Golden Gate University

The law school is located on the parent university's main campus in downtown San Francisco in the middle of the city's Financial, South Beach, Union Square neighborhoods. The school's campus is only 1.6 miles from the Civil Division of the Superior Court of California for the County of San Francisco, 1.4 miles from the Criminal Division of the Superior Court of California for the County of San Francisco, 1.2 miles from the headquarters of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit at the James R. Browning courthouse, and 1.5 miles from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California (federal trial court).

San Francisco is the 13th most populous city in the U.S. and has a very large legal community. There are about 43 large law firms (250+ attorneys), 44 medium sized firms (50 - 249 attorneys), and 107 smaller sized firms (10 - 49 attorneys). There are over 650 alumni practicing in the area, including a significant number who are corporate counsel for some of the largest publicly traded corporations and technology firms in the nation as well as associates and partners at some of the largest law firms.

Overall, Golden Gate University is in a great location near the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, by far the busiest of all the Circuits, and is in the heart of one of the largest legal communities in the nation.

	Golden Gate University
Public or Private	Private
Tuition	$34,500
Acceptance Rate	62.9%
State Bar Pass Rate	California, July 2008 77% (Avg. CA bar pass rate for all CA ABA law schools, 83%.) (Avg. Bar Pass rate for all first time takers, 75%)
Employment Rate after 9 mos. from Graduation	77.6%
Employment Rate at Graduation	Not Available
Average Salary for Graduates in the Private Sector	$65,000
Student Body Population	538
LSAT score bottom 25th percentile of incoming class	150
LSAT score top 25th percentile of incoming class	154
Median LSAT of incoming class	152
Bottom 25th percentile of incoming class undergraduate GPA (UGPA)	2.82
Top 25th percentile of incoming class UGPA	3.38
Median UGPA	3.09

The Golden Gate University School of Law is a fourth tier law school that was founded in 1901 and is located near the South Beach neighborhood of San Francisco. In addition to the full time day program the law school offers a part time evening program that allows students to complete their Juris Doctor (J.D.) in four years. In 1998, the law school developed the innovative Honors Lawyering program that gives students the opportunity to work in a full time apprenticeship during the summer and fall semesters of their second year and another in their third year. This program gives students real world experience by giving them the opportunity to earn class credit and to representing clients (under professor supervision) through the California Bar's Certified Legal Intern program. In addition to real world experience this program seems to have greatly helped students bar studies and as of the July 2008 bar exam 90% of all former participants in the Honors Lawyering Program passed the California Bar Exam. The law school offers several Masters of Law programs and even a Scientiae Juridicae Doctor, or Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD) in International Legal Studies. The law school also offers a joint MBA/JD program and a JD/PhD in clinical psychology degree in conjunction with its parent university. There are two on-site clinical programs at the law school: the Environmental law and Justice Clinic and the Women's Employment Rights Clinic.

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The law school's grading system employs a 4.0 scale with a corresponding letter grade i.e.:

A= 4.0
A-=3.5
B= 3.0
B-= 2.5
C= 2.0
C-= 1.5
D= 1.0
F= 0.0

The mandatory grading curve for most first year courses requires each class to have the following grade distribution:

A- and above = at least 5% but no more than 20% of the course grades

B- and above = at least 45% but no more than 70% of the course grades

C- and below = at least 10% but no more than 20% of the course grades

D and below = can equal 0% and up to 5% of the course grades

Overall, for first year courses the curve is about a B- and up depending on the professor. It seems very flexible and is not really a forced grading curve. It is very possible to have a B curve as the professors could give out 70% B's in any given course according to the distribution requirement. The first year curve seems much better than many other fourth tier law schools.

For second and third year courses required courses the law school requires the following grading distribution:

A- and above = at least 5% but no more than 30% of the course grades

B- and above = at least 45% but no more than 75% of the course grades

C- and below = at least 10% but no more than 20% of the course grades

The upper division grading curve for required courses seems a little easier and gives the professors a little more flexibility. Again, the curve seems much easier than many other fourth tier grading curves.

Overall, the grading curve seems fair and could positively affect a graduates employment prospects as compared with other lower ranked law schools.