Top Law Schools

It seems like all the schools from 40 to 100 generally have more or less the same job prospects. Would you agree with this...for instance Penn st, villanova, newark, denver all are regional schools but one really wont get you farther than the other

I would even say rank doesnt matter after 20 or so....

Yes, there is a very big difference between U of Florida and U of Maine. And while most of these schools are regional after #50, many have specialty programs that set them apart or have national recognition.

GATORTIM wrote:I would even say rank doesnt matter after 20 or so....

-1. if one goes to, say, OSU (35th ranked), they have job prospects in the midwest region. but if one goes to, say, Hofstra around 100th ranked), they are limited to exclusively NYC, and maybe NY state, but nothing in terms of the region.

Rank relative to other schools in the market does. If the strongest school that serves a market is #81, that's a fine school to go to. If the same market also has schools 35, 42 and 51, school 81 is probably a bad investment.

eagles86 wrote:It seems like all the schools from 40 to 100 generally have more or less the same job prospects. Would you agree with this...for instance Penn st, villanova, newark, denver all are regional schools but one really wont get you farther than the other

It's my understanding that Temple / Villanova / Penn State are not equal in terms of job prospects at all, and they serve roughly the same market.

Rank doesn't matter even in for the t14, but probably not in the way you think.

The prestige of the schools in the eyes of hiring partners matters. The rankings are pretty close to that.

Berkeley is beating Chicago in the rankings, but its not better, and its not even tied in terms of job placement.

Law firms aren't reading USNWR to see who to hire.

Find the city you want to practice in and see how the schools stack up in your market, or if you don't care find out which schools place the biggest percent of their class into big firms and pick it.

Rankings matter, but it might just take a bit more detective work to find out the advantages of one school vs. another. You'll need to look at what schools your target law firm hires from, although I suppose this is true for anyone not attending HYS.

GATORTIM wrote:I would even say rank doesnt matter after 20 or so....

So to put things in your terms -- UF is no better than Florida Coastal/Stetson/FIU. great analysis!

Oblomov wrote:Rank relative to other schools in the market does. If the strongest school that serves a market is #81, that's a fine school to go to. If the same market also has schools 35, 42 and 51, school 81 is probably a bad investment.

TITCR

Rawlsian wrote:

Oblomov wrote:Rank relative to other schools in the market does. If the strongest school that serves a market is #81, that's a fine school to go to. If the same market also has schools 35, 42 and 51, school 81 is probably a bad investment.

TITCR

Agreed -- Oblomov, as usual, has the strongest analysis

swheat wrote:

GATORTIM wrote:I would even say rank doesnt matter after 20 or so....

So to put things in your terms -- UF is no better than Florida Coastal/Stetson/FIU. great analysis!

Who is selecting between UF and Florida Coastal? Okay captain literal...let me qualify my position

I'm saying that the difference between #25 and say #40 is likely marginal and the career prospects will be driven by the determination and personality of the individual rather than by the ranking of the school.

kalvano wrote:

eagles86 wrote:It seems like all the schools from 40 to 100 generally have more or less the same job prospects. Would you agree with this...for instance Penn st, villanova, newark, denver all are regional schools but one really wont get you farther than the other

It's my understanding that Temple / Villanova / Penn State are not equal in terms of job prospects at all, and they serve roughly the same market.

Really? Although Penn st might have a slight disadvantage due to location and recent changes, I really thought Villanova and Temple were peer institutions.

swheat wrote:

Rawlsian wrote:

Oblomov wrote:Rank relative to other schools in the market does. If the strongest school that serves a market is #81, that's a fine school to go to. If the same market also has schools 35, 42 and 51, school 81 is probably a bad investment.

TITCR

Agreed -- Oblomov, as usual, has the strongest analysis

big reason why I am strongly considering UMiami even though my numbers aren't that far from T14

GATORTIM wrote:

swheat wrote:

GATORTIM wrote:I would even say rank doesnt matter after 20 or so....

So to put things in your terms -- UF is no better than Florida Coastal/Stetson/FIU. great analysis!

Who is selecting between UF and Florida Coastal? Okay captain literal...let me qualify my position

I'm saying that the difference between #25 and say #40 is likely marginal and the career prospects will be driven by the determination and personality of the individual rather than by the ranking of the school.

The reason for making that distinction is simple -- T14 or bust or T20 or bust people will often say that since all schools after T20 are "the same," it's pointless to go to law school if you can't get into a top school. As if all schools outside the T20 offer the "same" employment prospects.

ec2xs wrote:Yes, there is a very big difference between U of Florida and U of Maine. And while most of these schools are regional after #50, many have specialty programs that set them apart or have national recognition.

not really, if you want to work in maine, maine is better, if you want to work in florida, florida is better

kalvano wrote:

eagles86 wrote:It seems like all the schools from 40 to 100 generally have more or less the same job prospects. Would you agree with this...for instance Penn st, villanova, newark, denver all are regional schools but one really wont get you farther than the other

It's my understanding that Temple / Villanova / Penn State are not equal in terms of job prospects at all, and they serve roughly the same market.

Oh boy. I've got to see these numbers...