Top Law Schools

I've been living in San Francisco for a good 6 years and plan on eventually having a career in the Bay Area. I am quite young however and would enjoy the excitement of moving to San Diego and living in warmer weather for a while. I'd also work down there if I found a good job. Both schools offered the same amount of money so it's really just a toss up of where I want to live. My family is in Norcal and Socal so I'd be able to see them anytime.

Anyone have opinions which school I should choose? I've visited both and found both to be beautiful. I don't really want to focus on IP so that takes away a large draw to Santa Clara.

Do rankings matter much if they're in the 60's and 80's?

Rankings don't matter. Its a toss up. What city you want to be in for school and working?

If you want to work in the Bay Area --> SCU
If you want to work in SD --> USD

That being said, SCU is a pretty bad idea even at free. Their placement is horrible (only about 25% of their grads got full time jobs as lawyers within 9 months of graduation). USD is also pretty terrible (it's a T2) but at least it doesn't face as much competition as SCU does. Not to mention that both of these schools likely have scholarship stipulations meaning that there is a decent chance you'd be paying sticker your 2L and 3L years.

They're both regional schools. You should choose the one in the city where you could see yourself for a long time. That said, if you're going to stay in NorCal I would choose any other school up there since there is a lot of competition from the higher ranked schools - Stanford, Boalt, Hastings, Davis, etc.

How much $?

FWIW COL is higher in the bay area than in SD (born and raised in Santa Clara and just moved to SD 2 years ago).

The best thing about Santa Clara is that Steve Nash went there. I'd go with Diego.

Based on your post, I think USD is your best bet.