University of Southern California, Gould School of Law

Introduction

The University of Southern California, Gould School of Law is a private, highly selective national law school with over a 105-year history and a reputation for academic excellence. Under the leadership of a stellar, energetic faculty, the school's rigorous, interdisciplinary program focuses on the law as an expression of social values and an instrument for implementing social goals. USC is known for its diverse student body, its leadership in clinical education, and its tight-knit alumni network composed of national leaders in the legal profession, business, and the public sector. With 200 entering students in each class, the school is small, informal, and collegial.

USC Law School is located on the beautiful 226-acre main campus of the University of Southern California, just south of downtown Los Angeles and in the heart of the city's exciting Arts and Entertainment Corridor, LA Live. The campus offers a lush, parklike atmosphere within a bustling urban setting. A dynamic laboratory for legal training, Los Angeles, the second largest legal market in the US, is a center of state, national, and international commerce and government. The law school is housed in a five-level facility that provides a superb setting for professional training and sophisticated legal research.

Curriculum

USC's curriculum is comprehensive, uniquely interdisciplinary, and designed to challenge. Courses provide a solid foundation in all substantive areas of law as well as extensive opportunities to explore specializations in traditional and emerging fields. Many faculty members have expertise in both law and other disciplines, such as economics, communication, public policy, medicine, history, psychology, and philosophy. The first-year curriculum consists of courses that examine the foundation of the legal system. The second and third years of study allow students to pursue individual interests in areas such as international law, intellectual property, entertainment law, corporations and business-government relationships, taxation, bioethics, and civil rights and liberties.

Special Programs

Dual Degrees: The law school offers 15 dual-degree programs in coordination with USC graduate and professional schools and the California Institute of Technology. These programs enable qualified students to earn a law degree and a master's degree in the following fields: Business Administration, Business Taxation, Economics, Communications Management, Gerontology, International Relations, Philosophy, Political Science, Public Administration, Public Policy, Real Estate Development, and Social Work. A JD/PharmD program and a JD/PhD program in Social Science with the California Institute of Technology are also offered.

Certificate Programs: The law school offers two certificate programs in Business Law and Entertainment Law.

Legal Clinics: The nationally recognized Post-Conviction Justice Project, the Small Business Clinic, the Mediation Clinic, and the Immigration Clinic enable students to gain valuable advocacy and lawyering skills by representing real clients under faculty supervision. Students in the Intellectual Property and Technology Law Clinic review technology contracts, engage in patent evaluation and application, assist with litigation, and perform film clearance work. Students in the International Human Rights Clinic work on projects and cases both locally and internationally that confront the most pressing human rights concerns of our day.

Public Service Programs: The Office of Public Service provides comprehensive opportunities and coordination for all external service learning and community service. These opportunities include more than 70 clinical field placements, allowing students to earn academic credit while engaging in service learning at government and public interest agencies and with federal and state judges, as well as pro bono and community service in the surrounding Los Angeles neighborhoods.

International Programs: USC offers students several opportunities to study abroad. Students can participate in the law school's semester abroad exchange program with the University of Hong Kong, Bocconi University (Italy), University Jean Moulin Lyon (France), and Bond University (Australia). Moreover, students may participate in programs offered around the world by other ABA-approved law schools.

Research Centers: Law students participate in the scholarly activities of several interdisciplinary research centers: the Pacific Center for Health Policy and Ethics; Saks Institute for Mental Health Law, Policy, and Ethics; the Center in Law, Economics, and Organization; the USC-Caltech Center for the Study of Law and Politics; the Center for Law, History, and Culture; and the Center for Law and Philosophy.

Continuing Legal Education: Students help coordinate the law school's practice-oriented programs and serve as research assistants for the Institute on Entertainment Law and Business, Institute on Taxation, Institute on Trusts and Estates, Real Estate Law and Business Conference, Corporate Counsel Institute, and Intellectual Property Institute.

Student Activities and Cocurricular Programs

Academic life is exciting and fast-paced, and students are often engaged in numerous scholarly pursuits and cocurricular programs. The Southern California Law Review has one of the largest circulations in the country. Students also publish the Southern California Interdisciplinary Law Journal and the Southern California Review of Law and Social Justice. The Moot Court Honors Program sends participants to national and state competitions.

Public service activities abound. The Public Interest Law Foundation is one of the largest in the country, providing summer grants for public service employment as well as the Irmas Fellowship for public interest law, which awards a year's salary to a third-year student committed to postgraduate work in public interest.

The diversity of USC Law School's student population is reflected in nearly 40 political, religious, social, cultural, and ethnic organizations. Our students play an active and valued role in the day-to-day operation of the law school, including service on faculty committees. Students are given a wide range of opportunities to create and implement ideas for activities and are encouraged to pursue their interests by forming new student organizations or planning social or academic events. Asian, African American, Muslim, Middle Eastern, Jewish, and Latino law students are represented by associations. Other student organizations include the Student Bar Association, international and entertainment law societies, Art Law Society, Women's Law Association, OUTLaw, Legal Aid Alternative Breaks Project, Christian Legal Society, Public Interest Law Foundation, Health Law and Bioethics Society, Business Law Society, Corporate Law Society, Intellectual Property and Technology Law Society, Street Law, Sports Law, Trial Lawyers, and chapters of the ACLU and the Federalist Society.

Professional Careers

USC graduates accept job offers in all regions of the country, with New York and Washington, DC, being the most popular placement locations outside the West Coast. A number of graduates begin their professional careers as judicial law clerks to federal and state judges. Each year, several hundred private firms, government agencies, public interest organizations, and corporations from throughout the country come to USC to recruit students for summer and permanent employment. An off-campus recruiting program helps coordinate interviews with East Coast employers. The school's enthusiastic network of alumni is a valuable tool in the job-search process. The Alumni Mentor Lunch provides first-year students with the opportunity to meet graduates who practice in the student's field of interest, and other programs bring alumni from a range of fields to campus to discuss career opportunities. Overall placement statistics are consistently strong; historically, more than 91 percent of each graduating class finds employment within nine months of graduation. Average starting salaries are among the highest in the nation.

Housing

Graduate law housing is available in an apartment-style residence located within easy walking distance of the law school for a limited number of incoming students. The two-bedroom apartments are fully furnished. A roommate referral service is available to help incoming students arrange shared housing in various Los Angeles neighborhoods.

Admission and Financial Aid

Admission decisions are made on the basis of the student's academic record, LSAT score and writing sample, personal statement, letters of recommendation, résumé, extracurricular activities, and other information in the file. The Admissions Committee gives primary consideration to outstanding academic and professional promise and to qualities that will enhance the diversity of the student body or enrich the law school educational environment. Two letters of recommendation are required; applicants are strongly urged to submit at least one academic recommendation letter. The law school operates on a semester basis and admits only full-time students. USC is committed to helping students successfully finance their legal education. In addition to various loan programs, the law school offers substantial scholarship awards to a large percentage of the incoming class. Most scholarships are based on merit as evidenced by strong academic credentials and test scores. In addition, the school offers a Loan Repayment Assistance Program, which assists graduates who accept employment with governmental agencies and public interest organizations that traditionally offer lower pay than private firms.

Applicant Profile

University of Southern California, Gould School of Law

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

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