Already posted this on another thread, but felt it might help you with your decision.
I already decided between Cornell, USC, and WUSTL. I chose WUSTL.
Some of my considerations:
1) Wustl's reputation has been rising in both lawyer-judge assessments and dean assessments for over 10 years. It is the only top law school to have gone up in both categories and to never have dropped. These categories are the single most important criteria for US News rankings, and they ultimately correlate with job prospects.
2) Wustl's student medians are higher than Cornell's, tied with Texas's, ahead of USC's, and go up every year
3) Wustl completely revamped its career services office over the past 2 years. Mike Spivey, the newly hired dean, is exceptional.
4) Wustl's new dean, Kent Syverud, is said to be one of the best deans in academia. Rumor has it he scored a 180 on his LSAT.
5) Wustl places strongly not only in the Midwest, but also in the east. So, the degree is more versatile than USC's in terms of geographic preferences.
http://law.wustl.edu/career_services/in ... d=5506#geo.
6) Wustl hired 6 faculty members last year--far more than other schools.
7) Wustl is very rich. If you look at the top law schools, they are among the richest institutions by endowment.
Wustl is placing far more money into its law school than it did in years past.
In sum, it was very clear to me that Wustl was on the rise and the degree would appreciate in value. In 3 years, by the time you get out of law school, I feel fairly certain that Wustl's rank will go up along with its reputation and career prospects.
