Top Law Schools

3 schools where my fiancee and I have been accepted, with varying scholarships, that we are considering the most are ND, W&M and IU:B.
We would not get in-state tuition at either of the two public schools. The total cost of tuition (for us both, including scholarships) would be:

Notre Dame: 195k (ranked 23rd - 22nd last year)
Indiana University: Bloomington: 75k (ranked 23rd - 36th last year)
William and Mary: 120k (ranked 28th - 30th last year)

Notre Dame and Indiana would have very similar living expenses, with W&M being about 10-20% more expensive to live near.

Looking at rankings and scholarship, it seems to me that IU-Bloomington is the easy choice, as they are giving the most money, by far. My biggest concern is that they moved up 13! spots on U.S. News rankings last year, and I don't want them to move back to 36th next year, making me severely regret my decision to go there. They could just as easily stay at 23rd or move towards T20, but I wanted to include that out of the three, their rankings are the most volatile in the past year.


What would you do in this situation?

My biggest concern is that they moved up 13! spots on U.S. News rankings last year, and I don't want them to move back to 36th next year, making me severely regret my decision to go there.

If you make your decision based on IUB's 23rd ranking this year, most likely you'll regret next year. US News ranks IUB above GW, which proves that the ranking is a lot more useless than most of us give credit for.

redginseng wrote:

My biggest concern is that they moved up 13! spots on U.S. News rankings last year, and I don't want them to move back to 36th next year, making me severely regret my decision to go there.

If you make your decision based on IUB's 23rd ranking this year, most likely you'll regret next year. US News ranks IUB above GW, which proves that the ranking is a lot more useless than most of us give credit for.

I totally agree that the rankings do more harm than good. I am just trying to be realistic in understanding that they are as important a metric as any in terms of placement, rep, etc. Which is why IUB swinging back down to mid-30s would be rough. I just want to know what you think the best school to go to would be, taking into account the scholarships and any other factors anyone would want to consider.

First and foremost, you and your fiance should decide where would you prefer living during and after law school. For Chicago and Midwest market, either ND and IU, and for DC and Virgina market, WM.

Of course, ITE it's difficult for everyone. We are just trying to increase our probability of getting a job.

Having said that, ND supposedly has the best placement among the three. But word is that 90% of ND's 2L are shut out from OCI this year. So go figure.