Hi,
I am a german student interested in doing a LL.M program at the westcoast, particularly in California. I was wondering which law schools over there are known to be fairly easy to get into.

I have heard Stanford and Berkeley are for instance incredibly tough because their programs are really small. Are there any law schools with big programs that offer a good chance of admission for a well above average but not best in his class or anything student?

Thanks.

Hi Seeker,

I've been admitted to both Boalt Hall and UCLA.
Honestly, I didn't think I had a good chance to get in Boalt Hall for the reasons you mentioned. Probably the admissions office took also into account my five years' experience in international law firms.
I thought it was easier to get in UCLA when I started the application process.
I didn't try Stanford (too selective).
So I would say: just try. you're so happy when you get in.
good luck.

So does UCLA have a fairly big program, and USC? I mean a big part in how hard it is to get into those prestigious schools (also Berkeley, Stanford, USD, USF) must be the number of students they´re taking...

What many people do is that they apply to several law schools at the same time: they choose both the most prestigious ones as well as those ranked lower.

Once you get your application ready for one law school than preparing another copy of it is not so costly in terms of money and time. While the effort you have to make in applying to the first law school can be huge, every next application is quite easy to get. That is because most law schools require the same documents: TOEFL, transcript of records and letters of recommendation. What is different is the piece of your own writing (personal statement, statement of purpose and/or short essay) - some schools require it while others don't. And if you use LSAC to evaluate your transcript and TOEFL scores all you will have to do is basically ask your referees to print few more copies of the recommendations for you.

I would thus suggest you to give it a shot and send an application to all law schools in California.