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« Top TLS Profiles - Third/Fourth Tier - TLS Programs - TLS Stats - Rankings Appalachian School of LawOverview Founded in 1994 and ABA-approved in 2001, Appalachian School of Law is a relative newcomer in the field of legal education. The school has a small student body and is located in Grundy, a small town in western Virginia. It takes its namesake from being nestled in the coalfields of the Appalachian Mountains. On its website, the law school emphasizes “professional responsibility, dispute resolution, and practice skills” in its program.
Accepted students at Appalachian School of Law for the Class of 2011 had a median LSAT score of 149 and a median GPA of 3.04. Current students have said gaining admission to Appalachian was easy and painless. But the school’s acceptance rate is still slightly competitive at 45 percent. Applicants with numbers at or above the medians should feel confident in their ability to gain admission. Those whose numbers fall short need to ensure their personal statement and soft factors are polished to perfection. Tuition at Appalachian School of Law costs $26,500 annually. The median amount of grant aid per full-time recipient is $15,825. The school estimates living and additional school expenses to total $21,025 per year, which brings the total estimated cost of attending Appalachian to over $47,000 for each year of attendance. Academic Reputation and Curriculum Appalachian’s newcomer status, small size and remote location limit the school’s national recognition and academic reputation. US News & World Report gave Appalachian School of Law a Tier 4 ranking. Its peer assessment review was a lowly 1.4 out of 5. With only 17 faculty members, Appalachian has a student to faculty ratio of 16.4-to-1. While the school claims its small size helps foster a sense of community and camaraderie, many students find the lack of options when choosing classes to be onerous. Additionally, students find fault with the brutal grading curve. In the past, the curve has forced out an average of 25 to 30 percent of the student population per year. The first-year curriculum at Appalachian is similar to other law schools. Students must take a rigorous course schedule that includes civil procedure, contracts, torts, criminal law, legal process and property law classes. 2L and 3L students follow a general outline of courses, with open electives for students who wish to explore different areas of law. Appalachian indicates that all students must complete at least 90 semester hours and a selection of requisite courses in order to graduate. Quality of Life Grundy (population: 1,105) is not exactly a social hub. While the mountain town offers proximity to gorgeous parks, mountain trails and stables for horseback riding, the town proper boasts little more than a three-screen movie theater, an active YMCA, and a locally-renowned flood control program. Students complain primarily about poor housing and water quality in Grundy as well as the homogeneity of the population, elements of which may not be friendly to outsiders and minorities. Employment Prospects and Bar Passage The median private sector salary for Appalachian School of Law graduates recently was $45,000 while the median public sector salary for graduates was $42,250. Students have praised the Appalachian career services office as amicable and helpful. Some student complaints, however, have focused on the mandatory six-week, non-paid externship during their first summer. About 27 percent of 2007 graduates chose to stay in Virginia, while most traveled further south to seek full-time employment. Additionally, only 64.8 percent of Appalachian’s Class of 2007 was known to be employed nine months after graduation. In previous years, many graduates (up to 46 percent) did not pass the Virginia bar exam on their first attempt. The Class of 2008, however, had a passage rate of 82 percent, comfortably above Virginia’s overall passage rate of 74 percent. The numbers were better in Tennessee, where 89 percent of Appalachian graduates passed the bar. These percentages suggest Appalachian has recently improved its ability to prepare students for the bar examination upon graduation. Conclusion Students at Appalachian spend nearly $47,000 a year for a 65 percent chance of employment within nine months of graduation. Most students will earn an average salary that, even before taxes, would not sufficiently cover one year of attending law school. For even small-town lovers and mountaineers, the numbers alone should make students without substantial scholarship money wary about choosing Appalachian School of Law. Contact Information Appalachian School of Law Quick Facts U.S. News & World Report ranking: Tier 4 |
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