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St. Mary's University
School of Law
Location
The St. Mary's University law campus is located on the grounds of the parent university's campus in San Antonio. The campus is about 6.3 miles from the Bexar County Courthouse, 6.0 miles from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas (Federal court house), and 5.7 miles from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

San Antonio is the second most populated city in Texas and the seventh most populated city in the U.S. There are about eight large firms (250+ attorneys) and five medium sized firms (50 - 249 attorneys). The law school has over 1400 alumni practicing in the area, including a number of whom are partners at some of the most prominent law firms in the city, act as corporate counsel for large publicly traded corporations.
  St. Mary's University
Public or
Private
 Private                      
Tuition $26,350                  
Acceptance
Rate
 51.1%                        
State Bar
Pass Rate
Texas, July 2008            
87%
 
(Overall pass
 rate for Texas 80.27%)                 
Employment
Rate after
9 mos. from
Graduation
81.9%                       
Employment
Rate at
Graduation
Not Made Available           
By the School                 
Average Salary
for Graduates in
the Private Sector
  
$67,500                    
Student Body
Population
 699                    
LSAT score
bottom
25th percentile of
incoming class
 149                        
LSAT score
top
25th percentile of
incoming class
 156                         
Median LSAT
of incoming class
 153                         
Bottom 25th
percentile of
incoming class
undergraduate
GPA (UGPA)
 2.8                         
Top 25th
percentile of
incoming class
UGPA
 3.41                        
Median UGPA 3.11                  
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St. Mary's University law school is a fourth tier law school located in San Antonio, Texas. The larger university bills itself as a Catholic and Marianist Liberal Arts instituion. In conjunction with its parent university the law school offers JD/MBA, JD/MT(Master of Arts in Theology), JD/MPA(Master of Arts in Public Administration), JD/IR(Master of Arts in International Relations). A number of alumni work in prominent large law firms, act as corporate counsel for large corporations, and have been appointed federal judgeships. The school has an Office of Academic Excellence that helps first year law students adapt to the rigors of law school and assists second and third year students with law school and bar preparation tutoring. This seems like an excellent program that can be very beneficial to any law student.
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Grading System
The grading system is on a 10 level scale using letter grades (i.e. A, A-, B+, B-,C+,C,C-,D,F) with a corresponding numerical value e.g. A =4.0, A- = 3.67, B+ =3.33 B- = 2.67, C+ = 2.33, C- = 1.67.
     For first year courses the median grade for each class must be a C+ or 2.33.
     In first year courses at least 10% of the grades must be in the C-, D, and F range, but may not be more than 20% of the grades in the course.
     Also, for first year courses at least 10% of the grades must be in the A, A-, and B+ range, but not be more than 20% of the grades in the course.
    For first year legal writing and research courses, no more than 20% of the grades may be in the B+ to A range, and no more than 20% of the grades may be in the F to C- range.

For second and third year courses, if there are more than 20 students in a course, the median grade must be a B- or 2.67.
    For second and third year courses larger than 20 students, no more than 15% of the grades may be A-'s or A's.
    For second and third year courses larger than 20 students, no more than 15% of the grades may be a C- or lower.

For second and third year courses, with at least 9 students
but no more than 20 students, the median grade must be a B-(2.67) or B(3.0). No other forced curve requirements apply.

For second and third year courses, with less than 8 students, the median grade must be a B+, B, or B-. No other forced curve requirements apply.

Overall, for first year students, the curve is a C+ and seems very difficult. The curve seems difficult even for upper division courses as the curve may be a B- or B (if it is a very small course). As most students will be within the median it seems that most students will have around a 2.5 GPA when they graduate. This seemingly very difficult grading curve may make it difficult for graduates to earn an associate position because their GPA may be lower than expected for a prospective associate attorney.