From the School

Georgia State University College of Law offers outstanding programs and hands-on learning opportunities in the heart of downtown Atlanta. Surrounded by business, government, nonprofit and cultural organizations, Georgia State Law provides an ideal environment for gaining practical experience and engaging in interdisciplinary research. Offering nine dual degrees in our J.D. program and an LL.M., Georgia State Law is the smart choice.

The school was founded in 1982 in downtown Atlanta. It offers a fulland part-time J.D. program, which allows nine dual-degree options, and the LL.M. program. Through an innovative curriculum that blends hands-on, practice-based instruction with legal theory, the college graduates attorneys prepared to make a contribution from day one.

Our Clinics
HeLP Legal Services Clinic: Students develop professional skills in a variety of civil subject matter areas by representing low-income children receiving health care services at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta facilities.

Investor Advocacy Clinic: Student interns represent and counsel small investors who are victims of broker misconduct and cannot afford or find private legal representation because of the size of their claims.

Phillip C. Cook Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic: The tax clinic promotes professional skills and training as students represent low-income people during the post-audit stage of their Internal Revenue Service disputes.

Our External Clinics
Georgia State Law's external clinics operate separately from the Center for Clinical Education. Students take clinical courses and perform legal work in offices outside of the law school in the areas of criminal law and mediation under the supervision of adjunct faculty, who serve as mentors.

Capital Defender Clinic: Capital Defender Clinic students help the capital defender attorneys make a strong case for life at trial and build factual and legal narratives that will lead to the reversal of death sentences on appeal.

Landlord-Tenant Mediation Clinic:
Landlord-Tenant Mediation Clinic students will mediate landlord/tenant disputes and other disputes later in the year, including cases handled in the State and Magistrate courts; particularly small claim civil issues such as disputes between neighbors, consumers and businesses and creditors and debtors.

Our Externship Program provides legal support to more than 75 public agencies, courts and nonprofit organizations, resulting in 18,760 hours for 2013-14.

Overview

From The School


Applicants
1,952
Acceptance Rate
27%
Median Undergrad GPA
3.41
Accepted Applicants Who Attend
201

Test Scores

LSAT
25th-75th percentile
(enrolled students)
155 - 160

Deadlines

Application Deadlines
June 1

Application Process

Rolling Admissions
Yes

Application Fee
$50

CAS Service Used
Yes

Applicants accepted in terms other than fall
No

Transfer Applicants Accepted
Yes

Deferred Admission
Yes

Other Admission Factors

Academic

LSAT Score
Undergraduate GPA
Letters of Recommendation
Essay / Personal Statement

Selectivity Rating

Overall


Faculty Information

Student/Faculty
9:1
Total Faculty
87

45
Female
15
Underrepresented Minorities


Students Say

According to its students, Georgia State University’s College of Law offers “a top-quality law school education without the aggressive environment.” Of particular note is the school’s “top-notch part-time program full of talented students.” “GSU COL offers an incredible value to students—strong academic reputation with a low cost of attendance,” says a 2L. “Tuition is unbelievable,” adds a 1L. “[With] only about $10,000 a year for a very strong education, you can graduate with minimal debt, enabling you to begin a law career of your choice.” The “amazing” professors are “diverse and open-minded.” “Impressively, professors believe in the program and voluntarily teach evening classes,” says a 2L. “I am challenged every day by brilliant professors who make me think in ways I never thought possible,” explains a 1L. Most students find that the administration is “very responsive” and committed to ensuring quality instruction and improving academic instruction.” Others students note, “They are always willing to go the extra mile and show concern for the success of their students.”
Students appreciate GSU COL’s “flexible class hours,” particularly those involved in the very popular part-time program. Some feel that, due to this program, there is “a weighting toward evening classes” and that those evening classes are “where the best adjuncts teach.” That said, others believe the “emphasis on the part-time program is a bit overstated.” “It’s available and great, but the full-time day classes are on par with any you will find,” says a 3L. Regardless of which program students partake in, the “effective” courses offered are roundly praised. “The health law program is dynamic and first-rate,” says a 2L. “Charity Scott is a legend in this city and any future health care attorney would be lucky to take a class with her.” “The school is not afraid to try new ideas,” adds another 2L. “I’ve taken ‘Law and the Internet,’ which is all about legal issues and the online community,” says one student, and another tells us, “I’m now in a new non-traditional class that combines Wills, Trusts, Estates, and Taxes, in which the students form their own law firms and actually prepare all of the documents as if in the real-world.”
By and large, students are very happy with their decision to attend GSU COL. However, when it comes to the school’s Career Services Office, some believe “they could do a better job.” Despite this, “the access to the Atlanta legal community” that GSU’s location offers goes a long way in making up for any career office shortcomings. “I have clerked for a year with a Superior Court judge, worked for a professor as a GRA, competed in a National Moot Court competition, become president of numerous societies, and have a job lined up after graduation,” says a 3L.
With a prime spot in downtown Atlanta, GSU’s location allows students to “walk to the 11th Circuit, Supreme Court, and Northern District of Georgia courthouses.” On campus, the law school’s buildings aren’t quite as appreciated as the university’s metropolitan location. “The technology available in the classrooms and libraries [is] high quality, but the classrooms themselves are not,” says a 1L. “The current law school is old, and was never meant to be used for anything aside from administrative purposes.” However, construction has been completed on a new—and “much more aesthetically pleasing”—building. “We are all looking forward to . . . the new law school,” which opened in Summer 2015, “because a new building will give the professors and students more opportunities to show just how amazing the school really is!” says a 2L.

Career overview

From The School


Pass Rate for First-Time Bar Exam
88%
Median Starting Salary
$84,369
% of graduates who are employed within ten months of graduation
92%
% of job accepting graduates providing useable salary information
74%

Career Services

On campus summer employment recruitment for first year JD students
Yes

On campus summer employment recruitment for second year JD students
Yes

# of Employers that Recruit on Campus Each Year
400

Employers who most frequently hire graduates
COCA-COLA; ALSTON & BIRD; ARNALL GOLDEN &GREGORY;BALLARD SPAHR; JONES DAY; KILPATRICK & STOCKTON; McKENNA ALDRIGE; Morris Manning & MARTIN; KING & SPALDING; MCKENNEL LONG ALDRIDGE; PAUL HASTINGS, JANOFOSKY AND WALKER; POWELL GOLDSTEIN FRAZER & MURPHY; TROUTMAN & SANDERS; FISHER & PHILLIPS

Graduates Employed by Area

59%
Private Practice
15%
Business/Industry
11%
Government
3%
Public Interes
2%
Judicial Clerkships
1%
Academic

Graduates Employed by Region

2%
Pacific
1%
International
1%
Mid-Atlantic
1%
South West

Prominent Alumni

Ronald J. Freeman
Founding Partner at Johnson and Freeman

Honorable Cynthia J. Becker
Judge, Superior Court of Georgia Stone Mountain Judicial Curcuit

Lynne R. O'Brien
Director of Corporate Real Estate, the Coca Cola Company

Scott M. Frank
President, AT&T Intellectual Property

Linda K. DiSantis
General Counsel, C.A.R.E.

Overview

From The School


Dates

Financial Aid Rating
Apr 1
Application Deadlines
Mar 1

Financial Aid Statistics

Average Annual Total Aid Package Awarded
$20,500

% Students Receiving Some Aid
78%

Expenses per Academic Year

In-State Tuition
$14,616
Out-Of-State Tuition
$34,214
Estimated Off-Campus Room and Board
$12,410
Estimated Cost for Books / Academic Expense
$1,500
Fees
$1,121

Overall

From The School


Student Body Profile

Total Enrollment
633
Parent Institution Enrollement
50,972

Number of Foreign Countries Represented
8
Average Age at Entry
26

% International
3%

Demographics

27.20%
% Under-represented Minorities

72% are full time
28% are part time
49% female
51% male

Campus Life

Students Say

Thanks to GSU COL’s non-traditional student population, “the school [has] a more diverse student body than most other schools” since “the introduction of older students with more work experience adds a great deal to the classroom experience.” While “the part-time (evening) students work well together,” among full-time students, “the competition is still severe,” though it is “not as cutthroat as it is at other law schools.” Students attribute this “to the evening students being older, with full-time jobs.” “The younger students tend to be more social with one another,” explains a 2L. “The older students, who come from the working world, are almost entirely focused on school.” A 3L gives a more specific breakdown: “First year is difficult and competitive. However, the second and third years are much more cooperative and fun. Students begin to help each other out in terms of outlines, readings, etc.” Regardless of whether students are part of the part-time or full-time programs, all agree that their “fellow classmates have been the best thing about law school—they’re a great bunch of people.”
“On the social side, there is a substantial group of part-time students that get together monthly on an ad-hoc basis, purely for social time, usually with spouses or significant others,” says a 2L. “I was pleasantly surprised.” Others find that the urban campus has a negative effect on socializing. “So many people are spread out all over the city…that no one stays around to socialize after class” says a 1L. “If you just go to class and go home I think you will miss out on the social life,” says a 2L. “If you make an effort to meet people then it is easy to make friends.”

More Information

% of Classrooms with Internet Access
100%

Admissions Office Contact

From The School



Contact
Monique A. McCarthy
Senior Director of Admissions

Address
PO Box 4049
Atlanta, GA 30302-4049

Phone
404-413-9200

Email
lawadmissions@gsu.edu