Ranking boston university law school
University of San Diego. Chicago-Kent College of Law. Wayne State University. University of Oregon. University of New Hampshire School of Law. Louis University. Florida International Law School.
Michigan State University College of Law. Drexel University Kline School of Law. University of South Carolina. LSU Law School. University of New Mexico School of Law. Louisville Law. Marquette Law School. Hofstra Law. Stetson University. Drake Law School. Santa Clara University. Howard University School of Law.
Washburn University. University of Tulsa. Syracuse University College of Law. West Virginia University. Catholic Law. University of Mississippi School of Law. Texas Tech University. Chapman University School of Law. Albany Law School. Gonzaga Law. University of St. DePaul University College of Law. University of Montana Law School.
Quinnipiac University. University of Maine School of Law. University of Baltimore Law. Loyola University New Orleans. Mercer Law School. Duquesne Law. Seattle University. Belmont Law. Creighton School of Law. University of Wyoming. Pace University. University of Toledo. University of Idaho Law School. Suffolk University Law School. Vermont Law School. University of Memphis. University of South Dakota. University of Akron Law. Dayton Law School. Willamette University Collins.
Appalachian School of Law. Ave Maria School of Law. Barry University Law. California Western School of Law. Campbell Law School. Capital Law School. Charleston School of Law. Elon Law. Faulkner Law. Florida Coastal School of Law. Golden Gate University. Inter American University. Liberty University School of Law. Lincoln Memorial Duncan School of Law.
Pacific McGeorge School of Law. Mississippi College School of Law. Mitchell Hamline School of Law. New England Law Boston. New York Law School. Admissions selectivity rating. Faculty Information.
Academic experience rating. Professors interesting rating. Professors accessible rating. Options for those include a variety of traditional and niche areas of the law, including the Startup Law Clinic, in which students assist MIT and BU student entrepreneurs, and the Compassionate Release Practicum, in which students represent terminally ill and permanently disabled inmates petitioning for early release.
All externships are under the supervision of an attorney mentor and accompanied by a seminar, though students participating in an Independent Proposal Externship can complete a long paper and submit biweekly journals instead. Semester-in-practice placements give students the chance to study abroad, including a popular placement with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva.
To bring practice to the classroom, the school employs simulation courses, wherein legal tasks that are required to effectively represent a client in specific types of disputes or transactions are performed. Career overview. Career rating. On campus summer employment recruitment for first year JD students. The average student is probably 24 with a year of either work or graduate school, but there are also plenty of people who are either older or straight out of college.
People here are outgoing, laid back, and very intelligent. As an expensive, northeastern law school, BU has plenty of students from well-off East Coast backgrounds. However, one student claims that the law school does plenty to encourage a wide variety of heritages and experiences:.
In terms of geography and race, BU is very diverse. That goes for not just the law school but the whole university. BU is a very international school in general so the overall feel is very multicultural. There are quite a few people from California, Chicago, the Mid-Atlantic, etc. People came from pretty much all over.
As the TLS member quoted above suggests, the average age of entering 1L students is However, the ages of matriculating 1Ls spans two decades, from 21 to Like most other law schools, Boston University sets the first-year schedule of classes for students; however, upper-division students choose from over courses to round out their coursework. All 1Ls have to take civil procedure, constitutional law, contracts, criminal law, administrative law, property law, torts, and a research and writing program that spans the entire year.
Sections comprise about 75 students each, and are split into what BU Law calls "mini-sections" of about 50 students each. The writing courses are small, capped at 14 students per class, and progress from focusing on memos usually written for internal communication at law firms to more complex assignments as the year goes on.
All second-semester 1Ls participate in the J. Here, according to BU Law's website, students "conduct research, draft a brief, and present a case in oral argument before a panel of moot-court judges made up of faculty, lawyers and students. For these classes, there is no mandatory grade distribution. But for classes of 26 students or more, the following distribution applies:. BU Law students are enthusiastic about their professors; in fact, the law school ranks second in "Best Professors" in the latest Princeton Review rankings, based on nationwide student surveys.
These professors have also helped the law school place highly in the "Best Classroom Experience" category. In a study conducted by Leiter in , BU ranked 21 th among schools studied in scholarly impact as measured by citations. Many future law students tremble at the specter of cold-calling, imagining an experience like that of James Hart in The Paper Chase.
Current BU students do not seem to live in fear, and one notes that there is more to modern law teaching than Kingsfield-esque Socratic grilling:. BU has a pretty solid mix of professorial strategies and doesn't seem to favor one over the other.
Roughly one-third stick to the classic Socratic method with varying degrees of difficulty. A small percentage, maybe one-tenth or so, seem to be lecturers; they are rare, but they do exist. Most professors use a hybrid method, nearly all incorporating some form of the traditional "on call. One professor with a particularly unique teaching style is Mark Pettit, who teaches Contracts.
To help keep the material interesting, he will sing the details of cases to the tunes of commonly-known songs. Professor Pettit only sings lyrics written by his students, underscoring the high degree of student-faculty collaboration common at BU Law.
A current student writes:. I find my professors really help engage me with the material and they are super good teachers, probably the best I've ever had.
I would say most of the teachers are very structured. As for teaching styles, all of the professors do their variation of the socratic method. Some are more heavy on facts, other heavy on IRAC analysis, and others heavy on lofty theories and ideas.
It depends on the professor and the class. If you look at any of our professors' publications, you will always see at least one or two students mentioned in the dedication. What's even more notable, however, is the number of professors you'll see credited in the dedications of our students' publications. Our professors nurture and support students and encourage them to pursue each student's own passion in the law You'll find our professors at the numerous events that happen at the Tower every week, sometimes as audience members, but often as panelists or presenters.
You'll find them out to lunch or dinner with current students and alumni. You'll find them running in the BU Law 5K, auctioning off themselves at the annual Public Interest Auction, and traveling with students to do public-interest work around the country.
BU Law has a relatively low student-to-faculty ratio of , giving students plenty of chances to get to know their talented instructors. Boston University's tax law and intellectual property law are nationally recognized ranked 7 and 9, respectively, by U. There is also a foreign exchange program, and a student notes that, "The international program is expanding, adding new countries and internship possibilities [including] the International Criminal Court and EU antitrust.
Students at BU Law have many options if they want to pursue a dual degree, including a number of programs that can be completed in six semesters in the Graduate Tax Program, Graduate Program in Banking and Financial Law, English, History, and Philosophy.
Employers in certain fields may look favorably on dual degrees: for example, policy-oriented public-interest employers may value an M.
However, some traditional employers may view a second degree as indicating flight risk or a lack of focus, so interested candidates should think carefully about their reasons for pursuing a dual degree before spending their time and money. For a law school with only students per class, BU Law has a large variety of available externships and clinics.
This makes sense for a law school that founded one of the nation's first clinical programs, the Voluntary Defender's project. Government Lawyering. BU also grants students some autonomy in finding their own externship opportunities. Interested applicants can find more details on BU's website. In addition to its degree programs, BU Law offers a wide variety of non-degree legal English programs, online programs, certificate programs and summer programs.
The Law Review is considered the "flagship" publication, requiring the best credentials for membership and carrying the most heft with potential employers. Journal members are selected on first-year grades as well as the results of a writing competition held after 1L year. Journal members spend much of their time editing and cite-checking publications from established scholars, but many also have opportunities to develop their resumes and research skills by publishing notes.
More information about BU Law's student-edited publications can be found here. As mentioned above, all first-year students are required to compete in the J. Those who enjoy the experience can continue as upper-years in the Edward C. Court of Appeals judges in the final round. BU-sponsored teams also compete against those from other law schools at regional and national competitions, described in more detail here.
The Student Government Association allows students to exercise significant influence over their extracurricular lives, including allocating funds and planning social events. Additionally, over thirty student organizations encourage classmates to get together over common interests, whether they relate to career goals, common backgrounds, or simply shared hobbies.
The law school complex encompasses the Sumner M. Redstone Building, a 93,square-foot, five-story classroom building that opened in , and the story law tower, which re-opened in after a complete renovation. The Redstone Building faces a paved entry forecourt off the main east-west pedestrian path, which has been landscaped with trees and plantings and features angular benches that complement the design of the building.
The space between the law tower and Pappas Law Library has been redesigned to emphasize the visual connection between the original and new entrances to the School. Students, faculty, staff, and visitors enjoy a host of first-class facilities and modern amenities. The Redstone Building houses the Samuel M.