Texas Law Schools ?
Q: How about Texas Southern University- Thurgood Marshall School of Law? I've
sent for their catalog and would be interested to know if anyone is familiar
with their program.
A:Baylor is unique in that it works on the quarter system. With three
entering classes (Spring, Summer, & Fall), there are more opportunities to
be admitted. Plus, you get to finish a three year program in as quickly as
2 1/2 years (unlikely, but possible). A quarter lasts nine weeks and you
attend class for 65 minutes a session, three to four days a week (depending
on the credit hours awarded). So, it's the same amount of class time, but
you get to have finals three to four times per year instead of two! Argggh!
Baylor Law School has students from all over the nation, with these students
representing over 130 other universities (only 17% obtained their
undergraduate degree at Baylor). The credentials of the students rank in
the top 15th-20th percentile in the nation. The average GPA for entering
students is 3.76 at the 75th percentile and at the 25th percentile is 3.28.
For the LSAT at the 75th percentile it is 163 and at the 25th percentile is
157.
The entire student body is only about 400 students which means that because
the class size is much smaller than your typical law school (first year
classes with only about 30 students aren't unusual) you get more
individualized attention. The faculty is very approachable, and they almost
always know you before you ever interact with them (which is not always a
plus if you prefer to blend into the background - not bloody likely at
Baylor).
Baylor has had the highest percentage passage rate among all nine Texas law
schools for 20 out of the last 28 bar exams (since it was changed). Since
1983, 92% of Baylor law students have passed the bar exam on the first try.
The employment rate is over 96% within 6 months of graduation (and that
doesn't mean being in charge of the 'law' section at Blockbuster!).
Baylor is a good choice no matter what type of law you plan to practice, but
is especially important to your legal education if you plan to be a
litigator. The American Bar Association's Litigation News has noted that
"Baylor law students get a degree of trial advocacy training unusual among
the nation's law schools."
Now, the downside is that the current facilities are likely the oldest in
the entire universe - built shortly after the Big Bang. And they are not
working very hard at preserving them either. We are, however, allowed to
eat, drink and be merry in both the library and most classrooms. Now, if
you aren't planning on coming to Baylor for the next three or four years,
you'll be fine because