An Introduction to Stanford Law School

Stanford in The Past

Stanford University, which was formerly known as Leland Stanford Junior University, was founded in 1885 by Leland and Jane Stanford. The University was named after the couple's only child - Leland Stanford Jr., who died just before entering college. After this traumatic event, the couple promptly devoted their personal fortune to establishing the now-famous university.

During that time, Europe outpaced the United States when it came to education. Therefore, Leland Stanford patterned the fledgling university to the great European universities. Portions of European architecture - as well as educational thought - were applied to the university. Today, both the buildings and curriculum of Stanford still show marks of their European descent.

Stanford in the Present

Stanford law school is currently one of the most prestigious centers of learning in the world. Situated on an 8,180-acre campus, it currently has around 6,800 undergraduate students and 8,000 graduate students. It is currently considered to be one of the toughest - if not the toughest - university to enter, with only 12% of all applicants admitted.

The relatively small number of students in Stanford should not be misinterpreted as some sort of exclusive club. Much of America - indeed, much of the world - is represented in this student body. With students coming from all fifty states and from sixty countries all over the world, it is clear that there is much diversification here. 

Students who wish to enter Stanford are evaluated based on a number of factors. The first criterion is a student's academic record. The second criterion deals more with a student's personal qualities and extracurricular achievements. The third criterion involves the scores achieved in a battery of tests: the SAT, SAT reasoning test, or the ACT. Those who wish to enter law school will need to present their LSAT scores. According to Stanford, they do not use any racial, religious, ethnic, geographic, or sex-related quotas in determining admissions.

Stanford Law

Along with schools such as Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, Stanford is considered to be one of the best law schools in the United States. Stanford's Law Department was founded in 1893; the Law School was established in 1908. With such a long history, its reputation is to be expected. Like its rival schools, Stanford Law has a knack for producing some of society's most well-known and respected leaders.

Part of Stanford's excellence stems from its selection process. As mentioned before, Stanford is one of the hardest schools to enter. Only the best of the best are admitted here. For instance, consider the student body of the Stanford Law School. The class of 2008 (admitted in 2005), has only 173 students. Of these, 95 are men and 78 are women, with an average age of 24. Their GPA ranges from 3.18 - 4.23, with LSAT scores of 162-180. However, don't let the numbers fool you.

You might think that a 3.18 GPA is too low for a supposedly high-caliber law school - and you would be right. But a closer examination of the records will reveal that Stanford will also accept applicants with slightly lower grades - but above average records. By "records," we don't simply mean grades - but the totality of an individual's experience and expertise. Thus, even those people who have been out of college for a relatively long period of time can be admitted to Stanford Law - provided that they have other things going for them. Indeed, about 70% of all accepted applicants have been out of school for a year or more.