The University of South Carolina School of Law welcomed 206 first-year students into its Class of 2025 on August 10. The class is one of South Carolina Law’s most academically talented, meeting or exceeding its all-time metrics in one of the most volatile law school admissions cycles in recent memory.
Despite an 11.5 percent decline in applications to U.S. law schools nationwide, South Carolina Law drew virtually even with its 2021 tally of applicants. More than 1,750 prospective students requested admission to the law school — a 25 percent increase over 2020 — approaching records set a decade ago. The entering class was selected from applicants who live in 49 states, Belgium, and Canada.
South Carolina Law increased its median LSAT and GPA scores to 159 and 3.61 respectively, continuing the trend of improving the entering class’ academic profile every year since 2016. The law school improved its academic profile in five of the six measures of excellence in academic performance.
“The changing nature of the admissions testing environment, plus the economic and societal factors that shaped their choices, made this an unusually challenging admissions year. To have ended the cycle with an entering class whose academic profile matches or exceeds historic academic benchmarks is particularly satisfying considering the challenges we faced,” said Karen Reagan Britton, vice dean for admissions, career and professional development, and student affairs. “We are so pleased by their enthusiasm as they meet each other, our faculty and staff, and their peer mentors and head to class together for the first time. Our efforts to compose a talented and diverse class have paid dividends with the arrival of the Class of 2025.”
South Carolina residents made up 54.85 percent of the class. Members of the entering class hail from 29 states, coming to South Carolina Law from every region of the country. Three international students are members of the class, coming to South Carolina Law from Belgium and Canada. More than 17.1 percent of the first-year class are first generation college students. Forty students (20.83 percent of the class who identified ethnicity) self-identified as members of an underrepresented minority group with 10.94 percent having self-identified as Black/African American or Two or More (B/AA). Female students constituted 52.91 percent of the entering class, outnumbering male students for the third year in a row.
Members of the Class of 2025 attended 93 undergraduate institutions across South Carolina, the region, and the country. The University of South Carolina, Clemson University, Wofford College, College of Charleston, and The Citadel were the largest South Carolina based feeder schools. Notably, seven graduates of the University of South Carolina Honors College chose to remain in Columbia for law school. The University of Georgia, the University of Mississippi, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill were among the top out-of-state schools represented by multiple students this year.
The class reported 52 academic majors in their undergraduate studies. The traditional majors of Political Science, English and History were prevalent, as were majors in various business disciplines (Economics, Marketing, Finance). Several STEM majors, including Psychology, Biology, Sociology and Chemistry, were well represented in the class. Several members of the class bring the benefit of advanced degrees and notable careers to the classroom.