of JD graduates to pursue public service legal careers. For more information on our loan repayment assistance program please visit www.law.ucla.edu/lrap. For more on our office of career services, please visit our blog at bruinbriefs.blogspot.com or our website at www.law.ucla.edu/career-services.

Applicant Profile

University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) 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
175–180 76 51 66 33 44 8 27 3 3 0 5 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 225 95
170–174 451 333 388 209 210 46 102 9 25 1 11 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 25 5 1215 604
165–169 798 420 741 178 388 37 167 8 48 2 16 0 10 0 2 0 1 0 58 0 2229 645
160–164 406 72 475 24 326 21 157 8 47 1 33 1 19 1 4 0 0 0 53 1 1520 129
155–159 192 11 271 13 227 10 140 1 75 0 36 0 12 0 4 0 2 0 23 0 982 35
150–154 93 5 137 2 136 0 116 0 62 0 32 0 14 0 6 0 0 0 21 0 617 7
145–149 31 0 59 0 72 0 76 0 57 0 24 0 18 0 7 0 1 0 12 0 357 0
140–144 4 0 24 0 30 0 43 0 29 0 19 0 12 0 2 0 1 0 11 0 175 0
135–139 3 0 9 0 5 0 10 0 12 0 14 0 7 0 2 0 1 0 6 0 69 0
130–134 1 0 2 0 5 0 5 0 6 0 10 0 5 0 5 0 1 0 1 0 41 0
125–129 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 11 0
120–124 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Total 2055 892 2174 459 1444 122 844 29 364 4 203 1 102 2 36 0 7 0 214 6 7443 1515

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