Office of Admissions, 1021 Georgia Avenue
Macon, GA 31207
Phone: 478.301.2605; Fax: 478.301.2989
E-mail: martin_sv@law.mercer.edu; Website: www.law.mercer.edu
The Walter F. George School of Law of Mercer University is located in Macon, Georgia, about 80 miles south of Atlanta. Founded in 1873, it is one of the oldest private law schools in the nation. Named for a distinguished alumnus who served as a United States senator for 36 years, the school became a member of AALS in 1923 and has been ABA-approved since 1925. With its distinctive Woodruff Curriculum and a total student body of roughly 440, Mercer Law School provides an educational environment that fosters in-depth learning, a candid and lively exchange of views, and a genuine sense of community and collegiality.
Mercer University's Walter F. George School of Law accepts applications between September 1 and March 15 from prospective students wishing to begin their studies in the fall semester. Applicants must have completed a bachelor's degree prior to law school enrollment. They must register with the Credential Assembly Service (CAS) and take the LSAT, preferably in the summer or fall before application is made. Applicants must submit two letters of recommendation, an application fee, and a personal statement candidly discussing their strengths and weaknesses as prospective law students.
LSAT score and undergraduate GPA figure significantly into the admission decision, but the Admissions Committee considers an array of other factors in arriving at an overall judgment of the applicant's likely contribution to the educational enterprise and his or her potential for success in the profession. Such factors as the applicant's employment history, community and military service, advanced degrees, leadership ability, personal hardships, and other relevant background information will be evaluated.
Mercer's Woodruff Curriculum and the atmosphere of the law school work together to provide students with a thorough intellectual foundation, strong practical skills, professional relationships, and a commitment to ethical behavior. Mercer is one of a few select schools in the country to receive the prestigious Gambrell Professionalism Award from the American Bar Association. The award cites the depth and excellence of the Woodruff Curriculum and its serious commitment to professionalism.
The Woodruff Curriculum helps students develop essential problem-solving, counseling, and trial and appellate advocacy skills. It also helps ensure that they acquire the level of understanding of law and the legal system needed to excel in any of the various forms of legal practice that they may choose to enter—law firm, legal aid office, in-house corporate counsel, government legal employment, and so forth.
All students take research and writing courses during at least four semesters of law study, and many take a research or writing course each term. Mercer is the first law school in the nation to offer a Certificate in Advanced Legal Writing, Research, and Drafting. Students are selected for the certificate program through an application process. In 2003, in recognition of Mercer's nationally known Legal Writing Program, the Legal Writing Institute selected Mercer as its host school. The Legal Writing Institute is the world's largest organization of lawyers, judges, and law professors devoted to improving legal writing.
Law school provides a foundation upon which lawyers build successful careers and meaningful lives. At Mercer Law, that foundation includes rigorous intellectual training anchored by nationally recognized programs in legal writing, ethics and professionalism, and public service.
The Law and Public Service Program offers students the opportunity to earn academic credit while helping to represent clients in one of the law school's clinics, such as the Habeas Project or Public Defender's Clinic, in judges' chambers through the Judicial Field Placement program, and summer externships through various agencies. Students may also be selected as fellows through the Public Interest Fellowship program. After completing the fellowship, the fellows are offered a one-time loan forgiveness grant conditional on their making a two-year commitment to a public interest employer in Georgia after graduation.
Since 1985, the National Criminal Defense College (NCDC) has held its summer Trial Practice Institute every year on the Mercer Law School campus. NCDC conducts two, two-week trial skills sessions for nearly 200 public defenders and criminal defense attorneys from across the country.
Mercer's School of Law and Mercer's School of Business and Economics offer a joint program leading to both the Juris Doctor and Master of Business Administration degrees. The applicant must be admitted separately to each school. For more information, visit our website at www.law.mercer.edu.
Students in good standing in the Walter F. George School of Law may choose to take up to three graduate courses in the School of Business and Economics without applying for admission to the MBA program. Currently, two specific combinations of courses can be taken for a Certificate in Practice Management or a Certificate in Corporate Finance.
Beginning Fall of 2012, Mercer Law School will offer an LLM program in Federal Criminal Practice and Procedure. The program is designed for law school graduates seeking to prepare themselves for federal criminal practice as prosecutors, federal defenders, or private defense counsel. The program provides a solid foundation of knowledge and skills for all aspects of federal criminal practice, including substantive federal law, grand jury investigations, pretrial practice, trial advocacy, sentencing, and appellate practice. The program has been fully approved by all of the relevant accrediting bodies. Visit our website at www.law.mercer.edu/academics/llm.
The Furman Smith Law Library is the center for legal information and research at the Law School. Law students have access to a rich and varied collection of print and electronic resources, and the law library's website features an extensive collection of annotated links to legal research materials. Students can access resources whether on or off campus. In the law library, students find comfortable research and study areas conducive to quiet study or to collaborative work. Carrels, tables, soft seating, "smart" study rooms, and a technology lounge are available to law students, all in a wireless environment. In addition, each first-year student receives a laptop computer to use during his or her legal education at Mercer Law School. The law library staff of 16 includes 7 professional law librarians who teach legal research courses and provide superior service to students, faculty, and the legal community.
At Mercer University's Walter F. George School of Law, excellence is measured by more than what happens inside the classroom. You will find a broad array of activities outside the classroom that have been designed to engage the members of our academic community and enable our students to stand out once they enter the professional world.
In Mercer's moot court and mock trial programs, students improve their written and oral advocacy, negotiation, and client counseling skills. Mercer Law's Moot Court program is among the top programs in the nation, based on our record of wins in national competitions.
The Mercer Law Review (the oldest continually published law review in Georgia) has been edited and published quarterly by law students since 1949.
In addition to moot court and the Law Review, Mercer offers its students the opportunity to participate in over two dozen student organizations where they can gain valuable leadership and relationship-building experiences.
Mercer awards over $3 million in scholarship aid every year to students whose academic records, LSAT scores, and personal achievements demonstrate the potential for outstanding performance in the study of law. The priority deadline for scholarship consideration is January 1.
Two of our most prestigious scholarships are the George W. Woodruff Scholarship (full tuition plus a $5,000 stipend) and the Walter F. George Foundation Public Service Scholarship (full tuition plus a $6,000 summer community service fellowship). In order to be considered for the George W. Woodruff scholarship, you must have your admission application and scholarship application completed and received in our office no later than January 15. The Woodruff Scholarship application may be found online at www.law.mercer.edu/admissions/financialaid/scholarships. You may also apply online through LSAC's website, LSAC.org.
In addition to scholarship aid, students may qualify for student loans, and work-study is available after the first year of law school.
Mercer Law School has an active career services office and alumni and faculty members also support students in their efforts to find satisfying employment. The office assists students in obtaining permanent, summer, and part-time employment.
Services offered include arranging on-campus interviews and off-campus interviewing consortia and providing career-planning and skill development seminars and employer outreach activities. Individual career counseling and assistance with résumé and cover-letter writing also comprise much of the work of the office. An extensive library of career resources is available for student use.
The Office of Career Services reports that 86 percent of the class of 2011 was employed or was pursuing advanced degrees within six to nine months after graduation.
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 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| LSAT score 170–174 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| LSAT score 165–169 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 20 |
| LSAT score 160–164 | 22 | 22 | 29 | 29 | 26 | 26 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 9 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 123 | 118 |
| LSAT score 155–159 | 33 | 33 | 53 | 52 | 69 | 61 | 66 | 62 | 31 | 28 | 28 | 21 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 290 | 261 |
| LSAT score 150–154 | 43 | 35 | 84 | 65 | 84 | 42 | 86 | 27 | 56 | 12 | 32 | 2 | 19 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 416 | 189 |
| LSAT score 145–149 | 29 | 15 | 50 | 13 | 61 | 7 | 64 | 3 | 52 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 301 | 39 |
| LSAT score 140–144 | 13 | 0 | 18 | 1 | 38 | 0 | 37 | 0 | 37 | 0 | 37 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 210 | 1 |
| LSAT score 135–139 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 0 |
| LSAT score 130–134 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 |
| LSAT score 125–129 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 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 | 147 | 109 | 250 | 166 | 292 | 138 | 286 | 110 | 211 | 56 | 145 | 33 | 71 | 11 | 35 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 4 | 1455 | 631 |
Apps = Number of Applicants
Adm = Number Admitted
Reflects 100% of the total applicant pool; highest LSAT data reported.