Top 2010 Law School Rankings

Top Law Schools consolidates all of the 2010 law school rankings available, thereby giving you the necessary information to determine which law schools you should apply to. The variability in these rankings should illustrate that the 2010 law school rankings can act only as a guide, and that you should be the final evaluator of what law school is best for you.

After acceptance, we recommend that you personally visit each law school that you are seriously considering attending. Which law school you attend not only impacts where you will spend three enjoyable and educational years, but also where you will get a job and probably settle down.

Below the 2010 Law School Rankings is a short description of all of the law school ratings listed below. A* indicates that this school is tied with another law school for that position.

Please click on the links of several law schools, which are our exclusive, in-depth profiles of these schools.

2011 USN Rank	2010 USN Rank (April, 2009)	Law School	Gourman Report	Educational Quality Rankings	2008 GPA 25th-75th Percentile	2008 LSAT 25th-75th Percentile	2008 Student/ Faculty Ratio
1	1	Yale U (CT)	3	1	3.82-3.96	170-176	7.3
2	2	Harvard U (MA)	1	2*	3.76-3.96	171-176	11.0
3	3	Stanford U (CA)	6	4	3.77-3.97	167-172	8.0
4	4	Columbia U (NY)	7	5	3.60-3.81	170-175	10.1
5	6*	U Chicago	4	2*	3.63-3.84	169-173	9.5
6	5	New York U	11	6	3.57-3.86	169-173	9.4
7*	6*	UC Berkeley (Boalt)	5	7	3.68-3.95	165-170	11.4
7*	8	U Pennsylvania	9	11	3.57-3.90	166-171	10.7
9	9	U Michigan-Ann Arbor	2	8	3.55-3.84	167-170	11.3
10	10*	U Virginia	16	10	3.54-3.92	165-171	12.6
11*	10*	Duke U (NC)	8	17	3.60-3.84	167-171	9.7
11*	10*	Northwestern U (IL)	14	14*	3.40-3.81	166-172	8.8
13	13	Cornell U (NY)	10	14*	3.50-3.80	165-168	10.0
14	14	Georgetown U (DC)	17	12	3.42-3.79	167-171	12.4
15*	15*	UCLA	13	14*	3.57-3.88	164-169	11.3
15*	15*	U Texas-Austin	12	10*	3.54-3.87	164-168	11.3
17	17	Vanderbilt U (TN)	15	18	3.50-3.96	164-169	14.4
18	18	U Southern California	27	12	3.47-3.71	165-167	12.4
19	19	Washington U (MO)		29*	3.30-3.80	161-168	10.7
20	28*	George Washington U	32	22*	3.41-3.86	163-168	14.2
21	23*	U Illinois (UIUC)		22*	3.20-3.90	160-167	13.1
22*	20*	Boston U		19*	3.50-3.83	164-167	12.1
22*	20*	Emory U (GA)		29*	3.37-3.68	165-167	10.5
22*	20*	U Minnesota-Twin Cities	19	21	3.30-3.85	160-168	11.9
22*	23*	U Notre Dame (IN)	18	46*	3.36-3.74	163-167	10.9
26	26*	U Iowa		19*	3.43-3.81	158-164	15.5
27	23*	Indiana U-Bloomington		40*	3.26-3.83	156-165	9.5
28*	26*	Boston College		32*	3.34-3.68	163-167	13.2
28*	28*	William and Mary (VA)		37*	3.42-3.77	161-166	15.7
28*	35*	UC Davis		32*	3.23-3.72	160-165	11.6
28*	35*	U Georgia		31	3.40-3.80	161-165	12.2
28*	30*	U North Carolina		32*	3.43-3.73	157-164	15.4
28*	35*	U Wisconsin-Madison		22*	3.31-3.76	156-163	12.7
34*	30*	Fordham U (NY)		26*	3.37-3.74	162-167	13.6
34*	35*	Ohio State U	8	32*	3.49-3.81	158-164	13.3
34*	30*	U Washington			3.47-3.80	160-166	10.0
34*	30*	Washington & Lee U		32*	3.28-3.73	160-167	9.4
38*	55*	Arizona State U		40*	3.34-3.78	158-163	8.5
38*	30*	U Alabama			3.32-3.90	159-165	10.2
38*	45*	U Colorado-Boulder		40*	3.42-3.78	160-165	11.5
38*	40	Wake Forest U (NC)			3.20-3.70	160-164	9.8
42*	41*	Brigham Young U (UT)			3.52-3.85	160-160	17.3
42*	41*	George Mason U (VA)		26*	3.21-3.83	158-165	13.2
42*	43*	U Arizona (Rogers)		40*	3.34-3.71	159-163	12.6
42*	39	UC (Hastings)	11	29*	3.39-3.71	161-165	16.5
42*	45*	U Utah			3.41-3.76	156-163	8.1
47	51	U Florida		46*	3.42-3.85	158-163	15.4
48*	45*	American U (DC)		46*	3.13-3.56	158-164	13.4
48*	49*	Southern Methodist U			3.24-3.84	155-165	14.9
48*	45*	Tulane U (LA)		40*	3.34-3.75	160-164	14.1
48*	43*	U Maryland			3.21-3.66	159-166	11.7
52*	55*	Pepperdine U (CA)			3.43-3.79	160-163	16.0
52*	49*	Yeshiva U (Cardozo)		28	3.37-3.73	160-165	15.6
54*	51	Florida State U			3.23-3.74	159-162	14.2
54*	52*	U Connecticut			3.20-3.59	158-162	11.4
56*	55*	Case Western Reserve			3.20-3.63	159-160	12.2
56*	71*	Loyola (Los Angeles)			3.31-3.67	157-163	14.8
56*	52*	U Cincinnati			3.29-3.79	156-161	9.9
56*	61*	U San Diego		22*	3.22-3.59	158-162	14.2
60*	65*	Georgia State U			3.20-3.78	159-162	10.7
60*	59*	U Houston			3.08-3.62	159-162	11.8
60*	71*	U Miami (FL)			3.25-3.66	155-159	16.5
60*	59*	U Tennessee-Knoxville			3.28-3.77	157-161	13.9
64*	65*	Baylor U (TX)			3.40-3.80	156-162	15.1
64*	61*	Lewis and Clark (OR)			3.20-3.71	157-164	10.0
64*	55*	U Kentucky			3.33-3.82	156-161	16.8
67*	61*	Brooklyn Law School		46*	3.26-3.63	159-164	18.4
67*	65*	U Kansas			3.25-3.71	155-160	12.4
67*	77*	U New Mexico			3.12-3.67	152-158	11.3
67*	71*	U Pittsburgh			3.18-3.63	157-161	12.9
67*	61*	Villanova U (PA)			3.17-3.63	160-163	17.0
72*	65*	Pennsylvania State U			3.28-3.68	157-160	9.4
72*	77*	Seton Hall U (NJ)			3.13-3.64	154-160	15.4
72*	87*	St. John's U (NY)			3.16-3.73	154-162	14.6
72*	65*	Temple U (PA)			3.11-3.61	159-163	13.0
72*	>100	U Hawaii			3.18-3.68	153-158	7.8
72*	71*	U Oklahoma			3.29-3.72	155-161	14.2
78*	87*	Loyola U Chicago			3.24-3.60	156-161	14.3
78*	75*	U Nevada-Las Vegas			3.18-3.66	155-160	16.8
80*	77*	IIT (Chicago-Kent)		37*	3.11-3.67	156-163	10.9
80*	75*	Louisiana State U			3.22-3.66	155-159	17.5
80*	77*	Rutgers-Camden (NJ)			3.18-3.70	158-162	11.8
80*	87*	Rutgers-Newark (NJ)			3.09-3.60	155-161	17.6
80*	77*	U Denver (Sturm)			3.23-3.69	155-160	15.5
80*	77*	U Oregon			3.12-3.56	157-161	16.4
86*	100*	Hofstra University			3.27-3.70	155-159	15.4
86*	87*	Indiana U-Indianapolis			3.15-3.70	151-159	17.7
86*	94*	Northeastern U (MA)			3.20-3.63	155-163	15.4
86*	77*	Seattle U			3.15-3.63	155-160	12.3
86*	>100	Syracuse University			3.13-3.51	153-157	10.9
86*	94*	U of Arkansas-Fayetteville			3.16-3.74	153-158	12.2
86*	77*	U Richmond (VA)			3.19-3.63	159-163	13.8
93*	>100	Chapman University (CA)			3.11-3.56	156-159	8.9
93*	85*	Santa Clara U (CA)			3.03-3.59	157-161	17.8
93*	65*	U Missouri-Columbia			3.24-3.70	156-161	16.8
93*	>100	U Nebraska-Lincoln			3.29-3.82	154-158	13.6
93*	>100	West Virginia University			3.12-3.70	151-156	12.9
98*	94*	Catholic U (DC)			3.13-3.55	156-160	12.8
98*	87*	DePaul U (IL)			3.09-3.53	154-161	13.3
98*	98*	U of San Francisco			3.12-3.57	155-160	15.2
98*	>100	University of the Pacific			3.05-3.58	153-159	14
98*	>100	William Mitchell College of Law (MN)			3.19-3.60	150-158	20.4
>100	85*	U at Buffalo-SUNY			3.19-3.73	153-159	15.3
>100	87*	Marquette U (WI)			3.07-3.61	154-159	19.1
>100	87*	U South Carolina			3.13-3.65	149-155	12.3
>100	94*	St. Louis U			3.16-3.61	153-159	16.5
>100	98*	U Louisville (KY)			3.14-3.73	153-159	15.4
>100	100*	Gonzaga University			3.05-3.51	153-157	15.3
>100	100*	University of Maine			3.06-3.61	152-158	14.2

For another excellent source on law school rankings, visit the Prelaw Handbook which lists the most prestigious law schools and also includes law school rankings on selectivity and other factors.

US News law school rankings - the most well known and controversial of all national law school rankings, this report has defined what are perceived as the top law schools.

Gourman Report - the originator of law school ratings, the Gourman Report is an established academic report that measures the academic quality of graduate and undergraduate schools. Dr. Gourman is a professor at California State University - Northridge. Unfortunately, the latest Gourman Report rankings came out in 1997.

Educational Quality Rankings ("EQR") - are published by Brian Leiter, a professor at the University of Texas law school. These recently updated law school rankings focus "exclusively on the three factors central to a good legal education: the quality of the faculty, the quality of the student body, and the quality of teaching."

A * indicates that this school is tied with another law school for that position. Links are to the in-depth profiles we have written on several top law schools.

With law school admissions becoming increasingly competitive, be prepared and spend time on every aspect of your law school application. The best book I have found for increasing your chances of admission is How to Get Into the Great Law Schools. We also recommend several other excellent books for law school applicants.

A final note of caution on the 2009 law school rankings - what is the best law school is a personal choice and should not be solely determined by national law school ratings but instead by what school best suits all of your desires. For example, because I wanted to live and practice law in California, I choose to attend the University of California, Berkeley (Boalt Hall) over other top law schools that were ranked higher.

The best advice, personally visit the law schools you are seriously thinking of attending after you have been accepted. Put time and thought in to what is one of the most important decisions of your life.