University of Virginia Law School

Student Rating^? A+ Alumni Rating^? A+ ATL Top 50 Rank #2	Tuition $54,800/$51,800 Total Investment ^? $278,090 / $284,098	Enrollment 934	Student/Faculty Ratio 9.7
LSAT (25/75) 163/171 GPA (25/75) 3.59/3.97	Region M State V	Dean Risa L. Goluboff
Applicants who are accepted 15.3 / 100 Admitted students who enroll 4.0 / 10	Top Biglaw Employers ^?	Talking Points Second only to Harvard in alumni serving as general counsel to Fortune 500 companies Notable Alumni: Ted Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Evan Bayh, Janet Napolitano, Will Shortz (NY Times Crosswords Editor), Elaine Jones

Ratings & Rankings

Colored bars represent the range of average school ratings. Black line is this school's rating.

Academics

Students
vs. all schools

Minimum: 2.25
Mean: 3.80
Maximum: 4

Alumni
vs. all schools

Minimum: 2.4
Mean: 3.74
Maximum: 4

Practical/Clinical Training

Students
vs. all schools

Minimum: 2.14
Mean: 3.22
Maximum: 3.83

Alumni
vs. all schools

Minimum: 1.86
Mean: 3.14
Maximum: 3.8

Career Counseling

Students
vs. all schools

Minimum: 1.29
Mean: 3.58
Maximum: 3.56

Alumni
vs. all schools

Minimum: 1.17
Mean: 3.21
Maximum: 3.25

Financial Aid Advising

Students
vs. all schools

Minimum: 1.5
Mean: 3.26
Maximum: 3.29

Alumni
vs. all schools

Minimum: 1.25
Mean: 3.05
Maximum: 3.5

Social Life

Students
vs. all schools

Minimum: 1.8
Mean: 3.62
Maximum: 3.67

Alumni
vs. all schools

Minimum: 2.4
Mean: 3.72
Maximum: 3.86

More Ratings*

	Student	Alumni
	A+	A
	B+	B
	A+	A+
	A+	A+
	A+	A+

US News Rank

What do these ratings mean?

from Brian Dalton, Breaking Media Director of Research

The ATL School and Firm Insiders Survey asks self-identified current students, alumni, and practicing lawyers to rate major aspects of life at their law school (academics, social life, clinical training, career services, financial aid advising) and/or law firm (compensation, hours, morale, culture, training). We then translate these ratings into letter grades, where the mean score for each particular ratings category is the equivalent of a “B.”

We require a minimum threshold of responses for each institution before we publish any survey-based ratings content. Using a standard formula for statistical validity, we adhere to a threshold that gives us an 85% confidence level and a 10% margin of error. The precise threshold number will of course vary depending on the size of the individual institution. For example, for a law firm of 1,000 attorneys, we would require 50 responses in order to publish ratings for the firm.

Sector	Anticipated	Actual
Source: ATL Insider Survey and the American Bar Association
Work for a firm	84%	52%
Work for government	5%	14%
Work in non-profit/public interest	7%	11%
Go solo	0%	0%

Insider Reviews

from students and alumni of University of Virginia Law School

Alumni

Finish with a 3.0 and you will get a big law job as long as you interview at least as good as Rain Man.
Alumni

Be mindful that even though your fellow classmates seem chilled behind your back they are studying like mad. The law school is physically isolated from the college so it tends to take on a high school atmosphere where everyone knows what you are doing and with whom.
Alumni

Great education, great party school, great price – what more could you want? I never appreciated what a fabulous education I’d received until I got out into the world and started solving real legal problems with insight and creativity I didn’t know I even had. And, I pretty much aced both the multistate and state bar exams despite very average grades. UVA attracts stellar faculty at the beginning of their careers, who go on to continue to befriend and mentor students decades after they graduate and the professors move on to other, higher-ranked schools. The school inspires great loyalty and strong bonds between alums and students that benefit job seekers all over the world. The years I spent at UVA were the very best years of my life. Wahoo Wah!
Alumni

If you aren’t a rich preppy, be prepared. You will have to make your own way.
Alumni

It seems to me that both the quality and quantity of advice coming from Career Services has improved with the addition of former Morgan Lewis partner, Kevin Donovan. He is often up returning emails at midnight.
Alumni

Not worth the money, unless you are planning to practice in Virginia, DC, or NYC. Otherwise, go to a school in the state where you plan to practice. I had a scholarship which was cut after the first year, without any explanation. There are many good professors, but also many who obviously put no effort into teaching.
Alumni

The only real concern, to my mind, is cost. UVA is a great place to go to law school. Professors are really sharp and good at considering diverse perspectives. UVA tends to have more relaxed and friendly students imo. Based on rough notes comparisons with other lawyers, I definitely enjoyed my time there more than most people enjoy law school (and I was the old married guy with kids). That said, tuition has increased 50% since I started in 2006. Going to UVA with scholarships like I did, I’d say it’s worth maybe $60k or $70k of debt to attend. Any more than that, and the post-graduation hit to QOL will offset the benefits.
Alumni

The price is so steep now for top schools that I might have taken a full ride at a lower school, but I really love UVA.
Alumni

UVA is a cult — a wonderful, smothering (in the best way) cult. UVA alum look out for each other and have a strong bond.
Alumni

UVA was an excellent law school, but probably as with others, could do a bit better, including providing a bit more informative introduction to law, legal practice, and basics of legal matters, rather than just being thrust unguided into coursework.
Alumni

Students

Almost everyone I know has a job for the summer.
2L

Career services really goes above and beyond what I expected them to do. I know of at least two instances where their advocacy on behalf of students resulted in summer associate positions even though the students had already been rejected at those same firms.
2L

Great quality of life, super-helpful career services office. / / You have to wait too long to get grades back. Sometimes 2 months after exams.
2L

I expected that public interest would be more robustly supported. While the public interest program has gotten much better during the past few years, I felt pushed towards BigLaw when I had gone to law school solely with the intent of doing public interest or government work. This included pressure from career services to withdraw a commitment to a public interest summer employer in favor of an offer from a firm. That said, the public service division of career services is extremely helpful–you just need to be proactive in engaging them for help or it’s easy to get swept up with those pursuing biglaw. And as another caveat, I have had a great deal of trouble finding a job and am still looking. / / Also, I was unsatisfied with the financial aid counseling available–I was told about UVA’s loan forgiveness program but not about much more encompassing and helpful programs such as Income Based Repayment.
3L

1) We are ashamed of the things that get on Above the Law. For the most part, U.Va. law is filled with incredibly kind, responsible people, or people who are very social and fun (or both). The antics/criminal behavior are not representative of the usual student experience. / / 2) Charlottesville is incredibly family friendly. We have a lot of young families (and an uncharacteristically large Mormon population — possibly related observations). / / 3) Our career prospects are amazing — our clerkship numbers far outpace our US News numbers, as does our BigLaw placement.
2L

If you happen to have your pick of top schools, visit UVA first and make sure the atmosphere is right for you. If you can’t see yourself participating in the social events and hanging around these people for hours every day, you’ll be lonely here. Also, don’t be scared that it’s a Southern school. UVA is really trying to increase diversity (I know because I’ve been asked by the administration to call applicants and talk to them about what it’s like being LGBT at this school). If numbers don’t matter to you, visit UVA and attend some of the minority group-sponsored social events. You’ll get a sense of what it’s like to be a minority here and most people come to the conclusion that it’s a great environment.
1L

It is simply the perfect combination between strong academics and a pleasant environment.
3L

UVA is simply a dream place to attend law school.
1L

Great quality of life, super-helpful career services office. You have to wait too long to get grades back. Sometimes 2 months after exams.
2L

LRW is pass/fail. -Non-competitive/non-cutthroat atmosphere. -Professors are brilliant and incredibly accessible.
2L

UVA is incredibly congenial and makes law school, which is very stressful at times, as much fun as possible.
3L

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