Top Law Schools

My situation is that I have numbers to go to a school ranked between 50-70. I am at the moment in love with a school and in scholarship negotiations with them, but my gut tells me I will be looking at sticker in the end. I love the school, love the city, and the job prospects are pretty decent. With that said, it is a T2, and we all know TLS moto is never pay sticker for a non t-14 or at least t30. So my question is: Assuming you loved everything about the school, what is the max you would be willing to pay per year for it (assume Good t2 or lower end t1)?

$0. I wouldn't go. Unless you went to a truly TTT undergrad, then you can almost certainly make more $ with just your bachelors degree. Debt is devastating.

I’d say either retake or forget law school.

For tuition only? Without a full ride, it`s very easily to pay more than 40k a yr for tuition+COL

I'd pay a lot for UCLA

It depends what you want to do with it. I have a buddy who is considering going to the University of Utah (ranked somewhere around 50) for law school. Tuition alone will be over $50K for law school... Average starting pay from U of U is around 80K... So it's not like he is going to be swimming in the $$$ immediately after graduation, but he will be ok.

The school also has very strong regional ties. Great firms hire from the U every year. It is asinine to think you should just forget about law school. (let's think about this, 50th out of 200 is awesome, even 70th is great)

If you want to work at the largest firms in the US then go ahead and retake (and P.S. there are partners at those firms that went to schools ranked well below 70).

Hard work, your personal ability as a lawyer, and more hard work will be deciding factors in your career just as much as they will be in someone going to a top-14 school.

Go for it!

thelawguy777 wrote:It depends what you want to do with it. I have a buddy who is considering going to the University of Utah (ranked somewhere around 50) for law school. Tuition alone will be over $50K for law school... Average starting pay from U of U is around 80K... So it's not like he is going to be swimming in the $$$ immediately after graduation, but he will be ok.

The school also has very strong regional ties. Great firms hire from the U every year. It is asinine to think you should just forget about law school. (let's think about this, 50th out of 200 is awesome, even 70th is great)

If you want to work at the largest firms in the US then go ahead and retake (and P.S. there are partners at those firms that went to schools ranked well below 70).

Hard work, your personal ability as a lawyer, and more hard work will be deciding factors in your career just as much as they will be in someone going to a top-14 school.

Go for it!

No way. Reasonable advice coming from someone with a 170 LSAT. I like it.

Your poll is moronic.

$40K max? Puh-lease.

thelawguy777 wrote:let's think about this, 50th out of 200 is awesome, even 70th is great)

For argument sake, I don't think 70 out of 200 is great at all. It's good, but not great, and it certainly is not awesome. But I agree with the overall general message of your post.

I'd pay 15K/year for Texas. UT is a fantastic school with great placement opportunities. I'd probably pay more for UT than any other school ranked below UVA/Michigan.

Would anyone here pay sticker for an almost T-14 like Texas or Vandy? This could become very relevant for me.

yeah, i think i am goin texas at sticker. i have my reservations though

rad law wrote:Would anyone here pay sticker for an almost T-14 like Texas or Vandy? This could become very relevant for me.

I might at Vandy, as its placement isn't far off from GTown. Depends on the sort of money WUSTL and Emory threw at me, 90k would likely sway me downwards instead.

rad law wrote:Would anyone here pay sticker for an almost T-14 like Texas or Vandy? This could become very relevant for me.

If I had to pay sticker at Texas and had no other offers, I'd probably pay sticker (in-state). Beyond that, I'd probably take a scholarship at a lower-ranked program (between 16-35).

glacierfrost wrote:

thelawguy777 wrote:let's think about this, 50th out of 200 is awesome, even 70th is great)

For argument sake, I don't think 70 out of 200 is great at all. It's good, but not great, and it certainly is not awesome. But I agree with the overall general message of your post.

It's definitely not going to be some magical endowment of money power... But contrary to some of the posts on this board neither are the t-14 schools.

It's frustrating some times to see more emphasis placed on where you go to school than how you will end up doing. Maybe I have spent too long out of school and too much time in the business world... but I honestly think that if you are a skilled lawyer and graduate from a good school that is not highly ranked you will eventually rise to the top.

I am quitting business after several years of owning/operating. I retain the largest (and best in my opinion) regional law firm for all of my legal needs. I know several lawyers at that firm that graduated from lower ranked schools. In-fact my lawyer graduated from Lewis and Clark (school rank: 61). He is a very skilled lawyer and is also retained by some huge international clients. His colleagues graduated from some pretty prestigious schools... Nevertheless he is up for partner after only 5 years at the firm. A good lawyer rises to the top.

The t-14 is such a self-selecting group. Generally speaking, the sharpest students will get good grades and do well on the LSAT. So it would make sense that many powerful lawyers come form the most prestigious schools... However (and I see it in the business world all the time), there are those who are extremely bright individuals and for one reason or another didn't do good on gpa/lsat... They can still succeed and make lots of money, my lawyer is (ask my check book).

Don't be confused by all the flag waiving on here for the t-14... Most of it is just 0Ls (like myself) who are just excited to start school!

I think the answer to this question mostly depends on your choices.

I completely agree that someone that could get $$ at a T50 School should choose that over sticker at a T14-T30.

But if that is not an option than maybe paying sticker is worth it. For example, if someone lives in a state like North Carolina or Virginia where the only decent state schools are extremely competitive, that applicant may have difficulty getting in to the program. It may be worth it for that applicant to choose to attend a similarly ranked school at sticker, especially if other state schools are horrible or if scholarship offers only come from verly low tiered schools.

Basically what I"m saying is

T14> T30$
T50$>T30 (private or out of state)
T30>T50


Not sure if I made any sense (Its way to early) lol

OP, for clarity's sake: Are you asking the max price someone would pay for tuition alone?

What if you had all tuition and fees waived at a T60 school? Would you still pay sticker for T50/30?

I'm assuming you mean per year?

I think most sane people shouldn't pay sticker price at schools outside the T-14,although a good argument can probably be made for schools like UCLA, Vanderbilt or Texas.

Other than that the only schools I can see someone making a good argument for paying more than 50% of the sticker price are BU/BC, Fordham, USC. Otherwise I think the best in-state option or the largest guaranteed scholarship takes the prize.

0-10k total for cost of living.

To clarify, yes, this is for tuition alone, and yes, this is obviously on a per year basis.

thelawguy777 wrote:

glacierfrost wrote:

thelawguy777 wrote:let's think about this, 50th out of 200 is awesome, even 70th is great)

For argument sake, I don't think 70 out of 200 is great at all. It's good, but not great, and it certainly is not awesome. But I agree with the overall general message of your post.

It's definitely not going to be some magical endowment of money power... But contrary to some of the posts on this board neither are the t-14 schools.

It's frustrating some times to see more emphasis placed on where you go to school than how you will end up doing. Maybe I have spent too long out of school and too much time in the business world... but I honestly think that if you are a skilled lawyer and graduate from a good school that is not highly ranked you will eventually rise to the top.

I am quitting business after several years of owning/operating. I retain the largest (and best in my opinion) regional law firm for all of my legal needs. I know several lawyers at that firm that graduated from lower ranked schools. In-fact my lawyer graduated from Lewis and Clark (school rank: 61). He is a very skilled lawyer and is also retained by some huge international clients. His colleagues graduated from some pretty prestigious schools... Nevertheless he is up for partner after only 5 years at the firm. A good lawyer rises to the top.

The t-14 is such a self-selecting group. Generally speaking, the sharpest students will get good grades and do well on the LSAT. So it would make sense that many powerful lawyers come form the most prestigious schools... However (and I see it in the business world all the time), there are those who are extremely bright individuals and for one reason or another didn't do good on gpa/lsat... They can still succeed and make lots of money, my lawyer is (ask my check book).

Don't be confused by all the flag waiving on here for the t-14... Most of it is just 0Ls (like myself) who are just excited to start school!

This is the type of attitude TLS needs to embrace. Too much T-14 flag waiving indeed.

BearDownChicago wrote:

thelawguy777 wrote:

glacierfrost wrote:

thelawguy777 wrote:let's think about this, 50th out of 200 is awesome, even 70th is great)

For argument sake, I don't think 70 out of 200 is great at all. It's good, but not great, and it certainly is not awesome. But I agree with the overall general message of your post.

It's definitely not going to be some magical endowment of money power... But contrary to some of the posts on this board neither are the t-14 schools.

It's frustrating some times to see more emphasis placed on where you go to school than how you will end up doing. Maybe I have spent too long out of school and too much time in the business world... but I honestly think that if you are a skilled lawyer and graduate from a good school that is not highly ranked you will eventually rise to the top.

I am quitting business after several years of owning/operating. I retain the largest (and best in my opinion) regional law firm for all of my legal needs. I know several lawyers at that firm that graduated from lower ranked schools. In-fact my lawyer graduated from Lewis and Clark (school rank: 61). He is a very skilled lawyer and is also retained by some huge international clients. His colleagues graduated from some pretty prestigious schools... Nevertheless he is up for partner after only 5 years at the firm. A good lawyer rises to the top.

The t-14 is such a self-selecting group. Generally speaking, the sharpest students will get good grades and do well on the LSAT. So it would make sense that many powerful lawyers come form the most prestigious schools... However (and I see it in the business world all the time), there are those who are extremely bright individuals and for one reason or another didn't do good on gpa/lsat... They can still succeed and make lots of money, my lawyer is (ask my check book).

Don't be confused by all the flag waiving on here for the t-14... Most of it is just 0Ls (like myself) who are just excited to start school!

This is the type of attitude TLS needs to embrace. Too much T-14 flag waiving indeed.

I will agree. If you are seeking a supreme court clerkship or plan on teaching, the t14 has a monopoly. However, through working in law firms, I have noticed that the top producers excel, as a law firm is a business, regardless of law school heritage. Just make sure that the school you attend will provide enough oppertunity to pay back the loans.

ram jam wrote:I will agree. If you are seeking a supreme court clerkship or plan on teaching, the t14 has a monopoly. However, through working in law firms, I have noticed that the top producers excel, as a law firm is a business, regardless of law school heritage. Just make sure that the school you attend will provide enough oppertunity to pay back the loans.

I fully agree w this. While your law school will be essential to getting your foot in the door of a good firm, once you are in I do not feel that where you went will matter much. If you are a rainmaker, nobody is going to give a hoot where you went to school. They will just want you to make them more $$$.

$432.68

$180k