UC Irvine School of Law Attracts Another Top 20-Caliber Class of Students

05-03-2010

IRVINE, Calif., May 3, 2010 — UC Irvine School of Law has recruited a class of students with credentials comparable to classes at law schools ranking in the top 20 in the nation. This class of 93 students, the new school’s second class, has grades and LSAT scores similar to those of the 60-student inaugural class, which was also on par with classes at top 20 law schools.

The incoming class of 2013, which will begin course work in August, has undergraduate grade point averages of 3.38 in the 25th percentile and 3.79 in the 75th percentile. The class has LSAT scores of 163 in the 25th percentile and 169 in the 75th percentile. Last year’s inaugural class had grade point averages of 3.43 in the 25th percentile and 3.76 in the 75th percentile; its LSAT scores were 164 in the 25th percentile and 168 in the 75th percentile. These numbers would place the second class again among the top 20 law schools, according to the latest figures available from U.S. News & World Report.

“We were able to attract such a high-quality second class in large part because of the strength of our faculty, which was just ranked No. 9 in the country in terms of scholarly impact, and our wonderful inaugural class, which is the best group of students I have seen in 30 years of teaching,” said Erwin Chemerinsky, the school’s founding dean.

UC Irvine School of Law, which opened in August 2009, will not be ranked by U.S. News & World Report until it is fully accredited by the American Bar Association, which can take five years or more. The school is currently seeking provisional accreditation and could receive it during the 2010-11 school year. The 93 students who have committed to enrolling in August came from a group of 174 accepted students. This gives the school a yield of more than 50%, which traditionally is better than all other law schools except Yale and Harvard, according to American Bar Association statistics.

The class of 2013 will receive half-tuition scholarships, paid for from private donations, while the inaugural class of 2012 got full-tuition scholarships, also from private funds.

The class of 2013 consists of 47% students of color (Asian-American, Latino and African-American), making it one of the most diverse law school classes in the country. Women make up 47% of the class.

To help fill out the courses in its upper-level curriculum, the Law School will be considering applications from second-year transfer students from ABA-accredited law schools. Applications are available on the Transfer Students page and can be submitted from May 1 to July 1. The Law School will slowly increase the size of each class until eventually students number about 200 in each of three years.

CONTACT: Rex Bossert, Assistant Dean for Communications, rbossert@law.uci.edu; (949) 824-3063.

ABOUT UC IRVINE SCHOOL OF LAW

UC Irvine seeks to create the ideal law school for the 21st century by doing the best job of training lawyers for the practice of law at the highest levels of the profession. The school’s innovative curriculum stresses experiential learning, interdisciplinary study and public service.