California Dreaming

Graduate School Law School
1

<p>Pretty much anyone can practice law in California. California has correspondence schools, night schools, and schools that no other state would accredit. Where you go to law school matters, however. Here are the bar results for July 2004 for people taking the California bar for the first time. If we use a traditional grading scale of 90 - 100 for a grade of A, etc. then the grades for these schools is listed as follows:</p>

<p>F, California Western School of law, 50%
D+, Chapman University School of law, 67%
F, Golden Gate University School of law, 32%
B-, Hastings College of the Law, 81%
D , Loyola Law School -- Los Angeles, 67%
D+, McGeoge School of law, 69%
C, Pepperdine University School of Law, 74%
D, Santa Clara University School of Law, 67%
F, Southwestern University School of Law, 57%
A-, Stanford University School of Law, 91%
F, Thomas Jefferson School of Law, 37%
B+, UC- Berkeley, 87%
C, UC- Davis, 76%
B+, UCLA, 87%
C-, U. of San Diego School of Law, 70%
D, U of San Francisco School of Law, 65%
B-, U. Southern California, 80%
F, Western State University College of Law, 49%
F, Whittier Law School, 41%</p>

<p>If you want to increase your chances of passing the bar, select your law school wisely.</p>

2

<p>1.Hastings Pass 276 Took 340 81%</p>

<p>2.UCLA Pass 237 Took 273 87%</p>

<p>3.Loyola Pass 221 Took 329 67%</p>

<p>4.Berkeley Pass 208 Took 238 87%</p>

<p>5.U SD Pass 170 Took 240 70%</p>

<p>6.USC Pass 155 Took 193 80%</p>

<p>7.McGeorge Pass 154 Toook 222 69%</p>

<p>8.Santa Clala Pass 141 Took 212 67%</p>

<p>9.Davis Pass 128 Took 169 76%</p>

<p>10.USF Pass 114 Took 176 65%</p>

<p>11.SW Pass 113 Took 199 57%</p>

<p>12.Pepperdine Pass 99 Took 134 74%</p>

<p>13.Stanofrd Pass 85 Took 93 91%</p>

3

<p>Of course Law School rankings are not based on that type of scale. The Cal. Bar exam is the most difficult in the country. Back when I took the Cal. Bar Exam, the pass rate was approximately 47%. There is no questions that the overall Cal. Bar passage rate is brought down by the number of students who take the bar having come from state accredited schools, as opposed to ABA schools. Yet, that does not explain it all. The addition of the practical portion, making it a full three days also adds to the degree of difficulty.</p>

<p>Oh, and while you are counting all the different types of ways you can become a lawyer in California, do not forget that old tried and true method: apprenticing.</p>