Chossing a Law School

[lawbull335]

I have aspirations of becoming a law professor. Among other things, I know the ranking of the law school one attends is very important to search committees. I will be a non-traditional law student (over 30) and have already accumulated a lot of debt. Thus, my choice is critical for both reasons (opportunities and debt).

At present, I have reduced my options to one of the following: Northwestern, Illinois, or Hofstra. I have been waitlisted at NU and do not expect to get any scholarship support from them. Illinois has offered what amounts to 1/4 of tuition and fees. Hofstra has offered a full tuition scholarship. These schools are ranked 10, 26, and 95 respectively. Hofstra appears to be a really nice school and opportunities to practice law should be good if I perform well. However, I am concerned about professorship opportunities down the road. Illinois is ranked much higher, but it is still not an elite school. Northwestern is closer to elite, but will cost too much.

I have considered waiting a year and retaking the LSAT this June. I scored at the 70th percentile on my first and only attempt in Dec. 2004. I did not study very hard and believe I could do much better. Back then, I took several practice tests to prepare and scored an average of 165 - 170 on these. However, on test day, I was exhausted from my job and completing assignments for classes. I didn't get much sleep the night before and only got 12 correct answers in the first section. The rest of the test went okay.

Thanks!

[UFMatt]

http://lsolum.typepad.com/legaltheory/2008/04/2008-entry-leve.html

3 new faculty were hired via NW vs. 2 from Illinois vs. 0 from Hofstra.

Your odds are poor unless you're coming out of Yale or Harvard, and even then they won't be very good. You won't be losing much by going to Illinois vs. NW.

[Bronte]

School names in thread titles, please.