Top Law Schools

I can't find any info comparing them, thoughts, differences, which one is better?

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Does your post mean anything?

BLi wrote:--ImageRemoved--

hilarious.

I don't get the joke, I was hoping for real info, or jokes that I understand at least.

have you seen dumb and dumber, he's dry heaving.

+1. I have the same question as OP. But I heard that W&M is more Jesuit and homophobic

Anyone know anything on this topic?

GhostDynasty wrote:Anyone know anything on this topic?

might have to wait a couple days for an actual answer.
(for instance, where i am, it's ten to four am.)

GhostDynasty wrote:Anyone know anything on this topic?

I don't know much about them, but what are you looking for in a ls? are you a resident of VA? Is price an issue, class size, location, etc?

William and Mary is a better school with a better reputation. And I assume above poster is joking, but W&M is neither religiously affiliated nor particularly conservative.

daniel5215 wrote:+1. I have the same question as OP. But I heard that W&M is more Jesuit and homophobic

it's a public universtiy, not jesuit, but i can't speak to the political leanings of its faculty/student body.

Price is an issue. Location....? I suppose, I don't know anything about their locations or Virginia. Im out of State, but I don't have a good instate value...money wise.

GhostDynasty wrote:Price is an issue. Location....? I suppose, I don't know anything about their locations or Virginia. Im out of State, but I don't have a good instate value...money wise.

Well, why those two schools?

I would pick W&M pretty much hand down, unless maybe you got significant money from W&L. I just think I would be less misserable at W&L. W&L has a really small class sizes and the town leave a lot to be desired in terms of nightlife from what I've heard. Get residency, 21K vs 31K at W&M. 37K at W&L.

What are your numbers and what are your expectations re: employment.

Have you done any researchon these schools? What do you want to know? For the most part I'm just looking this stuff up on their websites.

BaiAilian2013 wrote:William and Mary is a better school with a better reputation. And I assume above poster is joking, but W&M is neither religiously affiliated nor particularly conservative.

Ehhh...

http://leiterlawschool.typepad.com/leit ... _rank.html

http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog ... ation.html

http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog ... judge.html

W&M jumping W&L by 2 spots in the overall USNWR rankings for the first time ever (I think) doesn't immediately equal "better school with a better reputation." They're basically peer schools but W&M is a better bargain, especially if you're a resident, and is closer to DC. Do some individual research on each school and see which is a better fit.

Full disclosure: W&L undergrad. And yes, some posters do have a point--especially without the heavily Greek-driven undergrad social scene, Lexington is not the most exciting place you will ever encounter.

generals10 wrote:

BaiAilian2013 wrote:William and Mary is a better school with a better reputation. And I assume above poster is joking, but W&M is neither religiously affiliated nor particularly conservative.

Ehhh...

http://leiterlawschool.typepad.com/leit ... _rank.html

http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog ... ation.html

http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog ... judge.html

W&M jumping W&L by 2 spots in the overall USNWR rankings for the first time ever (I think) doesn't immediately equal "better school with a better reputation." They're basically peer schools but W&M is a better bargain, especially if you're a resident, and is closer to DC. Do some individual research on each school and see which is a better fit.

Full disclosure: W&L undergrad. And yes, some posters do have a point--especially without the heavily Greek-driven undergrad social scene, Lexington is not the most exciting place you will ever encounter.

Even last year, when W&M was ranked 5 spots below W&L, the consensus on TLS was that W&M was "the better school with a better reputation." This is probably due to W&M's better lay prestige - it's simply more recognizable (especially outside of Virginia), for whatever that's worth. Also, Williamsburg is viewed as slightly less boring than Lexington.

daniel5215 wrote:+1. I have the same question as OP. But I heard that W&M is more Jesuit and homophobic

This is absolute crap...it isn't religiously affiliated at all. I went there for undergrad and there was a substantial population of undergrads who were gay and there appeared to be no homophobia. If anything, it tends to skew a bit more liberal in terms of the student body (although still fairly moderate). I doubt that the law school is very different.

galahad85 wrote:

generals10 wrote:

BaiAilian2013 wrote:William and Mary is a better school with a better reputation. And I assume above poster is joking, but W&M is neither religiously affiliated nor particularly conservative.

Ehhh...

http://leiterlawschool.typepad.com/leit ... _rank.html

http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog ... ation.html

http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog ... judge.html

W&M jumping W&L by 2 spots in the overall USNWR rankings for the first time ever (I think) doesn't immediately equal "better school with a better reputation." They're basically peer schools but W&M is a better bargain, especially if you're a resident, and is closer to DC. Do some individual research on each school and see which is a better fit.

Full disclosure: W&L undergrad. And yes, some posters do have a point--especially without the heavily Greek-driven undergrad social scene, Lexington is not the most exciting place you will ever encounter.

Even last year, when W&M was ranked 5 spots below W&L, the consensus on TLS was that W&M was "the better school with a better reputation." This is probably due to W&M's better lay prestige - it's simply more recognizable (especially outside of Virginia), for whatever that's worth. Also, Williamsburg is viewed as slightly less boring than Lexington.

WM has better overall placement.

I am interested in both of their locations, but I think William and Mary would win for me. I believe they are pretty much equal schools though.

Blindmelon wrote:

galahad85 wrote:

generals10 wrote:

BaiAilian2013 wrote:William and Mary is a better school with a better reputation. And I assume above poster is joking, but W&M is neither religiously affiliated nor particularly conservative.

Ehhh...

http://leiterlawschool.typepad.com/leit ... _rank.html

http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog ... ation.html

http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog ... judge.html

W&M jumping W&L by 2 spots in the overall USNWR rankings for the first time ever (I think) doesn't immediately equal "better school with a better reputation." They're basically peer schools but W&M is a better bargain, especially if you're a resident, and is closer to DC. Do some individual research on each school and see which is a better fit.

Full disclosure: W&L undergrad. And yes, some posters do have a point--especially without the heavily Greek-driven undergrad social scene, Lexington is not the most exciting place you will ever encounter.

Even last year, when W&M was ranked 5 spots below W&L, the consensus on TLS was that W&M was "the better school with a better reputation." This is probably due to W&M's better lay prestige - it's simply more recognizable (especially outside of Virginia), for whatever that's worth. Also, Williamsburg is viewed as slightly less boring than Lexington.

WM has better overall placement.

That too.

I posted this in a similar thread a few weeks ago, but here it is again: W&L and W&M are both great schools with solid repuations, especially in VA. From what I know, most W&L grads tend to look for more jobs in the South while W&M grads usually feed into the DC area. Obviously, they're not in the same league as GULC, UVA, or other T14s, but I also wouldn't say they lag too far behind GW (some might say they are better). Because they aren't in DC/a major city, I would imagine GW grads would have an advantage in networking, but W&L and W&M have a much lower cost of living and can be very generous with $$$.

After living in VA for a while, both schools have good lay prestige there, but W&M probably wins out more in the end. Their locations are very different as well. Most posters here will probably say they are in the middle of nowhere, but that's not entirely true, at least for W&M. W&L is in Lexington, a nice small town in the Shenandoah (pretty far from any city...at least a couple hours from Richmond), while W&M is in Williamsburg, a historic/touristy town near Hampton Roads (it's about an hour drive from Richmond and VA Beach). Williamsburg is often said to be boring, but there's enough to see and do, especially given that most of your time will be in the library studying anyway.

Both have their strengths depending on what you're looking for, but again, I think I would go with W&M. Nothing against W&L: I've heard that it has a very solid program as well, but W&M had a nice jump in the rankings last year (ahead of W&L and tied GW) and continues to appeal to people based on its collegial feel, legal skills program, and perhaps most importantly (as a public school) its affordability.

As someone with no biases prior to this cycle I'm going to buck the trend and say I'd pick W&L 9 times out of ten. W&L is a little more expensive but I'd say it's viewed as a little more prestigous, they offer similar placement and the area around Lexington is absolutely perfect (Lynchburg is less than an hour away so it isn't THAT far from major cities). It just seems like the overall feel I get from W&L is better than that of W&M, but to be fair I know more of W&L. Either way both are great schools.

Bump, any more thoughts about anything. The area around the schools, prestige, job placement, etc.

Careers : Washington and Lee University

Bar Statistics (Winter and Summer 2007 administrations)
State where the greatest number of first-time test takers took the bar VA
School's bar passage rate for first-time test takers 83.3%
Statewide bar passage rate for first-time test takers 75.6%
Class of 2007 Graduates
Total graduates 124
Graduates employed at graduation 75.0%
Graduates known to be employed nine months after graduation 93.3%
Starting Salaries of 2007 Graduates Employed Full-time
25th percentile private sector starting salary $75,000
Median private sector starting salary $105,000
75th percentile private sector starting salary $145,000
Percent in the private sector who reported salary information 56%
Median public service starting salary $48,000
Areas of Legal Practice (Class of 2007)
Percent employed in academia 1.8%
Percent employed in business and industry 3.5%
Percent employed in government 8.9%
Percent employed in all judicial clerkships 18.6%
Percent employed in law firms 56.6%
Percent employed in public interest 4.4%
Percent employed in an unknown field 6.2%
Percent employed in a judicial clerkship by an Article III federal judge 9.0%
2007 Graduates Employment Location
Graduates employed in-state 26%
Graduates employed in foreign countries 1%
Number of states where graduates are employed 30
New England (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT) 2.0%
Middle Atlantic (NY, NJ, PA) 17.0%
East North Central (IL, IN, MI, OH, WI) 4.0%
West North Central (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD) 1.0%
South Atlantic (DE, DC, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA, WV) 47.0%
East South Central (AL, KY, MS, TN) 5.0%
West South Central (AR, LA, OK, TX) 5.0%
Pacific (AK, CA, HI, OR, WA) 5.0%
Mountain (AZ, CO, ID, MT, NV, NM, UT, WY) 6.0%
Employment location unknown 7.0%

Careers : College of William and Mary (Marshall-Wythe)

Bar Statistics (Winter and Summer 2007 administrations)
State where the greatest number of first-time test takers took the bar VA
School's bar passage rate for first-time test takers 83.1%
Statewide bar passage rate for first-time test takers 75.6%
Class of 2007 Graduates
Total graduates 199
Graduates employed at graduation 88.2%
Graduates known to be employed nine months after graduation 99.1%
Starting Salaries of 2007 Graduates Employed Full-time
25th percentile private sector starting salary $95,500
Median private sector starting salary $135,000
75th percentile private sector starting salary $145,000
Percent in the private sector who reported salary information 79%
Median public service starting salary $50,000
Areas of Legal Practice (Class of 2007)
Percent employed in academia 2.0%
Percent employed in business and industry 8.0%
Percent employed in government 13.0%
Percent employed in all judicial clerkships 20.0%
Percent employed in law firms 53.0%
Percent employed in public interest 4.0%
Percent employed in an unknown field 0.0%
Percent employed in a judicial clerkship by an Article III federal judge 4.2%
2007 Graduates Employment Location
Graduates employed in-state 29%
Graduates employed in foreign countries 1%
Number of states where graduates are employed 28
New England (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT) 3.7%
Middle Atlantic (NY, NJ, PA) 15.0%
East North Central (IL, IN, MI, OH, WI) 3.0%
West North Central (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD) 1.6%
South Atlantic (DE, DC, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA, WV) 60.0%
East South Central (AL, KY, MS, TN) 0.5%
West South Central (AR, LA, OK, TX) 3.7%
Pacific (AK, CA, HI, OR, WA) 3.7%
Mountain (AZ, CO, ID, MT, NV, NM, UT, WY) 5.8%
Employment location unknown 2.0%

I didn't read the prior posts, but if you are instate in Virginia, it seems like a no brainer.

Oh and as a common rule, the US news is excellent for comparing schools in the same state.

So generally if one school is ranked higher than another one in the same state, the higher ranked one is the better choice.

Hey Aber, where'd you get that data? I've never seen anything that detailed about either school. Good find.