Class of 2017 profile

 

J.D. Class of 2017 (first-year students 2014-15) as of August 21, 2014

• 3,673 applications
• 172 students (three first-year sections of 57 students)
• 53% women
• 30% minority
• 23 median age
• 35 states, Washington, D.C., Canada, China, and Republic of Korea - view list
• 91 undergraduate schools represented - view list
• 20 students (12%) hold advanced degrees: M.A (4); M.Acc. (2); M.Ed.; M.P.A.; M.P.H. (2); M.Phil. (2); M.S. (4); M.Tax.; Master of Resource Management; Ph.D.

Experience counts

The majority of the Class of 2017 (56%) graduated college at least one year before entering VLS; 37% graduated at least two years before entering. Collectively, the members of the Class of 2017 bring a wealth of experience in a variety of areas. Their backgrounds include business, science, education, technology, service, public policy, and graduate training in a number of fields.

Many have worked...

...for law firms or in-house counsel (sample): Anaheim, CA; Ann Arbor, MI; Atlanta, GA; Baltimore, MD; Birmingham, AL; Bluefield, WV; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; Cincinnati, OH; Colorado Springs, CO; Columbus, OH; Cookeville, TN; Dallas, TX; Fayetteville, TN; Frederick, MD; Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Ft. Meyers, FL; Greenville, SC; Hattiesburg, MS; Houston, TX; Jacksonville, FL; Laguna Niguel, CA; Lawrenceville, GA; Little Rock, AR; London, England; Malverne, NY; Miami, FL; Milwaukee, WI; Mt. Pleasant, SC; Nanjing, China; New Delhi, India; New York, NY; Long Beach, CA; Oxford, MS; ;Plano, TX;; San Francisco, CA; Washington, DC; West Des Moines, IA; Ypsilanti, MI

... for government, prosecutors, public defenders, courts or municipalities (sample): U. S. Department of Justice; U. S. House of Representatives; U. S. Senate; U. S. Forest Service; U.S. Air Force General Counsel; U.S. Department of the Treasury; U.S. Embassy, Paris, France; Federal Bureau of Investigation; Federal Trade Commission; Alachua County Clerk's Office, FL; Arkansas Supreme Court; Brown County District Attorney's Office, Green Bay, WI; County Comptroller, Buffalo, NY; County Court House, Cape May, NJ; Denton County Texas District Attorney's Office; Family Court of Charleston County, SC; Florida State Representative District Office; Fulton County District Attorneys Office; Georgia Department of Community Health; Iowa State Senate; Kansas State Supreme Court;; Lexington Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission, KY; Maryland State Attorney's Office; Minnesota House of Representatives; Monroe County District Attorney's Office; Newark (NJ) Municipal Court; Office of the Vermont Attorney General; Pima County Attorney's Office, AZ; Public Defender, Ft. Lauderdale, FL; South Carolina Supreme Court; State Attorney's Office of Palm Beach County Florida; State Senator's Office, Westfield, NJ; Texas House of Representatives

... for public interest organizations, non-profits, or NGOs (sample): AmeriCorps; Teach for America; ACLU; American Enterprise Institute; Chrysalis Enterprises, Los Angeles, CA; Common Ground Legal Clinic, Bloomfield Hills, MI; Community Legal Aid, Worcester, MA; Cross Cultural Solutions, Tanzania; Family Scholar House, Louisville, KY; Guardian ad Litem; Harlem Community Justice Center; Invisible Children Uganda, Gulu, Uganda; Legal Aid Society; Maryland Public Interest Research Group; New York Habitat; Organization of American States; Organizing for Action, Ann Arbor, MI; Pathways to Housing, Washington, DC; Philadelphia Legal Assistance; Pro Bono Institute, Washington, DC; Project Vote Smart, Phillipsburg, MT; Rose City Defense Consortium, Portland, OR; The Public Interest Network, Denver CO

Members of the Class of 2017 ...

...have lived, worked or studied in: Afghanistan; Argentina; Austria (2); Belgium; Bolivia; Chile (2); Costa Rica (2); Ecuador; Egypt (2); France (3); Germany; Ghana; Iceland; Iraq; Ireland (2); Italy (7); Japan (2); Jordon; Paraguay; People's Republic of China; Republic of Korea (2); Russia (2); Singapore; Spain (6); Turkey (2); United Kingdom (7)

... know these languages: American sign language; Arabic (6); Bangla; Chinese (2); French (18); German (6); Hebrew; Hindi (2); Ilocano; Italian (8); Japanese; Korean (2); Latin (6); Portuguese (3); Russian (4); Somali; Spanish (30); Tagalog; Ukrainian

Some serious and some fun facts about the members of Class of 2017:

• U.S. Air Force
• U.S. Army (5)
• Teach for America (4)
• "We the People" Constitutional Competition Team Member
• Winery tasting room associate
• Belly dancer
• Certified Accounting Manager
• Comedy blogger
• Emergency Medical Technician
• Kickboxing instructor
• National Association of Rocketry (Level 2 High-Power Certification
• NCAA Swimming National Qualifier
• Pipe organist
• Political cartoonist
• Professional musicians (several)
• SCCA Rallycross and Autocross
• Taxi driver
• Business Operations, Australian Major League Baseball
• Cancer center research specialist
• Director, Political Courage Test Department, Project Vote Smart
• Experienced Associate Auditor
• High School Teacher, Suzhou, China
• Legal writer
• Manager Network Administration & Security
• Pharmacology research fellow
• Physics professor
• Quality Assurance Compliance Specialist
• Radio Corporation News Director
• Regional environmental management
• Eagle Scouts, Boy Scouts of America (4)
• Eagle Scout, Plast Ukrainian Scouting
• Distance runners (3)
• PADI SCUBA divers (2)
• Tough Mudders (2)

 

A tradition of excellence

While the members of the Class of 2017 comprise a diverse group in multiple dimensions, they share a common bond of academic excellence. As the following statistics indicate, they excelled in their undergraduate studies and show outstanding promise for law studies.

J.D. Class of 2017:

• 75th percentile GPA:3.84
• Median GPA: 3.70
• 25th percentile GPA: 3.45
• 75th percentile LSAT: 168 (96th percentile among test-takers)
• Median LSAT: 167 (94th percentile among test-takers)
• 25th percentile LSAT: 162 (85th percentile among test-takers)

 

 Historic J.D. entering class statistics and links to prior class profiles

 

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