1University of Pennsylvania Law School

The University of Pennsylvania Law School (most commonly known as Penn Law) was founded in 1790 by James Wilson, one of the original signers of the Declaration of Independence. It began having full-time classes in 1850, and was accredited by the ABA in 1923.

The school is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It comes with a sizable tuition pricetag, costing both in-state and out-of-state students close to $48,400 per year. Combined with cost of living expenses, students can expect to pay roughly $68,000 a year.

Penn Law is average in size, with an incoming class size of around 250 students, and a total student body close to 800 students. It has an impressive alumni list that includes former U.S. Supreme Court Justices, U.S. Congressmen, academics, prominent scholars, and executives at global corporations.

Although the school is perhaps not as well known as some of its Ivy League law school counterparts, it still has an incredibly solid reputation and exceptional national name-brand recognition. Penn Law grads have excellent employment opportunities on the East Coast, and usually have no trouble finding jobs across the country and internationally.

Penn Law has a solid array of academic and extracurricular offerings: 8 clinics (and multiple practical externships with Philadelphia organizations), 8 study abroad programs in 7 countries, 15 joint degree options, 5 scholarly journals, and 100 student organizations.

University of Pennsylvania Law School3400 Chestnut StreetPhiladelphia, PA 19104-6204Phone: 215.898.7400 • Fax: 215.898.9606 • Email: admissions@law.upenn.eduWebsite: www.law.upenn.edu

THE BASICS

Application deadline: 11/15 (Early); 2/15 (Regular)Application fee: $80Financial aid deadline: 3/1

Type of school: PrivateTuition and fees: $48,362 (2010 - 2011)

Admissions: Rolling (decisions by mid-May)Acceptance percentage: 14% (2009)Incoming class size: 255 (2009)Early Action/Early Decision available: Yes, bindingPart-time program available: No

GPA AND STANDARDIZED TESTS

LSAT 25th - 75th percentile range: 166 - 171

GPA 25th - 75th percentile range: 3.57 - 3.90

TOEFL required for some international applicants.

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

Letters of recommendation: 2 required (4 accepted)Required essays: Personal statement (2-page limit)Optional essays: 1-3 essays (choose from 4 topics)Dean’s Certification: Required for matriculating studentsAdditional documentation: Résumé (required); Early Decision Certification (if applicable)

2 The PowerScore Guide to the Top U.S. Law Schools

Penn Law: The PowerScore Perspective$$$There’s no getting around it: Penn Law is pricey. Tuition is high—almost $50,000 a year! Although this is slightly ameliorated by Philly’s relatively low cost of living (which is exceptionally reasonable for a city of its size), you can still expect to shell out anywhere from $65,000 to $70,000 a year, which puts the school near the top of this list from a financial standpoint. Penn does its best to provide students with assistance (as per the school’s Financial Aid Office, more than 80% of Penn Law students receive some sort of financial aid), but you’ll still have considerable loans to repay post-graduation. However, Penn Law does make the financial aid process very easy: You will only have to apply for financial aid once, and that’s during the admissions process. Once you’re accepted, the school will provide you with a three-year financial aid award letter. You don’t have to reapply for aid every year, and your award will not change during your three years in law school. Although you will have to request increases if you need them during your 2L or 3L years (and they’re much harder to come by), knowing exactly how your law school education will be paid for years ahead of time can be a definite plus, and a big relief.

Hangin’ with the big boysWhile it is certainly true that Penn Law is not quite as well known as Harvard and Yale, it is still highly recognized in its own right (and one could certainly make the case that it is better known than Cornell). The school’s Ivy League cred doesn’t go unnoticed, either, and it works in your favor once the time comes to find post-grad employment. Not only does the Penn name carry a fair deal of weight (both within the East Coast and nationally), the school is also known for being a very good, selective, top-notch institution, and one to which employers respond very favorably.

Customizable, interdisciplinary experienceThe school places a great deal of emphasis on allowing students the freedom to create their own course of study, even during the first year (which at many schools is notorious for its mandatory courses and rigidity). During your 1L year you have the option of choosing two electives during the spring semester (from a pool of 14 classes, which includes traditional courses such as Administrative Law, and more unique offerings like Law & Society in Japan). During 2L and 3L years, the entire course load is completely up to you, and there are no required courses. In addition, the school also encourages students to take courses at Penn’s other graduate schools, an opportunity

that a large number of students takes advantage of. Particularly popular are the law school’s nine “Certificate of Study” opportunities, where students take three or four courses at one of Penn’s grad schools, as well as one or two courses in the same topic at the law school, and are then awarded a certificate in a variety of different disciplines, such as Middle East and Islamic Studies, Cross-Sector Innovation, Gender and Sexuality Studies, or Global Human Rights.

Progressive populace Penn is known for being extremely LGBTQ-friendly, and the law school is no different. Penn Law has a large LGBTQ contingent, and Lambda Law (the LGBTQ student group) is very active on campus. In addition, the political ideologies at the school tend to be progressive and lean to the left. Although this can make some of the more conservative students take pause, rational discussion of opposing

viewpoints is common, and friendly debate is welcome at the school. Students tend to be very accepting of differing opinions.

Which Penn is your Penn? Be prepared for people to assume you attend Penn State, and not UPenn. This confusion is common enough that it doesn’t really phase Penn Law students, and most are very good-natured about clarifying the confusion. While you probably won’t have to explain the difference to potential employers, chances are good you’ll have to occasionally correct family and non-law school friends a few times until they get it right.

Cozy campusPenn Law students love their law school “block,” which has four interconnected buildings surrounding a courtyard—a beautiful, lush, relaxing focal point of student interaction. Even more of a bonus is the fact that all four of the buildings have either been recently renovated, or are set to be renovated by 2012.

Urban utopia?To hear students tell it, Penn is an urban campus that provides just about everything you’d want, but is still in a very affordable city. It also isn’t all hustle and bustle, and lets students find quiet spaces to live. The food is great, the entertainment options are plentiful, and the law school community is friendly and tight-knit. Penn Law is, according to its student-residents, the best of many, many worlds.

While it is certainly true that Penn Law is not

quite as well known as Harvard and Yale, it is

still highly recognized in its own right. It is widely

perceived as being a very good, selective, top-notch institution,

and one to which employers respond very

favorably.

3University of Pennsylvania Law School

Penn Law: The Numbers

Full-time: 14% (895 of 6,205 admitted)Part-time: N/A

GPA - 75th percentile: 3.90GPA - Median: 3.82GPA - 25th percentile: 3.57

LSAT - 75th percentile: 171LSAT - Median: 170LSAT - 25th percentile: 166

African-American: 31 (M); 27 (F); 7.3% of student bodyAmerican Indian: 1 (M); 1 (F); 0.3% of student bodyAsian-American: 52 (M); 58 (F); 13.9% of student bodyCaucasian: 280 (M); 233 (F); 64.9% of student bodyHispanic: 17 (M); 23 (F); 5.1% of student bodyMexican-American: 3 (M); 4 (F); 0.9% of student bodyPuerto Rican: 3 (M); 1 (F); 0.5% of student bodyInternational: 13 (M); 6 (F); 2.4% of student bodyNon-Reported: 18 (M); 20 (F); 4.8% of student body

Transfers in: 30Transfers out: 10

1L attrition: 7 (0 Academic, 7 Other)2L attrition: 11 (0 Academic, 11 Other)3L attrition: 2 (0 Academic, 2 Other)

Merit aid available? YesGrants and scholarships available? YesStudents receiving grants: 314, 39.9% of student bodyMedian grant amount: $14,000LRAP program available? Yes

The school provides students with a three-year financial award letter upon acceptance, and does not require them to reapply for aid every year. It also has a very generous Loan Repayment Assistance Program for those pursuing public interest careers.

Wireless network availability? YesNumber of wired connections available: 141Hours per week the library is open: 115Study seating capacity inside the library: 520Number of full-time professional librarians: 14

On-campus Career Services Office? YesNumber of full-time career services staffers? 6Career services specializations: Public interest, private law firms, government, judicial clerkships. On-Campus Interview (OCI) program? Yes, in the fall. The school also has a “regional interview program,” sending students to meet with employers in major U.S. cities.

*All statistics are 9 months after graduation

Employment status known: 257, 100.0% of classEmployment status unknown: 0, 0.0% of classEmployed: 254, 98.8% of classPursuing graduate degrees: 1, 0.4% of classUnemployed: 1, 0.4% of class

Academia: 0, 0.0% of classBusiness and Industry: 10, 3.9% of classGovernment: 0, 0.0% of classJudicial Clerkship: 42, 16.5% of classLaw Firms: 195, 76.8% of classPublic Interest: 7, 2.8% of class

Penn Law grads primarily take employment in the Middle Atlantic states (New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania), followed (in much smaller numbers) by the South Atlantic states. The Pacific (AK, CA, HI, OR, WA), East North Central (AK, CA, HI, OR, WA), West South Central (AR, LA, OK, TX), and New England (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT) have smaller numbers of Penn Law grads.

Students employed in-state: 16.1%Students employed in foreign countries: 2.0%Number of states where students are employed: 22

The school has an alumni network of close to 12,500 grads, who practice in 49 states (no alumni in North Dakota), the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and 63 foreign countries.

First-time takers: 254 (70.08% reporting)Average school pass rate: 98.32%Average state pass rate: 88.22%Average pass rate difference: 10.10%

ACCEPTANCE RATES

ENROLLMENT AND ETHNICITY

TRANSFERS (FIRST-YEAR) AND ATTRITION

FINANCIAL AID

LIBRARY RESOURCES

EMPLOYMENT STATISTICS*

TYPE OF EMPLOYMENT

GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION

ALUMNI NETWORK

CAREER SERVICES

BAR PASSAGE RATES

GPA AND LSAT SCORES

4 The PowerScore Guide to the Top U.S. Law Schools

Penn Law: The School

Penn Law has a huge number of prominent alumni in all walks of life. Perhaps the best known is Penn Law founder, U.S. Supreme Court Justice, and signer of the Declaration of Independence James Wilson. Other notable Penn Law alumni include Jonathan Z. Cannon, currently a professor at the University of Virginia School of Law and former general counsel (1995-98) and assistant administrator for administration and resources management (1992-95) at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); William H. Brown, III, former Chairman of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; Khaled Abou El Fadl, a leading authority on Islamic law and Islam, and human rights scholar; and Adrian Cronauer, former Air Force disc jockey and the inspiration for the 1987 film Good Morning, Vietnam.

Penn Law brings more than just an Ivy League pedigree to the table. “I knew when I came here that I was going to get a great education, but I had no idea how great,” says one grad. “The profs in particular were amazing, but so were the classes. I was really able to hone in on my interests, but also branch out and explore new topics.”

Incoming class size: 255 (2009)Typical first-year section size: 85

The 1L class is separated into three sections of 80-90 students each. Students take their 1L required courses with their section.

During the first year, students are required to take Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law, Legal Writing, Property, and Torts. They can also take two electives (which can be selected from a list of fourteen classes, including standard courses like Administrative Law and Environmental Law, but also more unique offerings such as Law & Society in Japan and Legal Responses to Inequality) during the spring semester.

During the second and third years, the course load consists entirely of electives (students can choose from “60 to 80 per semester”), although students must still complete the senior writing requirement, a course in professional responsibility, and complete at least 70 hours of pro bono work through the school’s Toll Public Interest Center Program.

Student-to-faculty ratio: 10.7 : 1

Penn Law’s prominent faculty includes:

Anita L. Allen, a legal philosophy, women’s rights, and race relations scholar; 2010 appointee to the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues.Paul H. Robinson, one of the world’s leading criminal law scholars.Christopher S. Yoo, a leading authority on law and technology, and one of the primary advocates in the “network neutrality” Internet policy discussion.

CLINICS: Penn Law has eight clinics (Civil Practice Clinic, Criminal Defense Clinic, Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic, Interdisciplinary Child Advocacy Clinic, Legislative Clinic, Mediation Clinic, Supreme Court Clinic, and Transnational Legal Clinic), and one upper-level seminar (Lawyering in the Public Interest) that utilizes clinical methods to “actively explore the difficult challenges inherent in public interest lawyering.” The school also offers a large variety of “experience-based” semester-long externships (with organizations such as the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, Philadelphia Legal Assistance, and the UPenn General Counsel’s Office) through Penn Law’s Gittis Center.

STUDY ABROAD: The school has semester- and year-long study abroad programs with the Waseda Law School in Tokyo, Japan; Bucerius Law School in Hamburg, Germany; Tshinghua Law School in Beijing, China; Tel Aviv University in Israel; Esade Law School in Barcelona, Spain; the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne Law School and the Institut d’Études Politques in Paris, France; and the University of Hong Kong.

JOINT DEGREE: Penn currently offers a JD/MBA, JD/MA or MS (in Criminology, International Studies, Social Policy, or Global Business Law), JD/MSEd (in Education Policy or Higher Education), JD/MES, JD/MPA, JD/MBE (in Bioethics), JD/MSSP, JD/MSW, JD/LLM, JD/MCP, JD/MPH, JD/AM (in Islamic Studies), JD/MSW, and JD/PhD (in American Legal History or Philosophy).

The school has five student-edited journals: the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, University of Pennsylvania Journal of Business Law, University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law, University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law, and University of Pennsylvania Journal of Law and Social Change. Students obtain journal membership through a combination of GPA and performance in a writing competition.

Penn Law has a very active moot court program. Students begin by enrolling in Appellate Advocacy II, the school’s intra-school moot court competition, during their second year. Based on the results of this competition, students are assigned to either the Keedy Cup Team, National Moot Court Competition Team, or the Moot Court Board. Students can also participate in other national and international competitions by forming their own teams.

CURRICULUM

FACULTY

ACADEMIC OPPORTUNITIES

JOURNALS AND PUBLICATIONS

MOCK TRIAL AND MOOT COURT

• NOTABLE ALUMNI •

5University of Pennsylvania Law School

Penn Law: The Students

The University of Pennsylvania Law School received 6,022 applications for admission into the Class of 2013. Of those that were accepted, 252 eventually matriculated.

The 75th percentile LSAT score for this class was a 171. The 25th percentile LSAT score was a 166.

The 75th percentile GPA for this class

was a 3.90. The 25th percentile GPA was a 3.56.

The class was 47% female, and 53% male.

35% were students of color.

The class ranged in age from 20 to 41. 29% of the class came to Penn Law directly from college.

The Class of 2013 represented 103 undergraduate institutions.

12% had graduate degrees.

Students hailed from 32 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Canada, China, Columbia, India, Iran, Jordan, Mexico, Pakistan, and South Korea.

• American Constitution Society for Law & Policy

• American Inns of Court (AIC)• Animal Law Project• Asian Pacific American Law Students

Association (APALSA)• Beyond a Reasonable Stout• Black Law Students Association (BLSA)• Christian Legal Society• Civ Throw – Penn Law Ultimate Frisbee• Council of Student Representatives

(CSR)• Cross-Cultural Society • Custody and Support Assistance Project• East Asia Law Review • East Asian Legal Studies Association• Entertainment and Sports Law Society • Environmental Law Project (ELP)• Equal Justice Foundation (EJF)• Federalist Society• Feminist Working Group• Geeky Law Students (GLS)• Graduate and Professional Student

Assembly• Guild Food Stamp Clinic• Health Law Group • The Immigrant Rights Project• International Law Organization (ILO) • Iron Chef Club • J. Reuben Law Clark Society• Jessup International Moot Court Team• Jewish Law Students Association (JLSA)• Joint Tenant Society • Lambda Law• Latin American Law Students

Association (LALSA)• Law and Entrepreneurship Organization • Law and the Brain Group • Law Revue• Law School Light Opera Company• L.E.A.R.N. • Legal Education Partnership• Maimonides • Marshall Brennan Constitutional

Literacy Project• Middle Eastern Law Student Association • Mincha Minyan • Moot Court• Muslim Law Students Association

(MLSA)• National Lawyers Guild• Penn Advocates for the Homeless• Penn Housing Rights Project• Penn Intellectual Property Group (PIPG)• Penn Law Association for Law in the

Arts • Penn Law Basketball League• Penn Law Bioethics Society• Penn Law Bowling Club• Penn Law Boxing Club

• Penn Law Catholic Student Association• Penn Law Christian Legal Aid• Penn Law Democrats• Penn Law Energy Club • Penn Law Fiber Arts Club • Penn Law Flag Football• Penn Law Folk Music Circle• Penn Law Foosball• Penn Law for Reproductive Justice • Penn Law Golf Club • Penn Law Gun Club • Penn Law Hellenic Group • Penn Law Ice Hockey • Penn Law International Human Rights

Advocates• Penn Law JD/MBA • Penn Law Microfinance and Social

Entrepreneurship Group • Penn Law Mock Trial Team• Penn Law Movie Club • Penn Law National Security Society • Penn Law Real Estate Club • Penn Law Republicans • Penn Law Soccer Club• Penn Law Softball • Penn Law Squash • Penn Law Tennis Club • Penn Law Wine and Food Club • Penn Law Women’s Association • Pre-Law Mentoring Program• Prisoners’ Legal Education and

Advocacy Project (PLEA)• Public Interest Mentoring Initiative• Reproductive Rights Clinic• Sadie T. Alexander Memorial

Conference• South Asian Law Students Association

(SALSA)• Sparer Public Interest Law Conference• Street Law • Students Against Gender-Based

Exploitation (SAGE) • Employment Advocacy Project• United Law Students of Color Council

(ULSCC)• University of Pennsylvania Journal of

Business Law• University of Pennsylvania Journal of

Constitutional Law• University of Pennsylvania Journal of

International Law• University of Pennsylvania Journal of

Law and Social Change• University of Pennsylvania Law Review• Urban Law Forum • Urban Ventures Project• With All Deliberate Speed (The Penn

Law Running Club) • Y’allSA • Yoga Practice at Penn

• CLASS PROFILE •

ACTIVITIES AND ORGANIZATIONS“I had a great experience in law school,” says a grad. “It was a fantastic education.” A current student agrees: “Everything about Penn has been great!” “Everything—from the professors to the clinics to career services—was exceptional,” raves another grad. The administration gets a thumbs up, too: “The people running the school are phenomenal.”

The Penn student body is reputedly friendly, and willing to lend a hand. “It was very collegial (for the most part). Almost everyone was very helpful—fellow students freely shared study materials, and there was never sabotage,” says an alum. “Any competition was purely good-natured.” “Everyone was there for the same reason,” a grad adds, “to work hard and play hard.” One student almost sounds surprised at the camaraderie at the school: “Seriously, I have nothing but good will towards almost all of my classmates. I don’t know how exactly we’re different from other law schools—maybe my class got lucky? But we get along great.”

There are some negatives: “There was a strong liberal bias and political correctness, which could be difficult to stomach,” muses a grad. “I wish they’d told us what our rank was at the end of every semester, or at least every year,” gripes another alum. “Not knowing that was maddening.”

The work load is intense, but manageable: “There’s enough pressure to motivate you,” says a student, “but not so much to stress you beyond what you can handle.” And, even though keeping up can be strenuous, students agree that “you nevertheless get a top notch education with top notch professors and fellow students in a very good atmosphere—and that’s what you’re in law school for, anyways.”

Employment prospects are, everyone agrees, “great, even in a bad economy.” “Penn provides a reputation that attracts employers,” says one grad. “A job is virtually guaranteed upon graduation.” And the jobs are not just limited to big law firms, either: “If you’re super-ambitious there are some key professors at Penn who can connect you to really great judges for clerkships.” The interviewing system at Penn Law was slightly annoying to some, though: “[The school] will not release class ranks and forces recruiters to interview students indiscriminately. It wasted a lot of my time and theirs, frankly. I would rather they know exactly where I stood.” Nonetheless, post-grad employment opportunities are plentiful, and available worldwide: “My friends will be in Philly, NYC, DC, the South, Cali, the Midwest, and a few foreign countries (Britain, Singapore, etc.),” says a student.

6 The PowerScore Guide to the Top U.S. Law Schools

Penn Law: The City

Setting: Urban

“The city is Penn’s campus,” says a student. “Philadelphia is a fantastic place to go to school—smaller than NYC, but still urban, cheaper than any other large city on the East Coast, but with plenty of bars and restaurants to choose from. It’s a great place to live for a few years,” adds a grad. And “if you’re not into city life, no worries—several of my friends in law school found nice places in the suburbs.”

“Rent was extremely reasonable, and the cost of living was low, particularly when compared to other big cities (not just in the Tri-State area, but also around the country),” says a grad.

Estimated academic year living expenses*Room $8,652.00Board $4,480.00Books $1,275.00 Health insurance $2,742.00Miscellaneous $2,639.00TOTAL $19,788.00*Values provided by Penn Law

Penn Law offers on-campus housing at Sansom Place East and Sansom Place West, each just over a block away from the law school. Both of these complexes house mostly graduate students, although approximately 30% of the occupancy consists of undergrads. Most Penn Law students live off-campus in the University City or nearby Center City neighborhoods.

On-campus housing available? YAverage apartment rental cost (1 BR/1 BA) $1,000/mo

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the 2006 population of Philadelphia, PA to be 1,448,384 people, with 60.6% of the population between 18 and 65 years of age. 17.9% of the population has a bachelor’s degree or higher.

Population density in the Philadelphia area (as per the 2000 census) is 11,234 persons per square mile.

The 2000 census puts the ethnic makeup of the city as 45.0% white, 8.5% of Hispanic or Latino origin, 43.2% African American, 0.3% American Indian or Alaskan native, 4.5% Asian, less than 0.1% native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and 2.2% from two or more races.

“Hardly anyone owns a car,” says a student. Although there are plenty of parking garages around the law school, parking in them can be very expensive, and metered street parking is limited. The vast majority of students walk or take the subway; Penn has its own dedicated subway stop. “Running errands without a car isn’t really a problem,” says a grad. “There are plenty of grocery stores around the areas where students live, and you can always call a cab if you need it.”

Interstate 95, one of the main East Coast thoroughfares, runs through Philadelphia, making getting to and from the city easy . A number of other major highways also serve the city. If you’re looking to travel by air, the Philadelphia International Airport, one of the busiest in the nation, is located at the southern end of the city and is a major hub for US Airways.

A city the size of Philadelphia will have plentiful attractions of every sort: culinary, athletic, cultural, artistic, and historic.

Perhaps two of the best-known historic attractions in Philadelphia are the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. In addition to these and its many other historical attractions, the city also has a very large number of museums and galleries, parks, gardens, and theaters. More mainstream attractions, such as the Philadelphia Zoo (the oldest in the United States), and the Adventure Aquarium, are also popular. The Philadelphia Orchestra and Pennsylvania Ballet reside in the city, providing cultural entertainment.

The Philadelphia Phillies (MLB), 76ers (NBA), Eagles (NFL), Flyers (NHL), and Union (MLS) also call Philadelphia home, and are a source of athletic excitement year-round.

There are simply “too many things to list” when it comes to what you should absolutely do while in Philly. Students, however, enthusiastically recommend the “food trucks around the law school (delicious!),” as well as various other culinary establishments: Morimoto (“an awesome sushi joint owned by Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto”), and “cheesesteaks from Geno’s or Pat’s.”

“One of the best parts of Philly is that you can do just about everything you’d want,” says one grad. “I could go to a Phillies game one weekend, and a Bon Jovi concert the next, and it was all just a cab ride away.” Bar reviews— weekly gatherings of law students at nearby bars—“were great, since there was always a new place to try out.”

LIVING EXPENSES

HOUSING

DEMOGRAPHICS

PARKING AND PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

AREA ATTRACTIONS & ENTERTAINMENT

CITY MUST-DOs