California is an embodiment of tourism, business, movie, and world-class education. Of course, the world will always remember Silicon Valley – especially entrepreneurs – and Hollywood which almost everyone knows about. Above all, where it may concern you, you’ll also find some of the easiest law schools to get into California, and not just that, most of them are accredited by American Bar Association (ABA) and provide world-class LL.M. and JD programs.
Also, this state has some prestigious law firms like Munger, Tolles & Olson; Kirkland & Ellis; Latham & Watkins; Skadden; which makes it easy for you to develop your legal career.
Easiest Law Schools to Get Into California
Our methodology for choosing these schools was based on their acceptance rate, their LSAT score and their GPA. Speaking of LSAT, did you know some schools accept students with 140 LSAT Scores?
Moreover, we couldn’t have achieved this result without the help of PublicLegal, a product of the Internet Legal Research Group.
1. Golden Gate University School of Law
- Acceptance Rate: 61.3%
- Minimum LSAT: 147
- Minimum GPA: 2.65
Golden Gate University School of Law is not just easy to get into, but it’s also an award-winning, ABA-accredited law school with a prime location in the heart of San Francisco. And with its location in San Francisco, it enables students to easily access courts, government agencies, law firms, and even some big tech companies.
2. Thomas Jefferson School of Law
- Acceptance Rate: 40.4%
- Minimum LSAT: 145
- Minimum GPA: 2.53
TJSL is one of the easiest law schools to get into California that allows you to earn your JD completely online, you can also choose to study on-campus, likewise studying LLM at their campus. During your course of study, you’ll be focusing on major courses like Criminal Law as well as Intellectual Property, Sports, and Entertainment.
However, you should be a little careful with their Pass Bar, because they have a low one, i.e. 29.2% (but there are things you need to know about bar pass rate before you judge them – skip to learn)
3. Western State College of Law
- Acceptance Rate: 52.7%
- Minimum LSAT: 146
- Minimum GPA: 2.81
Besides the fact that Western State College of Law has a high acceptance rate and requires low scores to join, they still go further to help you easily join them. In fact, most students testified that immediately they showed interest in joining the school, their admission office was those to call to even make the process smoother.
It’s not a very big school, but it’s like a family of law students, which would appeal to students that love small gatherings of trusted people.
4. California Western School of Law
- Acceptance Rate: 59.6%
- Minimum LSAT: 148
- Minimum GPA: 2.91
One of the things that makes CWSL outstanding besides being among the easiest law schools to get into California, is their individualized experience for every student. They just have a program that suits your career pursuit, and you might even get a scholarship to continue improving on that goal.
And because of this approach, it makes it easier for them to adapt their curriculum regularly to stay ahead of changes within the legal industry and prepare their students to thrive in the future.
5. University of the Pacific – McGeorge School of Law
- Acceptance Rate: 59.5%
- Minimum LSAT: 148
- Minimum GPA: 3.06
No way would we even list the easiest law schools to get into in California without mentioning McGeorge School of Law, not just because of their high acceptance rate and low score requirements, but also because of their state-of-the-art teaching.
Being one of the easiest law colleges to get into in CL and having an excellent program that provides students with the right training they need to succeed both now and in the future might seem like a made-up statement! But here are some values that make it more real.
Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education in 2022 named them the 19th best university in the West, and they earned 4.5 out of 5 stars – Best Colleges in America by Money Magazine 2023.
6. Southwestern University School of Law
- Acceptance Rate: 46.1%
- Minimum LSAT: 150
- Minimum GPA: 2.98
SWLaw doesn’t only make it seamless to join their school but it was founded more than 110 years ago, which makes them have more experience than some other law schools, but they still introduce very recent and modernized Law curriculum. If you’re an international student or reside outside California, we believe this school will serve you properly, because their students have a strong sense of community.
Almost all 50 states are in the school and more than dozens of other countries enroll in the school.
7. University of San Francisco – School of Law
- Acceptance Rate: 55.5%
- Minimum LSAT: 151
- Minimum GPA: 2.96
USFCA is one of the easiest law schools to get into California that has a bold statement on their homepage that we love so much. They said, “Whatever your career ambitions, the University of San Francisco School of Law can help you get there.” That means their curriculum is structured to meet each student’s personal needs, and they conclude by saying, “You’ll graduate ready to meet the legal needs of your clients today and our society tomorrow.”
And, residing in San Francisco helps you to learn Law where it’s happening, you’ll be able to dig into tax law in downtown San Francisco, IP law in Silicon Valley, immigration law in clinics throughout the Bay Area, etc.
8. Santa Clara University School of Law
- Acceptance Rate: 57.7%
- Minimum LSAT: 152
- Minimum GPA: 3.04
Don’t mistake Santa Clara School of Law for easy acceptance to incompetence, they are very rigorous in their academics and provide certificates in high tech law, international law, privacy law, public interest, and social justice law, as well as numerous graduate and joint degree options. For those that want to gain hands-on experience even as students, then this school will serve you well because they provide different clinics like;
- Entrepreneurs’ Law Clinic
- Immigration Appellate Practice Clinic
- International Human Rights Clinic
- Katharine & George Alexander Community Law Center
- Northern California Innocence Project
9. Chapman University – Dale E. Fowler School of Law
- Acceptance Rate: 38.0%
- Minimum LSAT: 154
- Minimum GPA: 3.17
This is another easiest law schools to get into in California that provides a personalized and practice-focused approach to legal education that prepares graduates to make a lasting difference in their communities. Also, Dale E. Fowler School of Law legal clinics provide students with the opportunity to attain real-world experience by working on actual cases under the supervision of clinical specialists and seasoned practitioners.
10. Pepperdine Caruso School of Law
- Acceptance Rate: 36.3%
- Minimum LSAT: 155
- Minimum GPA: 3.35
Pepperdine Caruso School of Law is not only easy to get into, but they still provide world-class law education, no wonder preLaw Magazine ranked them 8th in the country for practical training. Also, they don’t teach you to only think like a lawyer, but they go as far as making your practice one.
They offer different kinds of law programs which are: Juris Doctor (JD); Master of Law (LLM); Master of Dispute Resolution (MDR); Master of Legal Studies (MLS) – Online; Continuing Legal Education; Joint Degrees; plus other online courses and certificate programs.
What You Need to Know About Law School Bar Pass Rate
It’s no longer news that you need to know the school’s bar pass rate to determine whether the school is a good fit for you. First of all, the Bar Exam Pass rate is the percentage of graduating students that passed the bar exam.
Here is the crazy part, due to the bar pass rate helps students to determine the school they will join some schools have made passing the bar exam a priority and have reduced their concern for students to think and practice law. That’s why this rate shouldn’t be the only criterion for choosing a school.
In fact, the bar exam pass rate mostly depends on individual performance than the school’s competence. So if a student struggled to pass a standardized test like LSAT there are strong chances he/she will still struggle to pass the bar exam on the first sitting.
That’s why you mostly see schools like Thomas Jefferson School of Law that accept students with LSAT scores of 145 to also have low bar pass rates. It doesn’t just mean the school is necessarily bad at preparing their students for legal careers, it’s just a reflection of the students they admitted.
Conclusion
You’ve seen that there are quite some good easiest law schools to get into California, and the best part is most of these schools are recognized in the world for top-notch law education.
