U.S. News & World Report ranking has put Yale University's Law School at #1 for several years. Small class sizes and an honorable faculty are just a couple reasons Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut has long been one of the most prestigious law schools in the United States. Only 250 of over 3,000 applicants to the Law School are accepted each year. Over 97% of Yale's Law Students pass the bar on the first try, and 99% of students are employed nine months after graduation. Despite strict and rigorous academic evaluations, there are no letter grades at Yale Law School. Programs offered at the school include Public Interest, Business and Corporate Law, and International law. The website Top Law Schools notes that the average undergraduate GPA for applicants accepted into Yale Law was between 3.82 and 3.96, and average LSAT scores range between 170 and 176 points.
Ranked second among United States law schools by US News & World Report, Harvard University Law School is one of the largest with nearly 1,800 total JD candidates enrolled. In addition to a long history of demanding academics and impressive connections, Harvard Law also boasts diversity. At least 1/3 of students self-identify as "students of color and Harvard Law has a "well-balanced" gender ratio according to the Top Law Schools website. Additionally, Harvard Law has a long list of extracurricular activities for law students, various special-interest law societies and a pro-bono requirement. Undergraduate GPAs for Harvard Law School first year students were between 3.76 and 3.96, and LSAT scores were between 171 and 176 on average.
Stanford Law School was ranked 3rd among Law Schools in the United States. Only about 170 of the 4,000 yearly applicants to Stanford University are accepted. According to the website Top Law Schools, Stanford Law School's professors "were ranked third most interesting and fifth most accessible from the results of student surveys." Further testament to the school's outstanding professors: six of Stanford's 47 full-time faculty professors rank among the 100 most influential lawyers in the United States. The beautiful California atmosphere does not hurt student's quality of life ratings either. "Who could resist a world-class law school in paradise?" asks former Stanford Law Dean Kathleen Sullivan. Over 98% of Stanford graduates have a job at graduation. The median LSAT score for admitted Standford Law students is 170. The median undergraduate GPA is 3.87 on a 4.00 scale.
Columbia University in New York City is the third Ivy League university that boasts a top five law school. With only 1,200 of the school's 8,500 applicants receiving acceptance letters, Columbia Law School is one of the largest in the country. Law students at Columbia may also enroll in Columbia's other highly-ranked graduate programs, and Columbia Law especially prides itself in its intellectual property and tax law programs. Over 95% of Columbia Law graduates pass the bar exam on their first attempt. Columbia Law School's median LSAT is 172, and the median undergraduate GPA was 3.72.
The University of Chicago Law School ranks 5th by both the US News & World Report College Rankings and by hiring law firms on the Vault's survey. The University of Chicago's Law School is different from most other law schools in that it operates on a quarter schedule--allowing students to take a wider range of classes during the academic year. A few of the strongest focuses include: Law and Economics, Corporate and Transactional Law, and Legal History. LSAT scores for the incoming 2011 were between 169 and 173. Undergraduate GPAs for new University of Chicago Law students were between 3.57 and 3.79 on average.