These sections include logical reasoning, analytical reasoning, reading comprehension, a writing sample, and an experimental section, which does not count toward the final score of the law school applicant. The writing sample is not scored either, but it is sent to every law school to which an aspiring law student applies. Law schools usually do not use it as a significant part of the admissions process. Admission requirements of prestigious schools in the United States differ greatly with those of the less prominent. As written by the Dean of Admissions at Stanford Law School: "Admission to Stanford Law School is based primarily upon superior academic achievement and potential to contribute to the development and practice of the law. Competition is severe: the 178 members of the Class of 2002 were selected from among 4,000 applicants, and most were drawn from the upper 5 percent of their undergraduate class and the upper 5 percent of the LSAT pool. The class that entered in 1999 numbered 93 women and 85 men, over half of whom had been out of college for two or more years." In contrast, other less-prominent law schools around the nation do not present nearly as strict requirements for applicants. In evaluating individual files, the faculty of any law school considers the record of both undergraduate and graduate education, and the applicant's talents, nonacademic experience, and aspirations. The curriculums of most law schools are generally similar, and their purpose is the same: to teach students to think like lawyers. Discussions are viewed not with moral criticism, but with a legal aspect, in which problems are examined objectively about what the law requires. First-year law students are required to take a number of courses, such as constitutional law, criminal law, torts, civil procedure, contracts, property, and legal research. Beginning with the second year, students are allowed to elect their own courses, such as administrative law, litigation, American legal history, civil rights legislation, family law, health law, economic law, etc.
