UCLA School of Law - A Highly Rated School of Law: Overview and Admissions Requirements

Summary

UCLA School of Law is one of the premier legal education institutions in the nation. Located in Los Angeles, California, it is a Law School within the University of California system. Established in 1949, UCLA Law offers a variety of diverse degree programs and is consistently ranked at the top of many of the nation's best law schools.


The Law School is committed to excellence in legal education, promoting personal and professional growth, and advancing the public interest. As part of the UCLA campus, students have access to an array of academic and social resources, including labs, research centers, and libraries. UCLA Law also provides a vast array of extracurricular activities and clinical opportunities, such as a pro bono program, moot court participation, and law journals.

UCLA Law is accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA) and is a member of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS). The school's curriculum focuses on providing students with the highest quality of legal education. By offering a variety of courses, including international law, constitutional law, and public interest law, the school ensures that each student receives an individualized education. Additionally, UCLA Law offers an extensive array of specialized courses and clinical experiences, allowing students to gain real-world experience and practice the law.

UCLA Law's faculty is composed of distinguished practitioners, scholars, and educators. Each faculty member has extensive experience and expertise in their respective fields and works to ensure that students receive the best legal education possible. Beyond the classroom, faculty members offer students workshops, extensive research opportunities, and mentorship.

UCLA Law attracts a wide array of top-notch students from across the nation. Through its innovative programs, resources, and faculty, the school provides its students with an education that is unequaled. Whether students are looking to enter the private sector, pursue a career in public service, or advance their education, UCLA Law offers a unique and high-level of legal education. UCLA School of Law is an elite legal institution renowned for providing quality legal education and producing exceptional lawyers.
 

UCLA School Of Law: A Place Of Excellence And Success

Established in 1949, the UCLA School of Law is one of the premier institutions in the United States for legal education. The school, located in Los Angeles, California provides students with an outstanding legal education, emphasizing a comprehensive and interdisciplinary approach to the law. The school is dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in scholarship and the advancement of justice and the rule of law. Since its inception, the UCLA School of Law has provided an excellent educational experience to its students and a valuable resource to the greater Los Angeles community.
 

UCLA Law: A Leader In Legal Education

With an esteemed faculty, cutting-edge curriculum, distinguished alumni, and an outstanding reputation, the UCLA School of Law continues to be a leader in legal education. The school's faculty is committed to providing students with the best possible legal education, and works to ensure that the school is continually evolving to meet the changing needs of the legal profession. The school's curriculum is innovative, comprehensive, and provides students with the necessary skills to succeed in a variety of legal fields, including litigation, private practice, government service, and public interest law. The UCLA School of Law is constantly pushing the boundaries of legal education to ensure that it remains the preeminent destination for legal education in the United States.
 

UCLA Law Admissions: An Eligibility Credential

Admission to the UCLA School of Law is highly competitive. Applicants must demonstrate a strong academic record, a commitment to legal education, and a successful record of professional accomplishment. The admissions process is designed to identify those applicants who are the most qualified and have the potential to make significant contributions to their chosen field of law.
 

UCLA Law Alumni: Making A Name For Themselves

UCLA Law alumni have excelled in the legal profession, making a name for themselves in law firms, corporations, government offices, and the judiciary. The school's alumni have achieved success in a wide range of fields, from litigation to private practice, and from public interest law to intellectual property law. UCLA law alumni are highly sought after for their expertise and counsel, making them an invaluable resource in the legal profession.

UCLA's reputation as a unique public institution needs little introduction. As the only university among the top 10 research institutions formed within the 20th century, UCLA is deemed an academic success story worldwide. The law school is no different. Welcoming its first class in 1949, the law school is several years younger than its nationally ranked counterparts. However, in this short time span, UCLA School of Law has become an indispensable part of the legal community, providing top-notch graduates to the biggest national and local firms, government agencies and judicial departments, and cutting edge research and scholarship in innovative fields like Critical Race Theory, Law and Religion, and American Indian Law. In addition to the J.D., the LL.M and the numerous joint degrees and concentration certificates offered, UCLA also provides the opportunity to earn an S.J.D., a highly selective doctorate degree for accomplished legal scholars and academics.

Given UCLA's variable degree offerings and a faculty that collectively boasts over 50 specialties — including such innovative fields as Law and Psychiatry and Legal Access — the law school could have excelled among the ranks of the top law schools even without its stellar location. However, those fortunate enough to attend this top school enjoy a virtual urban oasis, a large full service campus with several research libraries, lush green glades and architecture inspired by some of the most famous landmarks from around the world. As if that wasn't enough, UCLA is five miles from some of the most picturesque beaches on the Pacific Ocean, a cornucopia of cultural activities including theatre, arts and, of course, the movies. Students here often find their campus covered with snow to depict various locations in motion pictures and occasionally even adorned by a sign for a campus far away. Westwood village, UCLA's location, is also home to the historic Fox Theatre, which routinely hosts premieres for some of Hollywood's biggest blockbusters. Its proximity to Hollywood allows students to actually live the movies at the famous Sunset Strip, with such infamous clubs as the Viper Room and the Whiskey just 15 to 20 minutes away from campus.

With such a veritable paradise for both intellectual and career advancement and general enjoyment of life, it is no wonder that UCLA is one of the most difficult law schools to gain admittance to. Even though UCLA School of Law ranks at number 16 on the US News and World Report annual rankings of law schools, it is number 7 in the nation among the most difficult schools to gain admission to, with only Boalt Law in front of it among public schools. Each year UCLA Law attracts a lively, talented, diverse, and well-rounded student population, eager to begin its law school experience. While the entering class size of 305 is somewhat large, the student-faculty ratio of 14:1 is quite reasonable. Students mingle at many school-sponsored events and are said to be quite helpful to each other, yet students know that the need to be highly competitive on exams still remains quite real, since UCLA Law's grading system is an anomaly among top tier schools, and fosters little to no grade inflation.

Aside from the usual fare that legal education offers, UCLA students can specialize in several certificate programs, acquire joint degrees and write for one of the twelve law review-caliber publications. The UCLA Law Review is the most prestigious and sought after publication of the bunch, with extensive circulation rolls nationwide.

UCLA Law boasts an impressive employment rate of 95% for its graduates. However, such numbers are to be expected from a top rated school. What is truly impressive is the rate at which UCLA graduates enter all aspects of the legal community, including public life. Among the 110 appointments to the Superior Court bench made by Gov. Gray Davis in 2001 and 2002, more than 10 percent were UCLA Law alumni (including the first Vietnamese-American and Korean-American women appointed to the state bench). In addition, the governor elevated two other Bruins to seats on the state Court of Appeals and one was confirmed for the U.S. District Court. More than 12,000 UCLA Law alumni, work in coveted positions in the greater Los Angeles area and around the world as attorneys in public and private practice, business executives, writers, journalists, professors and academic administrators.

UCLA Law truly offers a unique and rewarding experience for its students, which is as exciting and eclectic as Los Angeles itself. With a diverse student body and a faculty that is hand picked from the cream of the legal field, this law school provides an extremely distinguished alumni base. A group of individuals who have not only excelled in undergraduate work to gain admittance to law school, but continued to prove themselves in law school through fierce competition among formidable peers. In addition, UCLA School of Law, in keeping with the spirit of UCLA as a premier research institution, provides some of the most cutting edge legal scholarship in the field.