Best Law Schools In California

Law schools are the center or institution that specializes in legal education. It is one of the important processes an aspiring lawyer undergoes in their given jurisdiction. This indicates that you can not just become a lawyer without obtaining an undergraduate degree in law to practice the profession in some countries. In the United States, you will have to enroll in a postgraduate program and complete the program before you can have access to a law degree. Hence, working as a professional lawyer. If you found yourself among the aspiring lawyers, and you are thinking of choosing and enrolling in law schools in California then, this article is for you. It will help you be aware of the best law schools located in California, United States. Let us know about Best Law Schools In California.

Best Law Schools In California

Best Law Schools In California

California is one of the cities in the United States that is known to bring serenity and hope to tourists, businesses, and scholars at large. The city is vastly known for its beautiful beaches, Hollywood, pulsating metropolitan center, and their golden states universities which do not allow you to study sciences alone but also the law. Their law schools are among the best law school that can be found in the country because of their law classes and how they implemented their students’ lawyering skills and interests. To cap it all, most of their schools are American Bar Association accredited centers and they offer world-class L.L.M. Programs. Here are some examples of the Best law schools in California. Stanford Law School, Loyola law school, University of California, Berkeley, the University of California, Los Angeles, etc and many more will be later discussed in this article.

List Of The Best Law School In California (GPA and LSAT admission requirements included)

Stanford Law School

Stanford Law School (SLS) is a private research university, it is one of the schools rated as top universities in the world and they are known for their scholastic excellence and leading producers of various tech startups. The university’s law school ranked above Harvard Law School and it is rated the second-best law school in the United States on the US News and World Report. The school’s academic structure is focused on its practical implementation and offers 11-full time legal clinic courses. A few of them are the Environmental Law Clinic, Supreme court litigation clinic, criminal defense clinic, intellectual property, innovation clinic, etc.

GPA And LSAT Admission Requirements

Stanford Law School is said to be the most competitive law school in the State. They have a very low acceptance rate of 9.1% and GPA requirements of 3.82 – 3.99 on a scale of 4.0. Their average LSAT score ranges from 169 – 174 and an extremely high bar passage rate of 98.82%. As of the year 2022, their tuition fee is $66,396 for a full-time program.

The University Of California, Berkeley Law School (UC Berkeley)

University of California, Berkeley is the second-best law school located in California and it was rated by US News and World Report. It is also rated as the tenth best school in the United States. The school was vastly known for its natural sciences, entrepreneurship, history of political activism, and history of being aligned with current trends and progressive culture. UC Berkeley is at the forefront of offering courses like criminal law, corporate law, constitutional law, and contract law. They also offer L.L.M. specialized in Business law, law and technology, energy, and clean technology.

GPA And LSAT Admission Requirements

UC Berkeley has a highly selective admission process with an acceptance rate of 20.2%. Their GPA requirements range between 3.64 and 3.90 while their LSAT ranges between 165 and 170. The school bar percentage rate is considered to be in the range of 88.7% and 90%. Tuition fees for the year 2022 are $60,158 for a full-time program.

The University Of California, Los Angeles Law School (UCLA)

UCLA is known to be the first public law school in California and it is located in the Los Angeles Westwood neighborhood. Like other schools, UCLA also offers some L.L.M. specialized programs which include entertainment law, business law, sports law, tax law, etc. Their entertainment law is voted the best in all of the United States, and they are also known to be the only law school with a race and justice program.

GPA And LSAT Admission Requirements

UCLA has a slightly low acceptance rate of 22.5% with GPA requirements that range between 3.70 and 3.79. They have a student-to-faculty ratio of 5.9:1 and an LSAT requirement that ranges between 160 and 169. The school bar percentage rate is between the range of 86% and 87.5%. Tuition fees for the year 2022 are $59,624 for a full-time program.

University of Southern California Gould School Of Law (USC Gould)

USC Gould School of Law is another one of the best law schools. The school is the oldest law school located in the southwestern United States. USC Gould usually combines their classes with physical experience, and they are also known to help their students retain connection due to their global collaborations with other law schools. USC Gould is known as the pioneer school for interdisciplinary and Clinical legal education. They are rated among the top #19 best law schools in the states on US News and World Report. Their program is grouped into two: a standard L.L.M program of one year and an L.L.M program of two years.

GPA And LSAT Admission Requirements

USC Gould has a low acceptance rate of 19.2% with a GPA requirement that ranges between 3.61 and 3.89. They have a student-to-faculty ratio of 6.4:1 and an LSAT score that ranges between 163 and 167.  Their bar percentage is considered to be 86.6% while their tuition fee is a bit high for a full-Time program and it goes for $68,828. 

University Of California Irvine School Of Law (UC Irvine)

UC Irvine is one of the newest established law schools in California, and within its short period, it has managed to be on the top #35 of the best law schools in the United States on US News and World Report. The school is also known to be among the prestigious American law institutes and is regarded as the best law school for criminal justice. UC Irvine is known to offer personalized attention to all their available students throughout their law school journey and they are also known to provide a full scholarship for students who choose a public interest law. Their law advocacy is grouped into two years; the first-year students can select from any clinic and take a brief from their case while the second-year student will only focus on a singular clinic.

GPA And LSAT Admission Requirements

UC Irvine has an acceptance rate of 26.5%, which is a bit higher than all other law schools stated above. Their GPA requirement ranges between 3.40 and 3.73 while the LSAT scores are between 161 and 165. UC Irvine has a bar percentage rate of 80.6% and a tuition fee of $50,130 for a full-time program. Their law students also have a progressive employment rate of 80% since their establishment in 2007

The University of California, Davis Law School (UC Davis)

UC Davis law school also ranked top #35 among the best law schools in the United States by US News and World Report. It can be located between Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area. UC Davis is known for law and policy and they are rated as the best school for immigration law and criminal precedence. It is one of the law schools that have the lowest number of students in each class and this helps them to accomplish an intimate law school experience between the professors and the students. In addition to their practical classes, they are also known for their externships program.

GPA And LSAT Admission Requirements

UC Davis has a slightly high acceptance rate of 34.7% which is known to be higher than all other UC law schools. GPA requirements range between 3.52 and 3.65 while their LSAT score is between the range of 162 and 164. UC Davis has a bar acceptance rate of 75.7% and an employment rate of 77.2% for its students within the first ten months of graduation. Their tuition fee goes to $50,582 for their full-time program.

Pepperdine University Carousel School Of law 

Pepperdine University carousel school of law is one of the law schools that has a beautiful structure and is located in the coastal community of Malibu. The University is an affiliate of the church of Christ and they are known to instill in their students Christian principles. The private institution ranked among the top #46 best law schools found in the United States. They are known for the ideological diversity badge they earn and the dispute resolution program. Their students and professors have the privilege to travel outside the country for their global justice program and practical legal experience in international human rights. Other specialized L.L.M. programs are United States law, sports, entertainment and media law, international commercial law, and arbitration.

GPA And LSAT Admission Requirements

Pepperdine Carousel has an acceptance rate of 36.2% and a student and faculty ratio of 7:1; hence, students receive personal attention from their professors. Their GPA requirements range between 3.60 and 3.68 on a scale of 4.00, while their LSAT score is between the range of 158 and 162. Pepperdine has an average bar acceptance rate of 63.8% and an employment rate of 75.3% within the first ten months of their student graduation. Their tuition fee goes to $59,340 for a full-time program.

Loyola Law School, Los Angeles

Loyola law school is one of the stellar law schools that is popularly known for its active evening classes and advocacy program. It was ranked as the top #50 best law schools in the United States on the US News and World Report. They are also known to rank high for their criminal law, trial advocacy, entertainment law, music law, public interest, etc. The school is known to be the first accredited ABA law school in California and they offer some specialized L.L.M programs in tax law, international and comparative law, cybersecurity and data privacy law, intellectual property law, and immigrant advocacy. Loyola law school offers its students a concentration program whereby they are allowed to branch to any of their preferred law fields and also a semester of real client experience

GPA And LSAT Admission Requirements 

Loyola Law school has a considerably higher acceptance rate of 38% and a student-to-faculty ratio of 9.2:1. GPA requirements range between 3.50 and 3.58 while the LSAT score is between the range of 157 and 160. Loyola law school has an average bar acceptance rate of 77.6% and 79.8% with an employment rate of 80% within the first ten months of their students’ graduation. Their tuition fee goes to $60,860 for a full-time program.

Conclusion

Being a law student can be stressful but what is considered the most stressful task is selecting the best law school that has your preferred program. Among the best law schools in the United States, California is known to house the best law schools. Not only that, they are known to offer various law programs as has been in this article as their specialized LL.M. program. All you need to know about their acceptance rate and what the school is known for has been listed above.

Frequently Asked Questions 
  • How should aspiring public interest lawyers choose a law school?

Choosing a law school is an intensely personal decision. People should generally go to the best law school that accepts them. That’s equally true for public interest lawyers. Just don’t you’re going to save the world. Public interest lawyers do wonderful things, but the law limits preserving the status quo in most circumstances.

  • Is it worth going to law school if you don’t go to a top-tier law school?

It depends. Is there a legitimate reason to believe that you have not maximized your academic potential as an undergraduate? If you get into a T-14 school, you are in pretty good shape as far as the job market goes. Yes, if you are an average student, you might struggle, but if you even turn in a respectable performance, you’ll find a job, even if it’s not a Big Law job offering $190,000 per annum as a first-year associate.