| |
|
« TLS Profiles - TLS Programs - TLS Stats - Rankings The Arizona State University College of LawWritten by Hadi Sedigh The Arizona State University College of Law enjoys the distinction of being the only ABA-accredited law school in the large Phoenix metropolitan area. This distinction enables Arizona State Law’s students to benefit from close access to many of the state capital’s legal and professional resources, and also secures for them tremendous job prospects in the city’s vast legal market. At the same time, the school’s impressive student/faculty ratio, which ranks among the best in the nation, enables students to get the most out of their legal education through frequent interaction with Arizona State Law’s reputable faculty corps. Especially for Arizona residents, who pay a low in-state rate of tuition at the school, the Arizona State University College of Law is a great place to pursue a legal education. Admissions and Tuition: With around 2,500 applicants vying for a spot in an entering class that consists of fewer than 200 seats, Arizona State Law’s admissions committee practices a high level of selectivity when granting admissions offers. During the 2009 admissions cycle, only about 750 of the roughly 2,500 applications received by the school were approved, and 187 of these admitted applicants chose to matriculate at Arizona State Law to form the Class of 2012. The LSAT scores of this class at the 25th and 75th percentile were 158 and 163, respectively, while the undergraduate GPAs at the same percentiles were 3.3 and 3.8, respectively. Generally speaking, applicants with numbers that fall within these ranges can expect to be competitive in future admissions cycles at Arizona State Law. Hope is not lost, however, for those with slightly lower numbers, as Arizona State, like most other reputable law schools, aims to put together entering classes diverse in ethnicity, background and experience. Thus, applicants who are able to demonstrate through the application their ability to offer this sort of diversity to the student body of Arizona State Law will likely increase their chances of acceptance. In terms of tuition, Arizona State School of Law is a bargain for residents of the state of Arizona. For the 2009-2010 academic year, in-state tuition at the school was $19,225, while tuition for non-residents was $32,619. It should be noted that non-residents who can prove their intent to reside indefinitely in the state of Arizona after graduation should, in most cases, be able to achieve resident status at the school following their first year. Academics and Curriculum:
Quality of Life: Whereas students at most law schools brace for icy winters every year, Arizona State Law students have been known to enjoy midnight swims throughout January and February. Of course, late summer months in Phoenix are usually marked by temperatures in the triple figures, but in general, the weather of the area is considered a great draw for most Arizona State Law School students. Another draw of the Phoenix area is its variety of bars, clubs, and restaurants, which allow busy law students the opportunity to unwind after a long week of classes, usually by way of the weekly bar reviews hosted by the school’s student government. Housing options in the area are plentiful and affordable, for the most part, and law students are generally able to find suitable apartments near the law school campus. Public transportation, on the other hand, is not as efficient as in other large metropolitan areas, and according to many Arizona State Law students, an automobile is practically necessary for life as a law student in Phoenix. In sum, the quality of life for students at Arizona State Law promises to be high, mainly due to the great year-round weather of the Phoenix area. Employment Prospects and Bar Passage:
In terms of bar passage, graduates of Arizona State Law have performed well in recent years. For the Class of 2007's administrations of the exam in the state of Arizona, approximately 83.5% of Arizona State Law grads taking the exam for the first time successfully passed, compared to an overall state passage rate of about 78.8%. Synopsis: For residents of the state of Arizona, as well as applicants hoping to secure employment in the state and its surrounding region, the Arizona State University College of Law is a great place to pursue a legal education. Applicants who choose to enroll at the school can look forward to a sunny three years of law school and can count on great job prospects in Phoenix and all of Arizona after graduation. Contact Information: Armstrong Hall Quick Reference: U.S. News ranking: 55th Interview: Dean and Foundation Professor of Law – Paul Schiff Berman |
Stanford Law School Yale Law School Harvard Law School University of Virginia School of Law Pepperdine Law School Northwestern Law School Cornell Law School Michigan Law School Golden Gate Law School Duke Law School Columbia Law School Temple Law School Loyola Law School UCLA School of Law Villanova Law School New York University Law School UC Hastings Law School Santa Clara Law School UPenn Law School Berkeley Boalt Hall University of Chicago Law School UC Davis Law School Fordham Law School George Washington Law School Georgetown University Law Center New York Law School UNC Chapel Hill Law School Boston College Law School Boston University School of Law Emory University Law School The University of Iowa College of Law University of Minnesota Law School The University of Texas School of Law The University of Southern California School of Law (Gould) Vanderbilt University Law School Washington University in St. Louis School of Law Wisconsin Law School The University of Alabama School of Law George Mason University School of Law The University of Colorado School of Law Indiana University School of Law - Bloomington University of Notre Dame Law School The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law The University of Illinois College of Law The University of Washington School of Law William & Mary Law School Washington and Lee University School of Law The Arizona State University College of Law The Baylor University School of Law The Case Western Reserve University School of Law The University of Georgia School of Law The Brigham Young University Law School The Southern Methodist University School of Law Tulane University Law School The University of Connecticut School of Law University of Florida Levin College of Law Wake Forest University School of Law Vermont Law School The University of Utah College of Law Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law of Yeshiva University The University of Tennessee College of Law The University of Cincinnati College of Law The University of Pittsburgh School of Law University of Maryland School of Law The University of Kentucky College of Law The University of Houston College of Law The Florida State University College of Law Chicago-Kent College of Law (Illinois Institute of Technology) Brooklyn Law School University of Arizona College of Law American University College of Law University of San Diego School of Law Northeastern University School of Law University Of Miami School Of Law University of Richmond Law Oregon School Of Law Lewis & Clark School of Law Rutgers Law - Camden South Carolina Law Seattle University School of Law PSU School of Law Canada: University of Toronto Faculty of Law DePaul University College of Law Rutgers-Newark School of Law Hofstra Law School Seton Hall Law School Missouri - Columbia Law School Indiana University Indianapolis Law Buffalo Law School UNLV Law School St. John's School of Law The University of Denver Law School University of Louisville School of Law The University of Oklahoma College of Law Georgia State University College of Law Louisiana State University, Paul M. Hebert Law Center Loyola University Chicago School of Law Marquette University Law School University of Kansas School of Law Canada: University of Alberta Faculty of Law St. Louis University School of Law University of New Mexico School of Law Catholic University's Columbus School of Law The University of Maine School of Law Gonzaga University School of Law The University of Arkansas School of Law University of San Francisco School of Law Canada: Dalhousie Law School Canada: McGill University Faculty of Law Canada: University of Ottawa Faculty of Law Canada: Osgoode Hall Law School (York University) Canada: UBC Faculty of Law IE Law School- Northwestern Law Executive LLM Program IE Law School- Master of Laws (LL.M.) in International Practice University of California – Irvine School of Law |
As is standard practice in American law schools, students at Arizona State Law enroll in required classes during their 1L year, including Criminal Law, Torts, and Property. After this first and most rigorous year, students must pass 3 more requirements, and are thereafter free to choose from among up to 140 elective courses to complete their 88-credit JD degrees. The fact that about two-thirds of these upper level electives contain less than 20 seats, combined with the school’s impressive 10 to 1 student to faculty ratio, ensures that Arizona State Law students are able to establish close contact with classmates and faculty in courses specific to their areas of interest. Aside from required and elective courses, students can also pursue JD/MBA, JD/PhD and JD/MD programs at Arizona State Law, and are also able to partake in several clinical opportunities in various areas. In addition, the school houses the Center for the Study of Law, Science, and Technology as well as an Indian Legal Program, both of which are enjoy national prominence in their respective fields. Finally, select students can participate in prestigious law journals at Arizona State Law, and those wishing to take their legal education beyond American borders can do so through the school’s various study abroad programs. 
For students of ASU Law School, employment prospects in Phoenix and throughout the state of Arizona and the Southwest region are tremendous. Many top firms from this area visit the campus each year to interview students, and about 20% of ASU Law School students secure jobs through these on-campus interviews each year. Students for whom on-campus interviews are not as fruitful can look to the school’s career services office and its alumni network, whose combined efforts contribute to an impressive rate of employment for graduates: usually more than 90% within 9 months of graduation. Of course, employment prospects for ASU Law School students dim as one looks outside the Southwest area, and students hoping to work in such areas will likely have to put in a considerable amount of legwork in their job search. The vast majority of ASU Law School students stay in the Southwest to practice law, and very few begin their law careers in the northern states.