Top Law Schools

I am extremely dedicated to my faith and want to find a school where there is at least a decent Christian environment
also, obviously, I'm looking for a good church

i know that Georgetown has capitol hill baptist with mark dever but what else is out there that is a sick church?

i cant go to a law school that isn't near a good church


im an evangelical presbyterian although i go to the best congregational church right now at school and at home a baptist church (which is good). the denomination doesn't matter so much to me; pastor does.
also need a school that has some sort of christian group on campus.


thanks!!!!
-grace

Just check to see if a school has the Christian Legal Society - since that's probably what you'll want to join, and if there is a club (and based on its size) it'll probably be a good indicator to you of how many practicing Christians are at the law school.

I am sure every school will have some sort of Christttian group on campus. Georgetown is a Catholic school, and I've heard that D.C. has some absolutely incredible churches. But other than that, I really have no idea. Every school in the T14 is going to have churches in the community and I'm sure most of them have groups of sort, so unless you really want to go to a school with a religious affiliation, I would not let this be a major factor in your decision.

And I agree with the above poster. Check out the school's websites to see what kinds of groups they have.

If not flame, 'dozo.

miamiman wrote:If not flame, 'dozo.

Isn't Cardozo good if you are of the Hebrew persuasion?

psychomohel wrote:

miamiman wrote:If not flame, 'dozo.

Isn't Cardozo good if you are of the Hebrew persuasion?

Who told you that?

I just said I'm presbyterian lol so no I'm not Jewish.
That would be a lot of specific information if this were a flame.

I'm sorry. I just wanted information on whether anyone who perhaps lived near or went to one of these schools knew of really good churches there. I didn't want advice as to whether this should be an important factor in my decision. It is and that's not going to change.

It's also true that some schools have a much stronger anti-christian atmosphere than others and I would like to avoid that because my faith is the most important thing in my life. If I pursue law it will be to glorify God. If you're not Christian, I understand that won't make sense to you, but please be respectful of my view.

Thanks for the legal society info; I'll see if I can find out how large these groups are at each respective school.
Still more important to me is finding a good church before deciding.

Specifically I'd like to know if anyone knows of one near Michigan's or Chicago's campus since I'm considering ED.
Thanks

One school to steer clear of would be WUSTL.

maybe Duke?

.

They all have plenty of churches nearby. The more populated the area, the more churches to chose from. Top-law-schools.com probably isn't the best resource for finding and choosing a church. I don't know what would be.

arundodonax wrote:You'll find a PCA or PCUSA church near any of these schools. Of course a visit might be in order.

With regard to environment, based on their respective regions I would think you could rank the schools in groups of hospitality towards evangelicalism, though of course it is not always necessary to be in large groups of like-minded individuals:

UVA
Duke
Vanderbilt

Michigan
Cornell
Texas

Harvard
Stanford
Columbia
NYU
Chicago
Penn
Northwestern
Georgetown
UCLA

Yale
Berkeley

Maybe, but I just can't fathom it being that important whether the percentage of the general population in the area who share your religion is 30% vs 40%, or whatever. The thought that it would is bizarre to me. Moreover, even if you have a lower percentage in a much more populated area, your total number is still going to be much higher.

bigben wrote:They all have plenty of churches nearby. The more populated the area, the more churches to chose from, and the more likely it will be that you can find world class preaching if that is what you are after. Top-law-schools.com probably isn't the best resource for finding and choosing a church.

sorry, I don't consider number of churches a good determination for whether there is a good church or not, although it is definitely somewhat helpful. In particular I was hoping there was a good church near U Chicago. State of Michigan has surprisingly few truly evangelical churches.
Why would it bother you if I posted on TLS? It doesnt exactly hurt anyone if I ask. Anyways...

I was hoping someone who was a Christians and went to one these schools might let me know if they had found a great church at their school.
Shot in the dark that that person would read this, but maybe. Thought I'd try.

Any large city like Chicago is bound to have any type of church that you could possibly want. That's what I was getting at.

s0ph1e2007 wrote:

bigben wrote:They all have plenty of churches nearby. The more populated the area, the more churches to chose from, and the more likely it will be that you can find world class preaching if that is what you are after. Top-law-schools.com probably isn't the best resource for finding and choosing a church.

sorry, I don't consider number of churches a good determination for whether there is a good church or not, although it is definitely somewhat helpful. In particular I was hoping there was a good church near U Chicago. State of Michigan has surprisingly few truly evangelical churches.
Why would it bother you if I posted on TLS? It doesnt exactly hurt anyone if I ask. Anyways...

I was hoping someone who was a Christians and went to one these schools might let me know if they had found a great church at their school.
Shot in the dark that that person would read this, but maybe. Thought I'd try.

There's a pretty chapel on UChi campus but hell if I know if it's a good church. I am no Christian.

Also, UChi isn't particularly religious but I can't really imagine that any T14 is. If faith matters to my classmates, I certainly never noticed.

Out of curiosity what constitutes a "good" church to you? What factors are you looking for? Age of the members? Doctrine? It seems to me that there is a wide variety of churches and church go-ers within the Christian faith and no matter which church you find there is bound to be at least several people who think it's a "good" church. The issue is which of them browse TLS...

Worry about the LSAT before you starting thinking about which T14 has the best churches. I swear I remember you posting about doing horribly in Feb.

Also, I would imagine that different people have a different view about churches, so their definition of a "good" church might be different from yours. Contact the Christian Legal Societies at the schools you are applying to and they will definitely point you in the right direction regarded churches as they will likely understand what you are looking for as compared to on TLS where people are all over the place in terms of religion and schools and there are also a lot of 0L's who wouldn't be able to answer your question.

ETA: Just checked back posts and my memory is correct. Seriously, worry about the LSAT first because you never know if you're going to raise your score no matter how you've done on PT's.

keg411 wrote:Worry about the LSAT before you starting thinking about which T14 has the best churches. I swear I remember you posting about doing horribly in Feb.

If that's true, OP really shouldn't be spending time exploring this issue at this point in time. Take care of the LSAT first. Ponder this question when you've figured out what your options are.

I don't mean to hurt your feelings, but if UChi isn't an option to begin with, it makes no difference whether or not it has good churches.

s0ph1e2007 wrote:i cant go to a law school that isn't near a good church

Why? I'm a person of faith and this sentiment seems weird even to me....

It will be easy to find a new church home in Chicago or any other major city. You might have to shop around a bit but really, this isn't something to worry about. Especially in the Midwest.

I'll just be honest and say I think its quite weird/odd/laughable that you are basing your law school decisions on location relative to a "good" church. How are we supposed to know your definition of good? And unless you end up in Montana or some other mostly rural area I'm sure there will be a good enough church in the area. Use your energy to study for the LSAT.

And I'm a person of faith as well so don't take my comments as theist bashing or anything.

merichard87 wrote:I'll just be honest and say I think its quite weird/odd/laughable that you are basing your law school decisions on location relative to a "good" church. How are we supposed to know your definition of good? And unless you end up in Montana or some other mostly rural area I'm sure there will be a good enough church in the area. Use your energy to study for the LSAT.

And I'm a person of faith as well so don't take my comments as theist bashing or anything.

I don't think it is unreasonable to think about this before EDing somewhere. Before having a competitive LSAT score, okay, but before committing?

IAFG wrote:

merichard87 wrote:I'll just be honest and say I think its quite weird/odd/laughable that you are basing your law school decisions on location relative to a "good" church. How are we supposed to know your definition of good? And unless you end up in Montana or some other mostly rural area I'm sure there will be a good enough church in the area. Use your energy to study for the LSAT.

And I'm a person of faith as well so don't take my comments as theist bashing or anything.

I don't think it is unreasonable to think about this before EDing somewhere. Before having a competitive LSAT score, okay, but before committing?

It's certainly not unreasonable to consider the extent to which a school's culture aligns with one's perspective. But to worry about it before taking care of the LSAT is to waste time.

IAFG wrote:

merichard87 wrote:I'll just be honest and say I think its quite weird/odd/laughable that you are basing your law school decisions on location relative to a "good" church. How are we supposed to know your definition of good? And unless you end up in Montana or some other mostly rural area I'm sure there will be a good enough church in the area. Use your energy to study for the LSAT.

And I'm a person of faith as well so don't take my comments as theist bashing or anything.

I don't think it is unreasonable to think about this before EDing somewhere. Before having a competitive LSAT score, okay, but before committing?

I'm not saying its unreasonable to think about it before committing to a school but she has already said that denomination doesn't matter so I'm sure there will be some selection available. Also, its not as if shes a Mormon getting ready to move to Alabama where it should truly be a concern. I'm just saying that basing her decision on it is a little out there, I mean is she going to turn down Yale because New Haven doesn't offer the kind of church she wants?

+1

The question is an excellent one to consider, but once you actually have become accepted.