The University Law School’s Class of 2011 is being heralded as one of the most talented and accomplished in the school’s history by Law School administrators.
Law School Dean Paul Mahoney said the school’s newest class boasts the best median Law School Admissions Test score (170) and grade-point average (3.8) ever for an incoming University Law School class.
The 370 first-year Law students also were chosen from an applicant pool of 6,548 prospective students, the largest in the Law School’s history, said Jason Wu Trujillo, senior assistant dean for admissions and financial aid. According to Trujillo, the school saw an approximately 20-percent increase in applications.
Trujillo also said the Class of 2011 is 44 percent female, the second highest proportion in the Law School’s history. Members of the newest Law School class also come from 43 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and three foreign countries, and graduated from 132 undergraduate schools.
“We tried to do more outreach,” Trujillo said, noting that those efforts to attract more students — and more qualified and diverse students — were largely successful. “We used to just admit people and they would come.”
Mahoney also emphasized the Law School’s efforts to attract the nation’s top students.
“We’ve been working very hard to make sure the potential applicants understand that we have one of the strongest faculties in the country,” Mahoney said. “We have unusually gifted teachers and they are unusually devoted to teaching.”
Mahoney added that the increase in applications and in the quality of the applications can be credited to more than just the short-term academic experience. He said students come to the University’s Law School looking for more than just a legal education; they come seeking future employment opportunities.
“We have had a record of extraordinary career success among our graduates,” Mahoney said. “And when you put all of those things together and then recognize that students here actually enjoy themselves in Law School — which is not the case everywhere — it makes a very compelling case.”
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