Student Experience
At Vanderbilt, we have taken an intentional approach to creating an exceptional student experience, without sacrificing the top-tier education and career outcomes you expect.
Our Commitment
Law school can be intense, with rigorous classwork, career-searching, and other demands on your time. Resulting pressures can unintentionally foster unhealthy cultures and behaviors that lead to a less-than-ideal experience. Future J.D. students deciding where to spend the next three years of their lives should consider how their prospective law schools deliver on promises of community-building and culture-setting.
Law school should be a transformative time in your life that you’ll recall fondly. At Vanderbilt, we will ensure your time is spent both productively and happily as you invest in your future.
Small by Design
Practically speaking, our small class sizes offer substantial benefits. A smaller community makes it easier to meet fellow students and faculty. Upper-level classes, experiential learning opportunities, and administrative services are readily accessible.
Nationwide Placement
Students seek careers across the country in a variety of firms and organizations, naturally reducing the level of competitiveness amongst students relative to a school where the majority of students might be trying to place in large firms within a single city or state.
Hear from our students
Adrielle Conner
"Students here support one another and are a close-knit community. I found that at Vanderbilt."
Zoe Beiner
“I was struck by how genuinely kind and happy students here were. Vanderbilt offered a community I wanted to be part of.”
Rohit Murthy
“People come here from everywhere, and they go everywhere after they graduate, so we’re not really competing with each other."
A Focus on Culture
Class sizes and career services contribute to a positive student experience, but our culture ultimately defines it. We intentionally recruit students who we expect will invest in, and benefit from, our community. A spirit of collaboration and collegiality extends through the faculty, who co-author scholarship and work individually with students to help them meet their academic and professional goals. Through our Office of Student Life, social events, speaker series, and student organizations, we foster an environment where you will make connections and friendships that last a lifetime.
That collaborative spirit also allows us to encourage healthy debate and discourse, providing students and faculty with a safe space to express their beliefs and viewpoints in an increasingly polarized world.
Office of Student Life
The Office of Student Life offers academic advising, supportive programming, and student group organization, to name just a few of their services.
Blackacre
Held every Thursday, these club-featured social events offer the community a chance to connect, recharge, and occasionally meet employers in a more casual setting.
Lunchtime Speaker Series
Diversity, Equity, and Community
At Vanderbilt Law School, we are committed to ensuring that all students, staff, and faculty feel themselves to be fully a part of our community. Our community brings together those with diverse backgrounds, perspectives, identities, and preferences, and each member contributes to school life through their own distinctive set of viewpoints, experiences, and ideas.
Last, but not least, we provide the support that students need to meet the challenges of a rigorous, top-tier legal education. Classes are held Monday - Thursday, allowing you extra time to catchup with the demands of school and life.
As you weigh the academics, extracurriculars, and professional opportunities that all top-tier law schools offer, we suggest factoring the student experience into your decision as well. At Vanderbilt, it is the foundation of a rewarding and memorable legal education.