Office of Admissions, 875 Summit Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55105
Phone: 651.290.6476; Toll-free: 888.WMCL.LAW; Fax: 651.290.7535
E-mail: admissions@wmitchell.edu; Website: www.wmitchell.edu
William Mitchell College of Law, founded in 1900, is an independent, private law school in St. Paul, Minnesota. Named for one of the state's most respected judges, William Mitchell has pioneered a legal education that integrates practical skills with legal theory. William Mitchell welcomes both traditional and nontraditional law students from all walks of life, and students have an option of attending on a full- or part-time basis. William Mitchell College of Law's clinical, legal writing, and trial advocacy programs are nationally recognized. The college has produced many distinguished leaders at the bench and bar and in the business and civic arenas, among them the 15th Chief Justice of the United States, Warren E. Burger, and the first woman to serve on the Minnesota Supreme Court, Rosalie E. Wahl. The largest law school in Minnesota, William Mitchell has approximately 1,000 students, 41 full-time faculty members, and more than 11,000 alumni. William Mitchell has more alumni serving in the Minnesota judiciary than any other law school.
The college is accredited by the ABA, is a member of the AALS, and is approved by the US Department of Veterans Affairs.
From day one, William Mitchell faculty members treat students as future colleagues. Faculty members are known for their teaching, scholarship, and practice. Faculty members have served on the bench, worked in the region's top law firms, and have had careers in public service, government, and corporations. William Mitchell professors have written many of the books used by law school professors and legal practitioners throughout the country. Faculty briefs and research have been accessed thousands of times by legal scholars, and professors are regularly quoted by national and international media. Many professors are exploring new ground on issues such as cyber law, intellectual property, national security, elder law, family law, and food safety. Adjunct professors, who practice at 18 of the top 25 law firms in the state, bring real-world practice to the classroom and connection to the practice of law.
William Mitchell students graduate with the practical wisdom to put the law to work. For 111 years, William Mitchell has pioneered a legal education that integrates practical skills with legal theory. William Mitchell requires students to take practical skills courses, including clinics, practicum, legal writing and research, and advocacy. In fact, William Mitchell was one of the first schools to develop a clinical program more than 30 years ago. Our clinical, legal writing, and trial advocacy programs are consistently highly rated on a national level.
In addition to more than 200 law school courses, William Mitchell has several programs designed to help law students transition to lawyers. Keystone courses, generally taken in the final year of law school, address real-world challenges, build on previous courses, and enable students to produce substantial, concrete manifestations of their learning. The Fellows Program links exceptional students with a faculty member whose research and activities are changing the law itself. Students receive specialized training beyond the regular curriculum and have access to a range of special intellectual opportunities and networking events. And, Pathways to the Profession of Law is an innovative web application that helps law students customize their course schedules, integrate their learning, and build experiences toward legal practice.
To focus faculty scholarship, spur collaboration between legal education and the profession, and continue its tradition of innovative teaching, William Mitchell has developed academic centers in critical areas of the legal profession, including the Intellectual Property Institute, Center for Negotiation and Justice, Center for Elder Justice and Policy, Rosalie Wahl Legal Practice Center, Public Health Law Center, National Security Forum, Center for Law and Business, and Indian Law Program.
William Mitchell was started as a night law school by working attorneys more than a century ago to provide legal training for people of modest means. If not for the part-time, evening tradition at William Mitchell, many successful lawyers practicing today would not have been able to pursue their law school dreams. William Mitchell is the only law school in the region with an evening option, allowing students to continue to work to help pay for school, gain work experience, and balance family life. After the first year, students have the option to switch between full- and part-time enrollment as often as each semester to accommodate work schedules and family life. Regardless of enrollment status, students achieve the same high-quality education. Advanced and elective classes are typically offered in the evening, so part-time and full-time students take classes together and have equal access to full-time and adjunct faculty. Although classes meet at set times, William Mitchell offers you enough flexibility to build your law school schedule around a clerkship, continue in your current career track or day job, or take care of other responsibilities.
The Minneapolis-St. Paul region is home to more than 20 Fortune 500 companies and is frequently cited as one of the top 10 places to live and work in the United States. William Mitchell's campus is located in St. Paul, the state capital, along historic and elegant Summit Avenue. The campus is a short walk to lively Grand Avenue, with restaurants and shopping, and many students find housing in the neighborhood.
The physical design of the campus as a whole mirrors the William Mitchell philosophy that practical skills are inseparable from legal doctrine. Our Rosalie Wahl Legal Practice Center, home to our top-rated clinical and skills programs, is located in the same building as classrooms and faculty offices. The campus is also equipped with technologically advanced moot courtrooms, computer labs, seminar rooms, a student lounge and cafeteria, and offices for student organizations.
The Warren E. Burger Library's extensive in-house and online collection, customer service-oriented staff, and welcoming design make it the preferred choice for alumni, legal professionals, and faculty. Nearly all of our professional librarians have JD degrees, in addition to master's of library and information science degrees. Several have law practice experience. Our librarians help plan research strategies, locate and use legal and nonlegal resources, do computer-assisted research, and find items that are not available at William Mitchell. You'll also find our librarians in the classroom. Extended reference desk hours reflect our commitment to the needs of our students, faculty, and alumni.
William Mitchell's heritage is rooted in public service. Students volunteer more than 6,000 hours of supervised pro bono service each year to our partner, the Minnesota Justice Foundation, which matches interested law students with volunteer opportunities. Students also perform approximately 14,000 hours of pro bono service annually through our for-credit clinical program.
In addition to organizing and hosting Mitchell in London each year, William Mitchell is a member of the Consortium for Innovative Legal Education, a consortium of four independent law schools, which provides students with the opportunity to enroll in 10 summer and semester study-abroad programs, as well as the opportunity to study as visiting students at any of the participating schools. The Academic Achievement Program is designed to help students work up to their potential by teaching the skills required to solve problems effectively. Individual academic advising and Academic Achievement Workshops are available throughout the year for all students. The workshops include study strategies, time and stress management, critical reading, case briefing, legal analysis, outlining, and exam taking. William Mitchell also offers an LLM program for foreign law graduates. The yearlong program introduces students from around the world to the legal system of the United States.
William Mitchell attracts students with a diversity of life and work experiences. That's what we call the "Mitchell Mix." Our students have all kinds of educational, professional, and cultural backgrounds. For example, students range in age from as young as 19 to over 60 and include recent college grads and students who bring professional work experience. Twenty-seven of our entering class hold graduate degrees, and more than 16 percent are people of color. Our student body represents 29 states and 19 foreign countries. Students can participate in more than 30 student organizations, including the Student Bar Association and the William Mitchell Law Review.
William Mitchell's brand of legal education has earned the school a reputation for graduating lawyers who are prepared to practice. That's why 91.3 percent of the class of 2010 was employed within nine months of graduation. Career development is woven into each year of a student's legal education, helping students polish presentation, networking, and interviewing skills. Our alumni network of more than 11,000 offers students extensive opportunities to gather advice, meet attorneys, and learn about job opportunities both during school and upon graduation.
Financial aid is available from William Mitchell in the form of merit-based scholarships, federal and alternative loans, and federal work-study. Approximately 90 percent of all William Mitchell students receive some type of financial aid.
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 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| LSAT score 170–174 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 11 |
| LSAT score 165–169 | 15 | 15 | 20 | 19 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 57 | 55 |
| LSAT score 160–164 | 36 | 35 | 46 | 45 | 38 | 38 | 17 | 17 | 14 | 14 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 164 | 160 |
| LSAT score 155–159 | 37 | 35 | 56 | 51 | 78 | 78 | 50 | 47 | 26 | 24 | 14 | 13 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 274 | 256 |
| LSAT score 150–154 | 38 | 36 | 56 | 53 | 99 | 81 | 92 | 72 | 35 | 24 | 36 | 15 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 10 | 383 | 297 |
| LSAT score 145–149 | 10 | 10 | 51 | 46 | 62 | 34 | 54 | 24 | 33 | 5 | 21 | 1 | 15 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 7 | 267 | 129 |
| LSAT score 140–144 | 7 | 4 | 17 | 14 | 15 | 7 | 20 | 4 | 17 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 97 | 32 |
| LSAT score 135–139 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 48 | 2 |
| LSAT score 130–134 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| LSAT score 125–129 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| LSAT score 120–124 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Total | 148 | 138 | 258 | 235 | 312 | 250 | 252 | 169 | 139 | 75 | 102 | 38 | 41 | 11 | 27 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 36 | 20 | 1321 | 943 |
Apps = Number of Applicants
Adm = Number Admitted
Reflects 99% of the total applicant pool; highest LSAT data reported.