Office of Admissions, PO Box 750110
Dallas, TX 75275-0110
Phone: 214.768.2550, 888.768.5291; Fax: 214.768.2549
E-mail: lawadmit@smu.edu; Website: www.law.smu.edu
Founded in 1925, SMU Dedman School of Law is located on a magnificent tree-lined campus in a beautiful residential neighborhood just five miles north of downtown Dallas. SMU offers an intimate learning community within a vibrant urban center.
With a relatively small entering class size, an outstanding teaching faculty, and distinguished guest lecturers, SMU offers a scholarly community with fantastic opportunities both inside and outside the classroom. SMU also has a well-rounded, diverse student body from approximately 200 colleges and universities, 30 states, and 20 countries.
SMU offers a beautiful setting in which to pursue legal studies. The Law School Quadrangle, a six-acre, self-contained corner of the campus, offers students convenient access to all law school facilities. The larger SMU campus offers students a variety of housing options, a childcare facility, a health center, and a new fitness/wellness center.
SMU recently completed a multimillion-dollar renovation of all of the law school classrooms. A four-story parking garage with 500 spaces is available exclusively for law student parking, and a new dining hall opened in 2005.
SMU offers seven degree programs: JD (full-time day or part-time evening), JD/MBA, JD/MA in Economics, LLM (General), LLM (Taxation), LLM (for foreign attorneys), and SJD.
Students find a sophisticated curriculum that complements SMU's wide breadth of class offerings with extensive depth of focus. The JD curriculum is designed to achieve the goal of producing lawyers who are capable and responsible professionals through its emphasis on providing substantive knowledge, ethical and moral training, and practical skills to serve clients in local, national, and global communities.
Each JD student must complete 87 credit hours. Thirty-one of these hours comprise the mandatory first-year curriculum. After the first year, students must complete a course in professional responsibility, two upper-level writing courses (including an edited writing seminar in which an extensive scholarly, expository writing project is reviewed and critiqued by the professor), Constitutional Law II, and a practical skills course.
SMU offers many small classes in which students will get to know their classmates and professors. Each entering class is divided into three sections (two full-time day and one part-time evening) of approximately 90 students each. Each semester, first-year students are assigned to a legal research, writing, and advocacy class of approximately 25 students. Over one-half of SMU's upper-division courses have fewer than 25 students, and approximately three-quarters have fewer than 50 students.
SMU's rich upper-division curricular offerings, with over 165 upper-division courses per year, provide students with a wide range of courses and the freedom to tailor a program of study that furthers their professional and personal goals. With traditional strengths in business, litigation, tax, and international law, the curriculum extends to many areas, including intellectual property, health care, environmental, and family law.
SMU's LLM programs are intended to enhance careers in the private practice of law, teaching, and public service by providing the opportunity for students who already have their basic law degree to increase their understanding of legal theory and policies. The LLM program for foreign attorneys is the largest graduate program, enrolling approximately 40 students from about 20 countries each year. SMU has over 1,400 international alumni from over 70 countries, including many who hold significant positions in major international corporations, in the highest courts of their nations, and in other key government and private entities.
Students are able to enhance their legal education by participating in numerous programs and conferences sponsored by various faculty and student groups and centers. Selected law students serve on five major journals for which they receive academic credit. Law students are able to expand their legal education experience by participating in over 20 moot court, trial advocacy, client counseling, and negotiation competitions held at the local, regional, national, and international level, and by becoming active members in over 30 student organizations.
Externships offer students the opportunity to work at a government agency for up to two hours of course credit. Popular externships include those with the US Attorney, the SEC, and the EPA.
Clinics offer students an opportunity to engage in the practice of law for up to six hours of course credit. Currently SMU has six clinical opportunities: civil litigation, criminal defense, federal taxation, small business, consumer law, and child advocacy.
All students are required to perform 30 hours of public service before graduating. This model public service program not only allows the student to learn in a hands-on setting, but also provides an early exposure to pro bono practice, which is integral to the US legal system. SMU professors voluntarily hold themselves to this same requirement.
SMU offers students an opportunity to study law for six weeks at University College at Oxford University in England.
SMU provides students with job placement assistance throughout their legal careers. The Career Services Office helps students develop their job search and career development skills, and partners with students in locating summer and permanent job opportunities.
SMU graduates fare very well in the legal market. Within nine months of graduation, approximately 95 percent of the class of 2010 was employed. They had an average starting salary of over $103,000 in the private sector and an average starting salary of over $92,000 overall.
In July 2011, 86.96 percent of SMU first-time test takers passed the Texas bar exam. The statewide pass rate was approximately 82.3 percent.
SMU looks for excellent, well-rounded students with strong academic backgrounds, life experiences, and perspectives that will enrich its educational community. Each application is considered in its entirety: LSAT score, undergraduate performance, graduate studies, work experience, activities, personal statement, and letters of recommendation are all read and evaluated. Applications can be downloaded from the web.
SMU provides approximately 50 percent of its entering class with scholarship assistance. SMU law scholarships, including several full-tuition Hutchison scholarships, are awarded on the basis of the admission application, including the applicant's answer to an optional question. In addition, two private foundations, the Hatton W. Sumners Foundation and the Dallas Bar Foundation, fund and select five to nine additional full-tuition scholarships per entering class. Both foundations require a separate scholarship application, available from the SMU Admissions Office's website. The Sarah T. Hughes Scholarships, sponsored by the Dallas Bar Foundation, are awarded to outstanding minority applicants. The Sumners Scholars are selected from a competitive pool of applicants with strong academics and extracurricular activities. Both foundations require that the SMU application, the respective scholarship application, and all supporting documents be submitted by February 15.
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 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 9 |
| LSAT score 170–174 | 24 | 23 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 20 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 74 | 57 |
| LSAT score 165–169 | 53 | 49 | 87 | 76 | 77 | 54 | 43 | 30 | 16 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 295 | 230 |
| LSAT score 160–164 | 104 | 69 | 132 | 19 | 124 | 16 | 81 | 15 | 32 | 6 | 19 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 512 | 138 |
| LSAT score 155–159 | 95 | 47 | 161 | 21 | 145 | 4 | 98 | 1 | 64 | 1 | 30 | 3 | 15 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 626 | 79 |
| LSAT score 150–154 | 49 | 29 | 78 | 22 | 121 | 5 | 101 | 1 | 61 | 2 | 34 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 481 | 60 |
| LSAT score 145–149 | 18 | 11 | 55 | 5 | 50 | 0 | 49 | 1 | 33 | 0 | 23 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 3 | 266 | 21 |
| LSAT score 140–144 | 5 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 28 | 1 | 18 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 129 | 3 |
| LSAT score 135–139 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 35 | 1 |
| LSAT score 130–134 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 23 | 0 |
| LSAT score 125–129 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| LSAT score 120–124 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Total | 351 | 229 | 547 | 155 | 555 | 91 | 435 | 61 | 240 | 20 | 147 | 17 | 71 | 7 | 31 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 73 | 16 | 2458 | 598 |
Apps = Number of Applicants
Adm = Number Admitted
Reflects 92% of the total applicant pool; highest LSAT data reported.