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Hamline University School of Law William Mitchell College of Law
University of Minnesota Law School
Introduction
Purpose Statement
Research
Methods
Findings
Tables of Comparison Clinics Interview Summaries
Recommendations (ranking of schools)
Prospective Law Students
Looking to attend a school in the metro area of Minneapolis and St. Paul
Current law students who would like to transfer to the metro area
Other Interested Parties
Here it is!
1. Hamline University School of Law
2. William Mitchell College of Law
3. University of Minnesota Law School
Choosing a graduate school is a difficult task
Requires research Personal interviews Requires more research
Inadequate research = Inadequate decisions
You might enroll with a school that does not match your needs
I will do the first few steps of research for you
Present and explain each school’s rankings
From accredited news sources
Personal interviews with students and advisors
Research of each school’s websites
In other words, I’ll summarize the information presented into short, easy sentences
Present information objectively
Help you study
Take your LSAT
Visit each campus
Give you personal opinions
Browsed each school’s website
Determined criteria to compare each school
This information is given in a “student profile” Example: LSAT score, GPA, bar passage rate, tuitino, etc.
Constructed a set of interview questions
Interviewed two advisers and four law students
Reviewed information and researched even more
Interviewing process helped give a better idea of criteria to use in evaluation of each school
Formulated a recommendation based on the pre-specified criteria
Tuition
LSAT score
LSAT median
GPA
GPA Median
Average class size
Minnesota bar passage rate
School ranking
Student-to-faculty ratio
*All criteria was used to compare schools objectively. Occasionally one school did not supply a given criteria.
LSAT = Law School Admissions Test
Tiers (huh?)
Tiers are separated by characteristics such as: bar passage rate, assessment scores by lawyers and judges, acceptance rate, employment rate for graduates, student-to-faculty ratio, etc.
Each characteristic is weighted differently There are four tiers The first tier contains the 105 highest ranked schools Schools ranked after 105 are not given a ranking
Matriculated class
This term refers to students who are currently enrolled into the law school
Median = the middle score in a range
Range of 100-105 Median = 103
LSAT 25-75 percentile
This statistic gives the two LSAT scores, or the range, that 50% of enrolled students achieved. The other 50% of the students in the class achieved a lesser or better score than the two given scores; the 50 percentile is split equally. 25% of the students scored lower than the lowest number given and 25% of the students scored higher than the highest number given.
Example, please?
LSAT 25-75 percentile: 155-162 25% of the students achieved a LSAT score of less than 155 25% of the students achieved a LSAT score higher than 162 The rest of the students achieved scores within the range of
155-162
School Tuition LSAT 25-75
Percentile
LSAT Median
GPA GPA Median
Hamline
$30,096 FT$21,670 PT
152-158 155 3.17-3.63 3.43
William Mitchell
$15,325 FT$11,090 PT
153-158 156 3.22-3.71 3.53
U of M $21,900 Resident*$32,303 Non-res.
163-167 166 3.29-3.82 3.61
*There is an extra fee of $5,740 for all law students at the University of Minnesota Law School. This fee includes health insurance and a required student laptop that contains all programs necessary to succeed at the University of Minnesota and technical support.
School Average Class Size
MN Bar Passage Rate
Ranking Student:Faculty Ratio
Application
Deadline
Hamline
234 88.00% No RankingTier 3
14.6:1 April 1
William Mitchell
323 96.70% No RankingTier 4
No information available
May 1
U of M 233 97.89% 22nd Tier 1
12:1 April 1
Child AdvocacyEducation Law Employment Discrimination Mediation Health LawImmigration Law Innocence ProjectMediationSmall Business/Non-profit State Public DefenderStudent Director Trial Practice
Business Law ClinicCivil Advocacy ClinicCommunity Development ClinicCriminal Appeals ClinicCriminal Justice ClinicImmigration Law ClinicIntellectual Property Law ClinicLaw and Psychiatry Clinic (with the University of
Minnesota Medical School)Legal Assistance to Minnesota Prisoners (LAMP)
ClinicLAMP/The Reentry ClinicLegal Planning Clinic for Tax-Exempt Organizations
and Low Income Clients (formerly Tax Planning Clinic)
Misdemeanor Clinic
Bankruptcy
Child Advocacy
Civil Practice
Consumer Protection
Criminal Appeals
Domestic Assault
Prosecution
Federal Housing
Immigration
Indian Child Welfare William Mitchell
Innocence ProjectMisdemeanor DefenseMisdemeanor
ProsecutionMulti-Disciplinary
Business LawPublic Interest LawSpecial EducationTax Worker’s Rights
Interviews were done over email or over the phone.
Three Students surveyed from William Mitchell College of Law (WMCL)
One student surveyed from Cornell Law School
A
ll students were in their first or second year
Average class size: 85 students
S
maller writing classes range from 12-30 students
Balance of personal time with school work
Some students indicated that they had no personal time regardless of their first or second year
Students with part-time jobs indicated that they had difficulty with time management.
Hours of class work expected from students
Calculation: 1 class period = 3 hours outside of class Average: 30-45 hours of studying per week
Teaching methods utilized by professors
In order of most-used: lecture, Socratic Method, some discussion
S
tudy individually or in groups? WMCL
Both Cornell
Individual studying is most common
Most challenging part of being a law student (in order of the most common challenge)
Balancing school work load with personal time Not receiving feedback on performance until the end of the
semester
Other advice (in order of most commonly mentioned)
Be prepared to work hard Work hard
Visit campuses to get a feel for the environment (since you will be spending a lot of time there)
Worry less about other people and worry more about what you can control
Research schools and the legal profession Understand opportunities available Understand economics (public interest law – go for public
schools bc they will cost less. Other forms of law – private schools, tuition is more)
Make sure it is something you want to do
What kind of academic and career opportunities do you make available to your students while in school?
Nuts & Bolts Class: resumes, cover letters, networking, individual counseling
Career Exploration Classes: lawyers and alumni from the community come in to talk about what they do
Going to Work Classes: Students learn about the social norms in law firms and how to act and react to others once they get out into the working field
Post job openings through a network called “Simplicity”
Provide off campus interview programs for firms that are looking to hire law students
What is the single biggest issue that students struggle with? “Idea of wanting to be a lawyer” Not many students come in with clear cut goals 40% of students “think they know what they want to do
and have a GENERAL idea about their goals.” Major issue: the amount of debt that students struggle with
What is the teaching style of professors at your school? Old style: Socratic Method U of M Law School doesn’t “use that so much anymore
because it can either work really well or not work really well.”
Beyond achieving a good LSAT score, what other types of characteristics do law schools look for on an application? Holistic review of every application (in order of
importance) Personal Statement LSAT & GPA Volunteer work Leadership experiences Letter of recommendation
Approximately how many hours per week are
students expected to put towards school work? For every hour of class, students should plan on
studying two hours outside of class First year students take 14 credits per semester
What is the most common question you receive from prospective students? Scholarships (eligibility) and how to pay for education Job opportunities that Hamline offers
If you could only give one piece of advice to prospective students, what would it be? Learn to write well and be able to express yourself through
writing and speaking The application process at Hamline weighs most of its decision based
on the personal statement which indicates that Hamline looks for students with strong writing skills
What is the single biggest issue that students struggle with? Time management
Remember our criteria
Tuition LSAT score LSAT median GPA GPA Median Average class size Minnesota bar passage rate School ranking Student-to-faculty ratio
This means that they look primarily at your LSAT and GPA scores
Why does Hamline do their application process differently? They focus on personal statements and writing
abilities Also focus on other extracurriculars
Remember the bottom line: can you pass the bar?
Hamline had the lowest score WMCL and the U of M were within 1.19% of each other
Regardless of ‘tier’
Think of extra opportunities
Clinics Job Opportunities
The “working hard” trend
WMCL and the U of M approximated 3 hours of homework for every hour of class
Hamline approximated 2 hours of homework for every hour of class What does this say about the work ethic and challenges presented
to students?
1. University of Minnesota Law School
2. William Mitchell College of Law
3. Hamline University School of Law
Determine which kind of law you would like to practice
Visit the campuses
Don’t be afraid to ask questions
Talk to advisers and current students Take their advice They have already been through the experience
Study for the LSAT