The College of William and Mary Law School in historic Williamsburg, Virginia offers a well-respected legal education at a great price--especially for Virginia residents. It is currently tied with Boston College, University of California - Davis, University of Georgia, University of North Carolina, and the University of Wisconsin as the 28th best law school in the country according to U.S. News and World Report.
Aside from the school's excellent reputation and long history (it's the oldest law school in the country), William and Mary Law is situated in a tranquil setting that seems to spill over to the academic atmosphere, which is reportedly rather noncompetitive. William and Mary Law's acceptance rate for the Class of 2012 was 22%.
William and Mary Law's three-year full-time day Juris Doctor (J.D.) program operates from mid-August to early May; there are no part-time or evening programs. For information on living accommodations, see Housing.
Contact Information
PO Box 8795
Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795
(757) 221-3785
Email: lawadm@wm.edu
Website: http://www.wm.edu/law
Fast Facts (Class of 2012)
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Enrollment Information
Applicants: 4,984
Enrolled: 213Women: 46%
Students of color: 19%Student to Faculty Ratio: 1: 14.8
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GPA/LSAT Scores
LSAT Median: 165
LSAT 25/75 Percentile: 161-166UGPA Median: 3.66
UGPA 25/75 Percentile: 3.41-3.77 -
Costs and Fees (2009-2010)
Tuition: $21,946 (residents); $32,146 (nonresidents)
Estimated cost of attendance: $36,896 (residents); $47,096 (nonresidents)
Application Procedures
Application fee: $50
Application window: September 1 through March 1 of the year in which you're seeking admission.
Applicants may submit applications online through the Law School Admission Council (LSAC), or by mail with a paper application (PDF).
In addition to the application and fee, applicants must submit:
- Personal statement
- Optional essays
- Two letters of recommendation
- LSDAS report
- Application for Virigina In-State Tuition Privileges (if applicable)
For complete information on admission procedures at William and Mary Law, see Apply for the First-Year J.D. Program.
Transfer Procedures
Potential transfer students who have already applied to William and Mary Law will only have to supplement their files with a letter of recommendation from a law professor, an updated LSDAS report, a new personal statement, a letter of good standing, and the application fee.
Transfer applications will be accepted between April 1 and July 1 for enrollment in August; interested students should submit the application and fee as well as the following:- Personal statement
- Optional essays
- Two letters of recommendation, at least one from current faculty
- Complete LSDAS report including transcripts
- Letter of good standing
- Application for Virigina In-State Tuition Privileges (if applicable)
For more information on transferring to William and Mary Law, see Apply for Admission as a Transfer Student.
Degrees and Curriculum
In order to earn a Juris Doctor degree, a William and Mary Law student must earn 86 credit hours, including the required first-year curriculum, Legal Skills III and IV, and Ethics; there is also a writing requirement that students must fulfill with a paper of publishable quality. For more detailed information, see Requirements for the JD.
The first-year curriculum includes Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law, Property, Torts, Civil Procedure, and Legal Skills I and II.
William and Mary Law offers three joint degree programs, through which students can earn a J.D. along with a master's degree in Business (MBA), Public Policy, or (MPP) or American Studies (MA). The law school also offers LL.M. degrees.
Study Abroad
William and Mary Law offers two types of study abroad programs: a summer abroad in Spain and semester exchange programs in Spain, New Zealand, Japan, Austria, Hong Kong, China, and Luxembourg.
Law Journals and Other Activities
William and Mary Law has six student-run journals, including the W & M Law Review, Women and the Law, and Military & Veteran Law.
Along with many student organizations, the law school has specialized research centers for specific legal interests, such as the Center for Legal and Court Technology, the Election Law Program, and the Institute of Bill of Rights Law.
Bar Exam Passage Rate
A majority of William and Mary Law students take the Virginia Bar Exam and, in 2007, achieved an 86.8% pass rate. The overall pass rate for the Virginia Bar Exam was 74%.
Post-Graduation Employment
From the 2008 graduating class, 82.3% were employed at graduation and 96.3% nine months after graduation. The median starting salary was $135,000 in the private sector and $54,000 in the public sector.
Sixty-one percent of the Class of 2008 went into private practice, 13% entered government or public interest positions, 13% accepted judicial clerkships, 6.5% entered the business field, and 6.5% went into the military.