Southern Methodist University

Director of admissions

Virginia Keehan

Application deadline

02/15

Full-time program application fee

$75

Part-time program application fee

$75

Besides the fall semester, can enter in

N/A

Total number of full- and part-time applicants

2,129

Total number of full- and part-time acceptances

620

Overall acceptance rate

Total number of full- and part-time first-year students enrolled

258

Number of full-time program applicants

1,926

Number of full-time program acceptances

455

Full-time acceptance rate

23.6%

Number of first-year full-time students enrolled

154

Number of part-time program applicants

618

Number of part-time program acceptances

165

Part-time acceptance rate

26.7%

Number of first-year part-time students enrolled

104

25th-75th percentile GPA scores for all students

25th-75th percentile LSAT scores for all students

25th-75th percentile undergraduate GPA for full-time students

3.3-3.89

25th-75th percentile LSAT scores for full-time students

156-165

25th-75th percentile undergraduate GPA for part-time students

3.3-3.72

25th-75th percentile LSAT scores for part-time students

153-161

State where the greatest number of first-time test takers took the bar

TX

School’s bar passage rate for first-time test takers

92.6%

Statewide bar passage rate for first-time test takers

84.0%

Total graduates

214

Graduates employed at graduation

81.4%

Graduates known to be employed nine months after graduation

25th percentile private sector starting salary

$72,500

Median private sector starting salary

$96,800

75th percentile private sector starting salary

$160,000

Percent in the private sector who reported salary information

86%

Median public service starting salary

$54,000

Percent employed in academia

1.0%

Percent employed in business and industry

17.0%

Percent employed in government

10.0%

Percent employed in all judicial clerkships

2.0%

Percent employed in law firms

70.0%

Percent employed in public interest

0.0%

Percent employed in an unknown field

0.0%

Percent employed in a judicial clerkship by an Article III federal judge

2.0%

Graduates employed in-state

91%

Graduates employed in foreign countries

0%

Number of states where graduates are employed

13

New England (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT)

N/A

Middle Atlantic (NY, NJ, PA)

0.5%

East North Central (IL, IN, MI, OH, WI)

1.0%

West North Central (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD)

0.5%

South Atlantic (DE, DC, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA, WV)

4.9%

East South Central (AL, KY, MS, TN)

N/A

West South Central (AR, LA, OK, TX)

91.8%

Pacific (AK, CA, HI, OR, WA)

1.0%

Mountain (AZ, CO, ID, MT, NV, NM, UT, WY)

0.5%

Employment location unknown

0.0%

Career services operations: Career counseling and access to alumni for J.D; tax, general and international LL.M students’ fall recruiting program with on-campus interviews and a resume collection component for employers who cannot visit the campus. Employers include large, Texas firms for summer clerkships, courts seeking second and third year students and smaller firms and government agencies.

Bar admission required or anticipated (e.g., attorney and corporate counsel positions, law clerks, judicial clerks)

83.0%

J.D. preferred, law degree enhances position (e.g., corporate contracts administrator, alternative dispute resolution specialist, government regulatory analyst, FBI special agent)

10.0%

Professional/other (jobs that require professional skills or training but for which a J.D. is neither preferred nor particularly applicable; e.g., accountant, teacher, business manager, nurse)

1.0%

Nonprofessional/other (job that does not require any professional skills or training or is taken on a temporary basis and not viewed as part of a career path)

0.0%