Every employer must observe Southern Methodist University's principles of equal opportunity, stated in the Nondiscrimination Policy below, as a condition to obtaining any form of placement assistance from SMU Dedman School of Law or use of the school's facilities. Employers must acknowledge and agree to this policy when registering and using Symplicity. SMU Dedman School of Law Non-Discrimination Policy SMU Dedman School of Law will not discriminate in any employment practice, education program, or educational activity on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age disability or veteran status. SMU Dedman School of Law's commitment to equal opportunity includes nondiscrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The Director of Institutional Access and Equity has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policies and may be contacted at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75275; 214-768-3601. Southern Methodist University will investigate any complaint concerning discriminatory practices against its students or alumni to assure that placement assistance and facilities are made available only to employers whose practices are consistent with the principles of equal opportunity stated in the SMU Dedman School of Law Nondiscrimination Policy stated above.
It is the Law School's policy not to provide employers with demographic information about any of its students, students campus address, telephone, or e-mail addresses. However, if you want us to notify students on your behalf, please contact Karen Sargent at kcsargent@smu.edu to discuss your needs.
At SMU Dedman School of Law students are graded on a letter scale from A to F. Students may choose whether or not to list their GPA on their resume. The GPA listed must be the most current GPA as reported by the Office of the Registrar. Students who list their GPA must report the grade to three decimal points. Students may not round their GPA. The table below shows the grades and their numeric equivalents:
Law students at SMU Dedman School of Law are not given an individual class rank until graduation. Class rank percentiles are released for (1) the full-time first year law class, (2) the combined full-time second year law class and the third year, part-time Evening Program law class, and (3) the combined full-time third year law class and the fourth year, part-time Evening Program law class. The law GPA is used for rank and cumulative cut off purposes; this GPA excludes all courses taken outside of the law school.
SMU Dedman School of Law releases the numeric cut off for the top 10%, top 25%, top 33%, and top 50% for each class following the spring semester of each year. No other information about class standing is calculated or made available to students. Visiting students are not included in the calculations, but transfer students who have completed the fall and spring semesters are included.
Part-time Evening Program students, during their first and second years of law school, are not ranked. They may, however, gain a general understanding of their class standing by comparing their GPA to the class rank percentiles, which are listed above. Resumes for Evening Program students, during their first and second years, will indicate that their class rank is an “estimated class rank”.
All employers participating in On-Campus Interviewing ("OCI") are required to hold open offers extended to students until the dates set forth in the NALP Standards for the Timing of Offers and Decisions set forth below.
Students should not hold open more than five offers of employment at any one time. For each offer received that places a student over the limit, the student should, within one week of receipt of the excess offer, release an offer.
Employers with 40 or fewer attorneys firm wide are exempted from these rules. Offers made on or before December 15 should remain open for a minimum of three weeks. Offers made after December 15 should remain open for at least two weeks.
Employers are permitted to prescreen candidates or ask for transcripts in advance of the on-campus interview.
The Office of Career Services assigns on-campus interview dates and arranges second- and third-year on-campus interview schedules for employers. An employer participating in OCI may not schedule or conduct any initial or callback interviews prior to the employer’s assigned on-campus interview date(s) of students who will be 2Ls in the fall. This policy does not apply to (a) students who will be 3Ls in the fall; (b) student-initiated requests for informational interviews; or (c) interviews conducted in accordance with organized job fairs.
Employers and students who make use of the facilities and services of the Office of Career Services must limit interview to fly out week, vacation periods, weekends, or other times that do not conflict with scheduled classes.
The Office of Career Services does not make services available to first-year students prior to November 1 as set forth by the National Association for Law Placement (NALP). In addition, prospective employers should not communicate with first-year students before December 1 or arrange meetings with first-year students during the fall recruitment season, even if the contact is student initiated.