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#Yale Law School - TLS wiki

Since U.S. News began ranking schools, Yale Law School has always held the No. 1 position, and for good reason: It is unanimously considered one of the preeminent centers of legal studies in the world, and while its closest rivals also offer formidable prestige and their own array of career opportunities, Yale Law has remained a distinctive institution in many ways. It has graduated both Bill and Hillary Clinton, President Ford, and Supreme Court justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Sonia Sotomayor. Famed for its abolition of standard grades in the 1960s and the lowest ratio of students to faculty in the country (currently 7.9:1), Yale Law has also earned equal acclaim for its supposed "scholarly" bent and its legendary admissions process.

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Admissions

Yale is one of the smallest law schools in the top tier, and it can afford to be picky about whom to admit because of its exceedingly high yield rate-nearly four in five admits will ultimately choose to attend, many after spending a weekend on campus in April. Out of around 3,000 applications each year, Yale admits fewer than 250 students to fill approximately 200 seats in each incoming class; the admission rate hovers around 6-7% each year. Current students emphasize that "while Yale is clearly an amazing place and we're lucky to be here alongside amazing minds with lists of impressive accomplishments, applicants should know that there are normal, fun people here, too!"

The 12 point process

Yale Law School

Yale's process differs significantly from that of many other top schools, particularly in its commitment to have most admission decisions made by the faculty and its overt use of holistic numerical scoring. All applicants are first reviewed by Dean of Admissions, Asha Rangappa. From the full pool of applications, about 50-80 "presumptive admits" are given Dean Rangappa's stamp of approval and are sent on for final review by the Faculty Admissions Committee chair (essentially a "free ride" to admission). The rest of the hopefuls are divided into two groups, with some 800-1,000 applications selected for faculty review (and the others set aside as likely rejections).

Applications selected for faculty review are read by three randomly chosen faculty members, who score each application on a scale from 2 to 4. Each of the three readers is "blind" to the assessment scores assigned by his or her peers, and faculty members are not given any specific instructions as to how to weigh specific aspects of an application-they are given free reign to consider whatever factors they think will build an interesting class of students. Each of the first two faculty readers receives approximately 50 applications, and it has been reported that faculty are given instructions to assign a 4 to the top quarter, 3 to the second quarter, and 2 to the bottom half. A cumulative score of 12 is guaranteed admission, and most who score an 11 are admitted as well. A number of current students report having had an awkward moment or two when a professor has matched their application to a "real" name and face that roams the hallways!

Because of the unique nature of Yale's application review process, most applications are "under review" for longer than they might be at other schools. Even "presumptive admits" may hear back in 6-8 weeks at the earliest; some applications may not result in a final answer for many months. Yale is notorious for releasing many admissions decisions in mid-late April. However, it should be noted that applying earlier in the cycle does not provide any boost to an applicant's chances of being admitted; while the school does give offers of admission on a rolling basis, it does not fill the class until after having read all applications submitted by February 15.

LSAT and GPA

The 25th to 75th percentile ranges for admission to the class of 2015 were 3.84-3.98 (GPA) and 170-176 (LSAT). But Yale has the luxury of admitting compelling candidates even when their "numbers" aren't quite up to those lofty standards; in recent incoming classes, applicants with GPAs around 3.6 and LSAT scores in the 150-159 range have also been admitted. In the school's quest to treat each applicant as an individual. the admissions process does "not use a formula or index to weigh various factors, nor [does it] have a GPA or LSAT score cutoff."

Multiple LSATs

Yale has no official policy on how it interprets multiple LSAT scores, other than to say. "We do not average scores nor do we look at only your high score." In the faculty review process, professors are free to evaluate the scores however they see fit depending on the circumstances. A number of current students report being admitted after taking the LSAT more than once, often with a significant improvement on later test dates.

Recommendation letters

Across the board, the Yale admissions office reports that reviewers "strongly prefer letters from at least two faculty members who know your academic work directly [l]etters from employers are also acceptable, particularly for applicants who have been out of school for several years."

The school requires two letters of recommendation (and one's file will be considered complete and sent for review once two are received), but many applicants choose to submit three letters. When choosing how many letters to submit, applicants should keep in mind that the admissions committee is "most interested in letters from people who can realistically assess your academic potential." Such emphasis is reasonable, given that professors reviewing applications may give more weight to the words of other professors, individuals who can speak to an applicant's critical thinking skills, potential to contribute to class discussion, and overall benefit to the academic environment of the school.