Student Body Profile

Students come to Carolina from backgrounds as varied as the law itself. From a pool of several thousand applicants, the School selects those with the greatest promise, those who will take their education and give, in turn, to society and the profession. Admission to the School is competitive, and those who make the cut have only one thing in common: They are here because they want a first-rate legal education.

Admitted students will also find themselves in some rare company. The bulk of the student body, of course, is bright young men and women from some of the nation's most outstanding undergraduate institutions, but youth is salted generously with experience and age. The current student body includes doctors, engineers, classically-trained musicians, teachers and many others with different backgrounds.

The School of Law is also dedicated to helping minorities achieve satisfying careers in law. This diversity enriches the classroom experience for every student and we believe produces better lawyers.

Each year brings to the School an impressive group of students with impressive credentials. The following information is for the fall 2009 entering class:

Fall 2009 Entering Class Profile

Number of Applications 2931
Number of Students Enrolled
  • 73% from North Carolina
  • 27% from Out-of-State
  261
Applicants accepted 15.4%
Age Range
  • Median Age = 24
20-53
28 years old or older 15%
Minority Presence 30%
Female Students 54%
Median LSAT 162
Median GPA 3.6

Other quick facts about the fall 2009 entering class:

  • There are 94 colleges and universities represented.
  • The class comes from 22 states including the District of Columbia.
  • The class represents 39 counties within the state of North Carolina
  • There are 19 international students, hailing from England, France, Germany, Mexico, the Netherlands and Scotland.
  • Thirteen percent have graduate degrees.
  • Twenty-four percent have served in the military, Teach for America, Americorps or the Peace Corps.