Overview
Applicants
5,667
Acceptance Rate
22%
Median Undergrad GPA
3.81
Accepted Applicants Who Attend
352
Test Scores
LSAT
25th-75th percentile
(enrolled students)
(enrolled students)
163 - 170
Deadlines
Application Deadlines
February 15
Application Process
Rolling Admissions
Yes
Application Fee
$75
CAS Service Used
Yes
Applicants accepted in terms other than fall
No
Transfer Applicants Accepted
Yes
Deferred Admission
Yes
Other Admission Factors
Academic
LSAT Score
Undergraduate GPA
Essay / Personal Statement
Selectivity Rating
Faculty Information
Student/Faculty
6:1
Total Faculty
200
44
Female
19
Underrepresented Minorities
Students Say
The UC Berkeley School of Law is indisputably one the nations most respected centers of legal education. Students praise the breadth of the specialized courses in areas such as intellectual property/technology law, environmental law, entertainment, and human rights and say their time at Berkeley Law hasnt always been easy by any means but they are surrounded by the top academics in their fields of expertise [who] are not only great professors but great human beings. One student notes, however, that Berkeley Laws desire to get profs with fancy accomplishments doesnt always translate to better courses: I much prefer a better classroom environment and ease of learning over prestige. Outside the classroom, there are a lot of experiential learning opportunities (e.g. clinics, externships, and skills courses) and [if] a student has a genuine interest in doing focused research, he or she can often find faculty to work with on an independent project. Berkeley Law has nearly a dozen journals and unlike at most law schools, all of them (except for the Law Review) are open membership and students are allowed to participate immediately. While the school does provide tremendous opportunity for 1Ls to get involved through journals and other groups, 1Ls dont participate in clinics the way the term is traditionally used in a law school setting. Instead, 1Ls may take part in Student-Initiated Legal Services Projects (SLPS) through which students do legal work under the direction of attorney (rather than professor) supervision. Upperclassmen praise Berkeley Laws strong public-interest law community, excellent clinical offerings, and great access to [the] Bay Area legal market but say that often students must show initiative to take full advantage.
Professors at Berkeley Law are, for the most part, incredible and accommodating, and even the older professorswho tend to have more traditional stylesimpart progressive views and attitudes about the law. Other students say the schools professors are not great, even cold; they say that while professors are certainly brilliant, they are not good teachers. While some students praise Berkeley Laws pass/fail grading system for cutting down on law schools inherent cutthroat attitude, others lament that giving 60 percent of the class the same grade (P for pass) diminishes the incentive for people not to completely check out once they have a job. The grading system is not informative enough. The lowest score in the class gets the same grade as several above-average scores. Students who describe their professors as top-notch say that the faculty genuinely care[s] about their students and make time to help them with questions both related to the course and issues outside the scope of the class. Classrooms at Berkeley Law are awesome and newly renovated and after the renovation, [Boalts] exterior isnt amazing, but it is pretty nice. The resources at a school like Berkeley Law are, as expected, world-class, and the library has research librarians who are passionate and proud of what they do and look forward to helping students and make themselves available.
The administration, according to some, is highly responsive and that might be largely due to the fact that students are incredibly involved in school policy decisions. Others say, The administration seems disorganized and not very communicative. I have no idea what to do most of the time. Some students would like more administrative support when it came to career counseling, particularly setting up field placements (i.e. externships, study abroad, and [the] UC-DC program). Right now, the process is largely left up to the students.
Professors at Berkeley Law are, for the most part, incredible and accommodating, and even the older professorswho tend to have more traditional stylesimpart progressive views and attitudes about the law. Other students say the schools professors are not great, even cold; they say that while professors are certainly brilliant, they are not good teachers. While some students praise Berkeley Laws pass/fail grading system for cutting down on law schools inherent cutthroat attitude, others lament that giving 60 percent of the class the same grade (P for pass) diminishes the incentive for people not to completely check out once they have a job. The grading system is not informative enough. The lowest score in the class gets the same grade as several above-average scores. Students who describe their professors as top-notch say that the faculty genuinely care[s] about their students and make time to help them with questions both related to the course and issues outside the scope of the class. Classrooms at Berkeley Law are awesome and newly renovated and after the renovation, [Boalts] exterior isnt amazing, but it is pretty nice. The resources at a school like Berkeley Law are, as expected, world-class, and the library has research librarians who are passionate and proud of what they do and look forward to helping students and make themselves available.
The administration, according to some, is highly responsive and that might be largely due to the fact that students are incredibly involved in school policy decisions. Others say, The administration seems disorganized and not very communicative. I have no idea what to do most of the time. Some students would like more administrative support when it came to career counseling, particularly setting up field placements (i.e. externships, study abroad, and [the] UC-DC program). Right now, the process is largely left up to the students.
Career overview
% of graduates who are employed within ten months of graduation
95%
% of job accepting graduates providing useable salary information
93%
Career Services
On campus summer employment recruitment for first year JD students
Yes
On campus summer employment recruitment for second year JD students
Yes
# of Employers that Recruit on Campus Each Year
450
Employers who most frequently hire graduates
Roughly 450 employers recruit at Berkeley Law each fall including national firms, multi-national corporations, public interest groups, and governmental agencies.
Graduates Employed by Area
64%
Private Practice
16%
Judicial Clerkships
13%
Public Interes
5%
Government
1%
Business/Industry
Graduates Employed by Region
64%
Pacific
12%
Mid-Atlantic
12%
South
3%
MidWest
3%
Mountain
3%
South West
2%
New England
1%
International
Prominent Alumni
Dean Rusk
U.S. Secretary of State
Jalena Williams
Chair FDIC
Pete Wilson
Senator, Governor of CA
Earl Warren
Chief Justice SCOTUS
Theodore Olson
Solicitor General of U.S.
Dates
Financial Aid Rating
Mar 2
Financial Aid Statistics
Expenses per Academic Year
In-State Tuition
$63,011
Out-Of-State Tuition
$68,296
Estimated On-Campus Room and Board
$31,588
Estimated Off-Campus Room and Board
$31,588
Estimated Cost for Books / Academic Expense
$1,680
Student Body Profile
Total Enrollment
983
Parent Institution Enrollement
43,204
Number of Foreign Countries Represented
51
Average Age at Entry
25
% Out-of-State
48%
% International
4%
Demographics
41.00%
% Under-represented Minorities
100% are full time
0% are part time
59% female
41% male
Campus Life
Students Say
Students are split on whether their fellow Berkeley attendees are incredibly friendly and mutually supportive of each other or if they are highly competitive and egotistical, with a tendency to [err] on the side of [being] overly politically correct. While theres no doubt that the school leans leftits progressive values are not in doubtsome express concern that students who are just average liberal to conservative often feel ridiculed for their ideologies. Students live in various spots in the surrounding region, which limits the social life, making it so that clubs and organizations are the backbone of student life. . . . Students are extremely active in clubs because thats necessary to make friends. Even with the rigors of law school, students find time to unwind, with beer Olympics, organized cabin weekend trips to Tahoe, party buses to Napa, bar crawls in San Francisco, (also taco crawls in San Francisco, which are BOMB). Students also underscore that social justice is not a fringe thing at Berkeley Law.
More Information
% of Classrooms with Internet Access
100%
Admissions Office Contact
Contact
Kristin Theis-Alvarez
Assistant Dean of Admissions
Assistant Dean of Admissions
Address
225 Law Bldg.
215 Bancroft Dr.
Berkeley, CA 94720-7200
215 Bancroft Dr.
Berkeley, CA 94720-7200
Phone
510-642-2274
Email
admissions@law.berkeley.edu
