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University of California - Davis School of Law (King Hall)

Founded in the mid-1960s and named after America’s most famous civil rights pioneer, the University of California Davis School of Law has a tradition of educating lawyers with an emphasis on social justice. As the smallest of the University of California system’s law schools, King Hall offers a congenial feel in a quiet town that nevertheless sits in one of the country’s most varied and interesting areas.

*Non-resident tuition and fees are $53,554. All other estimated expenses are equal, making the total estimated out-of-state COA estimate $70,419. For those moving to California from other states, it is relatively easy to establish state residency for the second and third years of law school.

Admissions

Competition for a spot at King Hall is fairly intense: the median LSAT score of admitted students, for example, currently sits at the 90^th percentile of test takers, and applications have increased faster than the national average in recent years. Although each law school assigns slightly different levels of importance to each admissions factor, LSAT and undergraduate GPA remain the most important and predictive admissions metrics.

Like most law schools, UC Davis utilizes a rolling admissions system. Applications, accepted from October 1 to February 1 each year, are reviewed continually, with the vast majority of admissions decisions issuing between December and April. Logic dictates that those who apply early in the cycle are advantaged because more seats are available, and the law school does recommend that applicants apply sooner rather than later.

Dean Kevin Johnson stresses that the admissions committee reads each application thoroughly and with ample consideration to qualitative factors, explaining, “there are many ways to be an attractive law school applicant.”[iii] He expands:

You will really get the Admissions Committee’s attention if you can demonstrate that you are dedicated, ethical, intellectually curious, and ready to learn—as well as an interesting person! We also favor students who are leaders, and in that sense, depth of involvement in professional or extracurricular activities is important as well. We admit many different kinds of students. Some have a demonstrated public interest commitment, while others plan to pursue a joint JD/MBA or practice at a law firm. Some come from a family of lawyers, while others are the first in their family to go to college.

A candidate’s complete file includes an LSAT score, Law School Data Assembly Service report with official undergraduate transcript, a personal statement, and two letters of recommendation, along with the nonrefundable $75 application fee, unless waived. King Hall does not require a separate résumé and sending one does not excuse a candidate from completing any section of the application, but most applicants include one anyway. The admissions committee will consider the highest of multiple LSAT scores if there is a significant difference between administrations, but reserves the right to use an average or view all scores holistically in making decisions. Students with wide variation in multiple LSAT scores should consider submitting explanatory addenda. Since the application deadline is February 1, the February LSAT sitting is considered only for students who are retaking, and already have an earlier score in their completed admissions file.[iv]

Personal Statement

Unlike many law schools, which impose a two-page limit on personal statements, UC Davis joins Berkeley in allowing statements of up to four double-spaced pages. This essay represents the prime opportunity for candidates to differentiate themselves and include information not easily conveyed by quantitative factors or a résumé, so applicants should strive for authenticity and polished writing on a reasonable topic of their choice, as Dean Johnson urges:

In many cases – and in every case when we start admitting students from the waitlist – every single person on the admissions committee, including the Associate Dean, reviews the personal statement. Please, please, please do not write what you think we want to hear. Instead, write about who you really are. Highlight unique experiences, professional or personal. Tell us about challenges that you have overcome. Let us know about special talents and achievements, such as speaking languages other than English or your experience as a classical pianist. Keep in mind that our goal as a law school is to assemble a class of the highest quality that also reflects diversity of thought, background, and experience. Last but not least, remember that your personal statement is a sample of your writing, so your writing skills, including basics like grammar and punctuation, will be examined carefully.

One TLS member suggests that applicants with marginal GPA and LSAT numbers and a strong interest in King Hall should tailor their personal statement to UC Davis, detailing specific (and honest!) reasons the school is a good fit.[v] Applicants who wish to submit addenda – for example, to explain a history of underperformance on standardized tests – may do so, but should consider the supplements as part of the four-page limit.

Letters of Recommendation

UC Davis Law has a standard requirement of two letters of recommendation, which should be submitted through the Law School Admission Council’s service and, ideally, come from faculty members who can speak to an applicant’s academic aptitude and personality. Non-traditional applicants may substitute recommendations from employers if need be. As with all qualitative factors, letters of recommendation become more important for candidates with borderline “numbers.” King Hall joins seemingly every law school in expressly discouraging letters from relatives or well-connected individuals with whom the applicant has only a superficial relationship.[vi]

Transfer Admissions

UC Davis Law is straightforward about the process for admitting transfer students after their 1L years at other ABA-approved law schools: although a personal statement, undergraduate transcript, and LSAT score are considered, first-year law school performance is by far the most important factor. At least one letter of recommendation from a law school professor is also essential. From the school’s website:

Applicants performing in the top 5% - 10% of their 1^st year class[es] receive serious consideration. In exceptional cases, and based on the law school attended, applicants performing slightly lower in the class may be admitted.[vii]

This last sentence suggests that applicants from more highly ranked original law schools have more leeway on grades. King Hall usually admits 20 to 30 of the 100 or so individuals that apply as transfers; about a dozen of these enroll in a typical year. Applications are accepted from June 1 to June 30 of each year.

Early Decision

King Hall does not have a binding early decision program. A candidate confident that UC Davis is her first choice should apply early in the fall and consider making her preference known in the personal statement or by contacting the admissions office directly.

Financial Aid

Paying for a King Hall education can be stressful, especially when obtaining a well-paying job immediately following graduation is far from certain and the state of California is facing unprecedented budgetary problems and corresponding tuition hikes. The Class of 2008, which entered school well before the recent recession began in 2007, graduated with an average indebtedness of about $73,000 for the 72% of students that took out loans.[viii]

Though not as liberal with funds as many of its peers, the university helps ease this burden somewhat through need-based loans and grants, academic or affinity-based scholarships, and a loan repayment assistance program (LRAP) for public interest graduates. All incoming students who want to be considered for aid must complete the Free Application for Student Aid (FAFSA) and Need Access forms, and upper-division students must reapply for financial aid each year. Most students finance a significant part of their education through educational loans, principally the federal Perkins and Stafford programs and sometimes through private financial institutions.

Unlike many of its peer schools, UC Davis does not give out a large number of merit-based scholarships in order to attract students with high GPA or LSAT numbers. According to one TLS board member, many first-year students receive a modest need-based grant – around $5,000 seems common – that often increases for the second and third years of study. A small number of scholarships with a merit component do exist, like the Martin Luther King, Jr. Public Interest Scholarship for First-Year Law Students awarded annually to two first-years. Most scholarships are not automatically renewable.

Public Interest Support

Though most of its students still go into private practice, UC Davis has a strong public interest reputation fitting for a school named after Reverend King. Experienced faculty, connections to government agencies and non-profit organizations, and enviable clinical programs mean little, however, if students are unable to take public service jobs for financial reasons. The school has some scholarships meant to support public interest-minded students, as mentioned above, and outside organizations endow public service scholarships often overlooked by law students. But King Hall’s biggest source of support for public interest students is its recently expanded LRAP, which helps graduates with relatively low salaries deal with high loan payments after graduation and is more generous (at least for those with low incomes) than many of its peers’ programs.

To qualify for the program, recent graduates must work as attorneys for a tax-exempt non-profit organization or a local, state, or federal government agency and have total gross income of less than $60,000. Twice each year, interest-free loans are disbursed to cover part or all of educational debt payments as follows: lawyers making less than $40,000 a year are not expected to contribute anything and receive funds to cover all payments; those making between $40,000 and $60,000 receive checks to cover payments minus 35% of income over $40,000 (e.g., an attorney with $10,000 of yearly debt payments and an income of $50,000 would receive $6,500 of total assistance for that year). If a participant stays in qualifying employment for one year after the disbursal of an LRAP loan, that loan is forgiven; if the graduate leaves qualifying employment during that period, he or she must repay that loan with interest.

Graduates can receive assistance for a maximum of ten years. In the case of married participants, the school will consider the applicant’s income as his or her actual gross (if the participant earns more than his or her spouse) or one-half of the average of both spouse’s incomes (if the spouse earns more). UC Davis will also deduct $5,000 from imputed income for each tax dependent. Unlike most law schools’ programs, King Hall’s LRAP covers educational debt from college and prior graduate school, which could make a big difference for some students. Though the rigid income cap of $60,000 may frustrate graduates who make slightly more – including those working for the federal government, with its automatic but modest pay raises – the UC Davis LRAP compares favorably with those of many “Top 14” schools for graduates making less. Prospective law students who feel certain they will work in the public interest should also familiarize themselves with federal Income Based Repayment and Public Service Loan Forgiveness and do their best to minimize accumulated debt while in law school, since – as the reduction of subsidized Stafford loans in the recent debt ceiling deal and the decision by many schools to require federal IBR participation for LRAP benefits illustrate – neither university nor government debt relief programs are guaranteed for the future.

Law School Culture

Whether because of its small size, focus on public service, or the easygoing yet adventurous spirit of California, King Hall students report a collegial and supportive environment. With less than 600 J.D. students, first-year students quickly get to know a large portion of their class, and find encouragement and friendship much more often than overt competition, as one student relates:

[When I got to UC Davis] people were overwhelmingly friendly. We actually shared our outlines and wanted to help each other succeed. Looking back, it was pretty extraordinary given the fact that we have the same curve for bar classes that other law schools do. The underlying motivation to do the best work we could for the public good made us all more interested in working cooperatively. I was in a lot of clinics and public interest classes and I saw so many people collaborate to do important legal work and also to help each other find summer positions by reviewing resumes and that sort of thing. If you ask for help, especially from the years above you and professors, it's really hard not to find it. It's not all sunshine and rainbows - you will meet some jerks - but I felt like law school stress was not fellow-student stress.[ix]

Another student explains that while living in a bubble has its drawbacks, King Hall’s size makes getting settled easy:

The good thing about having only 200 people in your entire class is everyone is a "friend of a friend." So it's really easy to hang out with anyone because nobody is completely alien to you. It's also cool because it's easier to ask a favor from a friend of a friend than from a random Joe you've never heard of. The downside, I guess, is since everyone sort of knows everyone, there is plenty of gossip. But that's part of law school fun![x]

The small-school feel and aura of accessibility extends to the faculty as well, with many professors being happy not just to answer questions in office hours, but forge relationships with students and create a genuine sense of intellectual community.

Diversity

One would expect a school named after Dr. King to be inclusive, and Dean Johnson confirms that diversity is crucial to King Hall’s mission: “Within the constraints of the law,” he says, “we seek to admit a class that reflects the socioeconomic and other diversity of the state of California and the nation as a whole.” Johnson is quick to point out that learning is best accomplished in a setting that celebrates pluralism of not just race and background, but also of thought and experience.

UC Davis ranks 23^rd in U.S. News & World Report’s latest Diversity Index, based on the student body’s racial composition, and 10^th in Princeton Review’s list of Most Diverse Law Faculties. 37% of King Hall students identify as students of color, and the ratio of male and female students is almost even.[xi]

Academics

Curriculum

King Hall eases first-year students into law school with a one-week Introduction to the Law, which gives a broad overview of the American legal system and the tools necessary to interpret cases and statute. After this crash course, 1Ls take traditional core classes: Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law, Property, and Torts, as well as two semesters of Legal Research & Writing. This highly structured first year differs greatly from the 2L and 3L years, in which students choose all of their classes. To graduate, a student must complete 88 units and take Professional Responsibility or Legal Ethics in Corporate Practice as well as classes that satisfy writing and skills requirements.

Grading System

King Hall uses a traditional grading system of letter grades paired with a corresponding grade point average number (an A is 4.0, a an A- is 3.7, and so on). In 1L classes, professors are strongly encouraged to adhere to the following distribution: 20% A grades, 60% B grades, and 20% C+ and below. Faculty members are encouraged to keep the 1L curve fairly symmetrical by maintaining a mean GPA of between 3.0 and 3.1 for each sectioned class. Davis does not rank each student individually, but does provide an approximate rank GPA range by 5% intervals after each semester.[xii]

Professors

King Hall has aggressively built up its faculty in recent years by hiring away prominent professors like Miguel Méndez and John Hunt, formerly of Stanford and Berkeley. Other highly regarded scholars include Edward Imwinkelried, the most cited Evidence professor in academia, and Anupam Chandler, who works on legal issues raised by the globalization and computerization of society. Vikram Amar, the Associate Dean for Student Affairs, is noted for his contributions to civil procedure and constitutional law studies, and Madhavi Sunder’s research interests range from cyblerlaw to international human rights. In several recent faculty rankings, UC Davis has placed solidly in the mid-twenties: 23^rd in a Brian Leiter study on scholarly impact, for example, and 27^th in the peer academic reputation survey used in the most recent U.S. News rankings.[xiii]

Experiential Learning

The law school sees its clinical programs as integral to the school’s mission of serving the greater good, and supplements four well-developed live-client clinics with a versatile externship program. Clinics are open to 2L and 3L students, who can take up to 16 total clinical and externship credits without getting special permission. Clinical participants, supervised by faculty, help real clients with cases pertaining to civil rights, family law, immigration law, or the plight of prisoners. Clinical students may even get to argue in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, considered one of the most prestigious appellate circuits. In addition to aiding needy clients, students in clinics have a chance to apply their theoretical training to realistic practice settings, helping many to focus career goals and demonstrate abilities to employers. Some offerings – most notably the Immigration Law Clinic and the Prison Law Clinic– are extremely popular, so some students may have to wait until they have registration priority in 3L year to take their top-choice clinic.

Eight externship programs expand skills training to a broader array of fields, including Federal Taxation, Intellectual Property, and Environmental Law. Students who wish to do internships must take the initiative to secure a placement, although the school provides a list of contacts at previous partners. Externship participants are supervised by an on-site supervisor and a faculty advisor.

A particularly exciting experiential opportunity for King Hall students is the UCDC Law Program, which allows law students from the UC schools at Los Angeles, Berkeley, Irvine, and Davis to spend a semester in Washington, D.C. taking a seminar and completing a full-time externship. The program is competitive and necessitates a detailed application process, but past placements have included the White House Counsel’s Office, the Department of Justice, and the NAACP.[xiv]

Combined Degrees

UC Davis maintains a flexible combined degree program for law students, allowing J.D. candidates to begin a master’s degree any time before the beginning of 3L. Although such students must apply separately to the master’s program and almost always spend at least four years at the university, they can usually save some time and money by counting about 10 hours of law school credit toward the second degree.

Graduate Degrees

King Hall confers a Masters of Laws degree (LL.M.) on international law graduates who want to gain familiarity with the American legal system or study some aspect of law in detail. LL.M. students study alongside J.D. candidates, and must complete at least 20 credit hours. Tuition and fees are just shy of $40,000. UC Davis offers more flexibility than most law schools by also offering an International Commercial Law LL.M. that can be completed over a series of two or more summers.[xv] International lawyers should note that an American LL.M. is not sufficient qualification to sit for the bar exam in most states, although California is one of the more notable exceptions.

Study Abroad

The law school maintains exchange agreements with the China University of Political Science and Law, University College Dublin, and the University of Copenhagen, which allow J.D. students to spend one semester studying in an international context while still making progress toward their King Hall degree.

Student Activities

Especially for a law school of its size, King Hall has an impressive range of ways for students to stay busy outside of class. Approximately 50 student organizations give UC Davis students the opportunity to share common interests and celebrate shared backgrounds. Liberals and conservatives can both find like-minded activists in the American Constitution Society or Federalist Society, respectively. Affinity groups include law associations for African-Americans, Korean-Americans, Native Americans, and practitioners of the Jewish, Muslim, and Christian faiths. Other organizations are dedicated to professional interests (Environmental Law Society), the common good (Humanitarian Aid Legal Organization), or simple fun (Golf Club, Law Capella). Student organizations also plan events for the law school as a hole, such as King Hall Bar Review’s weekly waterhole gathering. With King Hall’s small student body, it can be surprisingly easy for students to quickly take leadership roles in the organizations that interest them.

Journals

For many law students, the most time-consuming extracurricular activity is a journal, of which King Hall publishes six, a large number for such a small school. In addition to the flagship UC Davis Law Review – extremely attractive to law firms and judges – King Hall students also edit publications dedicated to business law, environmental law, international law, juvenile law, and public policy. Law Review membership is determined through a write-on competition at the end of 1L year, though students can also gain membership by writing a qualifying note. Other journals have more open membership policies, although they still represent a significant time commitment.

Facilities

King Hall is located on the 5,300-acre UC Davis Campus, fully integrated with the rest of the university. As the name suggests, the law school is housed in a single building. King Hall recently began a $30 million renovation that has already added a new wing of classrooms and offices, as well as a courtroom used by state and federal courts. The expansion also added study areas and enlarged dining and recreation areas, as well as the central courtyard. Once the second phase of renovation is complete (in late 2011 or early 2012), the law school will have better information technology infrastructure and a sleeker, more modern feel. The renovated building, described in more detail here, is open to students 24 hours a day.

Job Prospects

The legal market over the past few years has fared much like the overall economy: hit hard by the Great Recession, it has since shown signs of a shaky recovery, but is not yet close to the heady days before “sub-prime” and “toxic assets” became lamentable commonplaces. Judging from the comments of TLS members who attend King Hall, one of the most notable effects of ITE (in this economy) has been to tighten the grade range needed to get hired into “Biglaw,” with some firms looking no further than the top 10% or so. Beyond Biglaw, employers from government agencies to small specialty shops have gotten more selective as well. The table below shows employment statistics from the most recent classes with publicly available data; the UC Davis website has a more detailed breakdown on the Class of 2009.

*In 2007, 1% of graduates (20% of clerks) worked for Article III judges; in 2008, 3% of graduates (43% of clerks); in 2009, 3% of graduates (60% of clerks). **Percentage reported as academia should not be interpreted as those working as or in the process of becoming professors. Most of these graduates were probably pursuing full-time graduate degrees. For this table’s purposes, those pursuing full-time degrees are counted as “employed.” See Law School Transparency for more in-depth analysis.

Many a commentator has lamented the fuzziness of self-reported law school employment statistics, and prospective students should analyze such statistics carefully. For example, the percentages of employed graduates count students working part-time or in jobs that do not require a J.D. Moreover, median salary data – besides being an imperfect indicator of average for such a bimodal distribution – only represents a little more than half of the relevant population in most years. While law is still a relatively high-paying profession, attending a Tier 1 law school is now a much riskier proposition than in years past.

Geographic Placement

The vast majority of King Hall graduates stay in California: 84% in 2007, 87% in 2008, and 76% in 2009 (a year in which 16% of graduates were reported as having “unknown” locations). While a few each year do scatter throughout the rest of the country, prospective students who are set on working in another state may do well to consider more regional options. Within California, most grads seem to stay in the north, although a large contingent also heads to Los Angeles. One student opines, “For some reason, almost all the public interest kids end up in Nor Cal, while the firm kids are about 60-40, Nor Cal-So Cal.”[xvii] This could be due to King Hall’s proximity to government and service organizations in Sacramento and the Bay Area and the importance of experience, commitment, and connections for public interest hiring. Some TLS members have indicated that finding work in Southern California markets besides Los Angeles – most notably, San Diego and Orange County – can be difficult without connections.

Career Services

Career Services, open five days a week, helps students and alumni with wide-ranging aspects of career exploration and job finding. Four of the six staff members are former practicing attorneys, and bring various areas of expertise to the office: Kirsten Hill, who has worked for legal aid organizations in Hawaii and California, directs public interest career planning, while Alison Shinsato, whose experience includes Biglaw and international criminal prosecution, helps clerkship applicants. Career Services also organizes On-Campus Interviews (OCI) and resume collections for both private and public employers.

Private Practice

Even at a school like UC-Davis, which carries a special reputation for public interest, law firms are by far the most common destination, employing a slight majority of recent grads in each of the past few years. Firms vary greatly in size, specialty, workplace culture and pay; although many small firms provide great environments and room for career advancement, the most sought-after private sector jobs for indebted law students continue to be associate positions with Biglaw firms. These jobs, which have always required good grades from UC-Davis applicants, have gotten even more competitive as the legal market has soured. Some firms now require top 10% grades for serious consideration, and even getting interviews with large firms can be tough for those outside of the top fifth or quarter of the class. In 2009, 2010, and 2011, 15% to 17% of each graduating class went to the 250 biggest law firms in the country as measured by the National Law Journal (placing the school 39^th, 29^th, and 29^th nationally).[xviii] This list, while by no means a comprehensive measure of high-paying employment (it leaves out some high-paying boutiques and students who do well-respected clerkship and then head into private practice), it is one of the best measures available of relative Biglaw placement power.

Clerkships

Many a successful lawyer has reported that “clerking” for a judge was the most rewarding experience of his career. Besides the prestige bump that working for a federal or state Supreme Court judge can impart, a clerkship year with almost any judge teaches familiarity with the court system, hones legal research and writing skills, and can lead to a valuable professional relationship with a powerful mentor. About 5% of each King Hall class has clerked in recent years, with somewhere around half of these clerks landing posts with coveted “Article III” judges. Besides good grades, judges typically look for law review membership, moot court success, or other credentials that suggest strong reasoning, writing, and editing skills.

Government and Public Interest

Among its peers, King Hall’s reputation for public interest is arguably unmatched. Since experience and commitment often trump grades for public service hiring, Davis’s clinical and externship programs are a serious advantage. According to Johnson, the school’s proximity to Sacramento – the “public policy capital of the seventh largest economy in the world – and the Bay Area provide students with ample networking and experiential opportunities as well.

The law school also confers certificates in Public Service Law and Pro Bono Service. Still, one student contends that King Hall’s public interest opportunities can’t be captured by concrete offerings like clinics and focused classes, as good as they may be:

Overall, the reason Davis is great for public interest-y students is not because of the courses...every school will have at least a few public interest classes. Rather, it's because so many students here are public interest minded, so there are tons of resources/connections for getting in the public interest field.[xix]

The percentage of students who go into public interest or government work – approaching one-quarter in some recent years – is significantly higher than most schools. For example, in 2008 Davis saw 23% of its graduates land public sector jobs of some capacity, compared with about 15% for the other three UC law schools in existence at that time.

Quality of Life

Davis is unquestionably dominated by university life, with the total university population (about 32,000) equal to about half of the total permanent population of 65,000. The university also employs over 30,000 people. As might be expected of a California college town, Davis is famously liberal and highly educated: it has often ranked as one of the top handfuls of U.S. cities in terms of percentage of residents with a college degree. The area’s feel is laidback and outdoorsy, with bike paths nearly everywhere and myriad parks dotting the landscape.

The city’s entertainment options do not scream “metropolis,” although big-name acts will sometimes play university events; however, there is variety to be had in terms of restaurants, and plenty of college bars. Many students head to San Francisco – 75 miles east – when they want a more exciting nightlife, or just a chance to escape law school for a while in one of the world’s great cities. Also within a relatively short drive are ski resorts at Lake Tahoe and world-class wine tasting at Napa and Sonoma. While Davis itself may not be the world’s exciting city, there is something to be said for going through stressful experiences in relaxing places, and a college town with a Mediterranean climate and easy access to Northern California’s many treasures offers plenty of chances for R&R.

Housing and Transportation

One student writes, “There are TONS of options for housing;” still, the university’s website recommends beginning the housing search before learning of admissions status in many cases due to low vacancy rates.[xx] There is some on-campus housing available to professional and graduate students, but the majority of law students live off-campus. Apartment complexes close to campus have the advantage of convenience – many walk or bike to class – but can be noisy due to the high number of undergrads. South Davis, though farther from the law school, is a popular option for those that want a quieter environment and is also less expensive; Sacramento offers still cheaper housing options. Owing to the Northern California location, rents can run higher than in most small towns, but deals can be had in the more distant neighborhoods (one TLS member reports paying $1,000 for a two-bedroom, a price more typical of a one-bedroom price closer to campus). Another TLS poster recommends looking into private rental agencies, as they can offer better values than many of the large apartment complexes.[xxi]

Depending on where one lives, bike and pedestrian paths can make having a car unnecessary. A reliable bus system costs $180 a year for grad students.

Conclusions

Students at King Hall are, as a rule, happy with friendly classmates, engaging professors, and an ethos that encourages cooperation and working toward the greater good. For those that don’t need big-city excitement, Davis is a charming place to study the law and enjoy the considerable fruits of living in California. The biggest stressors affecting UC Davis Law students – high tuition and a barren job market – are not unique to King Hall, although the dire budget problems in California surely deserve prospective students’ continued attention. Especially for students who want to work in the public interest in the state of California, UC Davis is worth a serious look.

Contact Information

UC Davis School of Law
 Admissions

400 Mrak Hall Drive

Davis, CA 95616-5201
Phone: (530) 752-6477
E-mail: admissions@law.ucdavis.edu

Quick Reference

U.S. News Ranking: 23 (tie)
Application Deadline: February 1
Application Fee: $75
Entering class size: 200
Student/Faculty Ratio: 12 to 1
LSAT 25^th – 50^th – 75^th percentiles: 162 – 164 – 167
GPA 25^th – 50^th – 75^th percentiles: 3.35 – 3.69 – 3.83
Tuition and Fees: $45,417 (resident), $53,554 (non-resident)

[i] UC Davis School of Law: Student Body Profile
[ii] LSAC Official Guide (2011)
[iii] This and all subsequent Kevin Johnson quotations are from his interview with TLS.
[iv] UC Davis School of Law: Frequently Asked Questions
[v] TLS Forums. Our staff and editors appreciate the invaluable contributions of the forum members quoted in this article. Quotations may be modified for length, clarity, or format.
[vi] UC Davis School of Law: How to Apply
[vii] UC Davis School of Law: Transfer Process
[viii] U.S. News & World Report data as organized by Law School Transparency
[ix] TLS Forums
[x] TLS Forums
[xi] UC Davis School of Law: Student Body Profile
[xii] UC Davis School of Law: Law School Regulations
[xiii] Brian Leiter's Law School Rankings, TaxProf Blog
[xiv] UC Davis School of Law: Academics and Clinicals
[xv] UC Davis School of Law: Masters Program Information
[xvi] U.S. News & World Report data as organized by Law School Transparency
[xvii] TLS Forums
[xviii] National Law Journal (2009, 2010, 2011)
[xix] TLS Forums
[xx] TLS Forums
[xxi] TLS Forums