USF School of Law, 2130 Fulton Street
San Francisco, CA 94117-1080
Phone: 415.422.6586; Fax: 415.422.5442
E-mail: lawadmissions@usfca.edu; Website: www.usfca.edu/law
Founded in 1912, the University of San Francisco (USF) School of Law has a tradition of educating effective lawyers who graduate with the professional skills and theoretical foundation necessary to succeed in the legal profession.
The San Francisco Bay Area is an extension of the campus and plays a vital role in the educational experience. The school is located on a hilltop campus overlooking Golden Gate Park, the Pacific Ocean, and downtown San Francisco. It is minutes away from the Civic Center, home to federal, state, and local government agencies, as well as federal and state courts, including the California Supreme Court. The city and its surrounding communities provide exceptional learning, practice, and service placements to complement the academic program. Students represent clients in law school clinics, extern in major national and international law firms, clerk for judges, and work for public interest organizations.
The USF School of Law is fully accredited by the American Bar Association and is a member of the Association of American Law Schools.
The USF School of Law offers a rigorous education with a global perspective in a diverse, supportive community. Our graduates are skilled, ethical professionals prepared for any legal career, with a commitment to social justice as their enduring foundation. Our inclusive Jesuit mission integrates humanity and ethical conduct into the practice of law. Evidence of this mission in action includes our extensive list of programs dedicated to serving communities throughout the United States and around the globe and our unique curriculum focused on ethics and professional responsibility.
The USF School of Law offers full- and part-time Juris Doctor (JD) programs that empower students to develop their analytical abilities, master legal writing and research skills, acquire a firm foundation of basic law, explore an array of specialties, and refine their professional legal skills in practical settings. The full-time program requires three years of study, while the part-time program can be completed in four years. Students in the part-time program may accelerate their studies and complete the degree in seven semesters or they may convert to the full-time program after the first year and graduate in three years. In conjunction with the USF School of Management, the law school offers a four-year, full-time concurrent JD/MBA degree program. The law school also offers a Master of Laws (LLM) in International Transactions and Comparative Law for foreign lawyers and an LLM in Intellectual Property and Technology Law for foreign and US lawyers.
The USF School of Law is housed in the Koret Law Center and comprises Kendrick Hall, where classrooms and faculty offices are located, and the Dorraine Zief Law Library. Kendrick Hall, built in the 1960s and recently renovated, features a rotunda skylight, spiral stairways, and circular configurations that enhance natural light and offer informal gathering spaces for students and faculty. Students prepare for trial practice in a state-of-the-art, 70-seat moot courtroom. Administrative offices are located in Kendrick Hall to provide easy access to services and staff. Office space for student organizations and clinical programs, a student lounge, and a café are found here as well.
Linked to Kendrick Hall by a soaring glass atrium, the Dorraine Zief Law Library, which opened in 2000, is a modern, technologically advanced study environment. It houses an extensive collection and connects to countless online resources. The library also features individual and group study rooms equipped with audiovisual equipment, computer classrooms, and research rooms.
As part of a larger campus community, USF law students benefit from the amenities and facilities of a major urban university, including the outstanding recreational and fitness facilities of USF's award-winning Koret Health and Recreation Center. The university's 55-acre campus also features a main library, bookstore, student center, and dining facilities.
The core curriculum, concentrated in the first three semesters of the full-time and part-time programs, includes courses essential to a solid understanding of dominant legal concepts. The core curriculum is complemented by a rich offering of courses and programs providing almost unlimited opportunities for specialized study and practical experience. Elective courses, which full-time students may pursue in their first year, are constantly updated to reflect changes in the law, to meet the pace of technological change, and to match student interest.
JD certificate programs and elective clusters offer concentrated study for students who wish to pursue particular career objectives or develop specialized skills. Notable among these are courses in international and comparative law, public interest law, advocacy and alternative dispute resolution, business law, and intellectual property and cyberspace law.
There are also vast opportunities to hone practical skills in one of our many externship programs or by handling real cases under the supervision of a professor in a USF law clinic, such as the Child Advocacy Clinic, Criminal and Juvenile Justice Law Clinic, Employment Law Clinic, Frank C. Newman International Human Rights Law Clinic, Internet and Intellectual Property Justice Clinic, Investor Justice Clinic, and Mediation Clinic. Our Civil and Criminal Law Externship Program matches students with private law firms, district attorneys, public defenders, or one of our other 220 preapproved employers throughout the city and region, while the Judicial Externship Program facilitates student placements in a variety of courthouses.
Our extensive menu of international programs provides exceptional opportunities to study and extern abroad. Traditional study abroad and exchange programs are offered in China, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Luxemburg, and Mexico, and externship and service opportunities are offered in India, Vietnam, Haiti, Cambodia, Argentina, and the Philippines, among other countries. USF's innovative Frank C. Newman International Human Rights Law Clinic affords many students the opportunity to personally present their research and policy proposals to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva or the Commission on the Status of Women in New York. The Center for Law and Global Justice acquaints students with differing legal traditions and provides opportunities for international externships and service learning. The center is a resource for international programming and courses, and creates opportunities for students to conduct research on critical human rights issues.
Much of a USF law student's education takes place outside the classroom. Students expand their scholarship interests by writing, editing, and publishing several law journals, including the USF Law Review, USF Maritime Law Journal, and Intellectual Property Law Bulletin. Opportunities to hone advocacy and leadership skills abound. Students participate in the annual Advocate of the Year Competition, compete in interschool moot court and trial advocacy competitions, and also take part in countless externship and clinical opportunities. All students attending the law school are members of the Student Bar Association (SBA), which gives students a voice in school policy and works with more than 35 student organizations that reflect the diversity and varied interests of students. The USF Public Interest Law Foundation's annual gala auction raises funds for students working in unpaid summer internships in the public interest and public sector and is one example of the many student-sponsored events held each year.
Frequent panels, guest speakers, special programs, and symposia provide students with regular opportunities for intellectual interchange with faculty, alumni, members of the bench and bar, and visiting dignitaries. Examples of recent symposia include Clean Technology and the Law: The Legal Infrastructure for Promoting the Development and Dissemination of Clean Technologies; Litigation, Settlement and the Public Interest: Fluid Recovery and Cy Pres Relief; The Emerging Role of Intellectual Property Protection in the (Digital) Cloud; The Future of Same-Sex Marriage; and the award-winning California Water Law symposium Who Controls the Water? Reforming California Water Law Governance in the Age of Scarcity.
The Law Student Pro Bono Project and the Law In Motion Service Program offer opportunities for service, sponsoring a variety of legal and nonlegal community outreach and pro bono projects.
USF School of Law professors bring to the classroom the highest educational credentials, substantial practical experience, and an underlying dedication to teaching, scholarship, and service. They are respected authors, researchers, and legal theorists who write books, casebooks, practice guides, law review articles, and book reviews. Faculty members have achieved numerous scholastic accomplishments—graduating from elite law schools, earning honors, and serving as editors of prestigious law journals. Almost all have substantial practical experience and continue to be involved in service to the community and the profession. Their zeal for teaching comes to life in the classroom, in clinics, and in informal conversations with students. They create an intellectually challenging but supportive atmosphere in which each student thrives.
The full-time faculty is complemented by approximately 60 adjunct professors, including federal and state court judges, attorneys from public agencies, and other distinguished members of the bar in private practice. Our location in the dynamic San Francisco Bay Area legal community allows the law school to expand its curriculum with specialized courses and provides students access to a wealth of practical expertise.
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 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 |
| LSAT score 170–174 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 37 |
| LSAT score 165–169 | 24 | 23 | 57 | 57 | 40 | 38 | 38 | 35 | 29 | 18 | 16 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 212 | 182 |
| LSAT score 160–164 | 76 | 76 | 164 | 159 | 174 | 160 | 146 | 128 | 71 | 38 | 39 | 19 | 22 | 11 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 9 | 714 | 601 |
| LSAT score 155–159 | 108 | 93 | 263 | 227 | 329 | 127 | 267 | 82 | 154 | 30 | 72 | 13 | 31 | 5 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 5 | 1249 | 582 |
| LSAT score 150–154 | 93 | 43 | 176 | 83 | 239 | 22 | 232 | 13 | 153 | 7 | 89 | 3 | 42 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 1067 | 171 |
| LSAT score 145–149 | 28 | 3 | 79 | 7 | 128 | 2 | 123 | 6 | 94 | 3 | 51 | 0 | 43 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 569 | 21 |
| LSAT score 140–144 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 1 | 31 | 0 | 64 | 0 | 39 | 0 | 36 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 219 | 1 |
| LSAT score 135–139 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 78 | 0 |
| LSAT score 130–134 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 34 | 0 |
| LSAT score 125–129 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 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 | 340 | 246 | 774 | 543 | 961 | 360 | 889 | 268 | 564 | 99 | 335 | 48 | 173 | 17 | 68 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 81 | 17 | 4197 | 1599 |
Apps = Number of Applicants
Adm = Number Admitted
Reflects 99% of the total applicant pool; highest LSAT data reported.