University of Notre Dame - Law School

Notre Dame Law School is the nation's oldest Roman Catholic law school and teaches students to practice law in the service of others. The focus on the ethics of lawyering is "very important and refreshing," according to students. Many at Notre Dame are conservative and adhere to a textualism or originalism legal philosophy. This "doesn't apply to everyone at the school but it is the predominant intellectual tradition represented at the school." There are numerous internships and opportunities for study abroad (as well as a campus in London and programs in other countries), and the administration "goes out of its way to accommodate educational needs and requests." Facilities are "very high end," especially the library ("like Hogwarts, but with more printers"), and students have access "all of Westlaw, Lexis, and Bloomberg." "Research facilities and research staff are phenomenal," and "most classrooms (including all lecture halls) have power plugs at every seat." The "career resources, access to alumni network, [and] the Notre Dame name" can't be beat when it comes to job searching: "The alumni network is something [that is] heavily promoted, but the hype is true. I have never met so many people willing to go out of their way to take care of their own."

The "quality of the faculty in terms of both qualifications and teaching aptitude is irreproachable," and Notre Dame Law School "attracts some of the best and brightest." The number of former Supreme Court clerks is "unparalleled," and there is a wide variety of areas of expertise among the faculty. The faculty "are all great friends and the culture they have among themselves permeates the entire law school community." Professors "love to formulate genuine relationships with students and hope to see us succeed and understand the law." All faculty members are easily accessible and "constantly express how much they desire to help us with studying, outlining, [and] finding internships." Professors often organize lunch groups or end of semester outings at their personal homes, and "the Dean teaches a contracts class." Beyond simply being knowledgeable and methodical, they "place a strong emphasis on personal character and contribution to the good of society" and "do a phenomenal job of welcoming each student into the law school community."

If the professors "are the very best thing about Notre Dame, the students are a close second." The law community is strong here, with many students "attending bar review weekly, bowling league in the spring, and many other school-sponsored events." There are "plenty of opportunities to be social if you want but also a great environment to stay focused on studies." Generally, this is "a more cooperative school than most," where "people are kind to each other" and "students compete mostly against themselves." Classmates are happy to share notes or outlines: "If I were to miss a class, at least two people would offer their notes to me," says a student. The size of the school makes it "easy to get to know most people in your [1L] class and in the 2/3L classes," and Notre Dame "admits a well-rounded class with a wide range of experiences which makes learning more interesting." Since there are no sections in 1L year, there's "plenty of opportunity for interaction among the entire class and that bleeds into the student body" as a whole.

Notre Dame Law's hometown of South Bend, Indiana is "just a train ride away" from Chicago. On campus, there is high participation in events, clubs, athletics ("football games are mandatory to some degree"), and law students are also "heavily involved in the campus community at large," with the law school being located in the center of campus.