Harvard University Law School

Harvard University Law School was founded in 1817, making it the oldest law school in the United States. It was established by a group of prominent lawyers and politicians who believed a strong legal education would benefit their communities. The school originally offered a two-year program and then expanded to three years in 1823. In its early years, Harvard Law School focused on teaching practical legal skills such as contract law, equity, and evidence. In addition to teaching traditional legal topics, the school also began offering courses in other areas such as economics and public policy. Over the course of its history, Harvard Law School has produced some of the most influential lawyers and judges in the United States and around the world. The school has produced five Supreme Court justices—Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, John Paul Stevens, Elena Kagan, and Neil Gorsuch—as well as numerous U.S. presidents including John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama. Additionally, many of its alumni have gone on to become leading figures in business including Bill Gates (Microsoft) and Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook). Harvard Law School continues to be one of the top-ranked law schools in the world today due to its rigorous curriculum taught by some of the most esteemed professors in their fields.

Harvard University Law School is located in the state of Massachusetts. As one of the leading law programs, Harvard University Law School has a high average LSAT score of 171-176 when recruiting new students. As a return, the median starting salary for law graduates reaches $160,000 per year. See the following table for detailed admissions information and career profiles of Harvard University Law School.

Harvard Law School (HLS) is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. It is a highly prestigious and respected American law school with about 1,800 students in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Fourteen of the school’s graduates have served on the U.S. Supreme Court, more than any other law school, and another four justices attended the school. Six of the current nine members of the court attended HLS: Roberts, Scalia, Kennedy, Souter, Ginsburg and Breyer. (Ginsburg transferred to Columbia Law School and did not graduate from Harvard.) HLS routinely places first or second in various law school rankings and usually receives the highest reputation scores from judges, academics and practitioners. According to US News and World Report, its entering class boasts the highest LSAT scores in the nation and its graduates have a higher bar passage rate and average salary upon graduation than do graduates of its closest rivals Columbia, Stanford and Yale.

The school was established in 1817 and has operated continuously since then, affording Harvard bragging rights as the third oldest law school in the nation [The law schools at William and Mary (1779) and the University of Pennsylvania (1790) are older.]. The current dean of Harvard Law school is Elena Kagan, who took over for Robert Clark in 2003.

Admissions: Harvard University

Harvard Law School has a highly selective admissions process. In 2019, the school received 7,926 applications and admitted 1,962 students for an acceptance rate of 24.7%. Of those admitted, 41.1% were women and 58.9% were men. The median LSAT score of admitted students was 173, while the median undergraduate GPA was 3.86. Additionally, 8.6% of admitted students identified as coming from underrepresented racial or ethnic groups, while 11% identified as international students. Harvard Law School also has a strong commitment to creating an economically diverse student body; over 40% of the class of 2022 received need-based financial aid grants from the school and 50% graduated with no loans whatsoever due to scholarship support from Harvard Law School or outside organizations.

Careers: Harvard University