Top Law Schools

10-12% ranked at 50 ranked school. Prob grade on to law review according to prev years.
Regions that I like....
Cali/NY/Midwest ( Chicago/Detroit)

Ive been doing a lot of research and I have read a lot of bad things about Wustl on autoadmit. Slightly less about ND.

I looked at placement numbers and it "seems" that ND places more to the west coast and NY? Again, I understand both are regional schools. I kinda lean towards ND because I would rather work around the great lakes rather than the great plains. It seems that a sizable number of Washu grades work in KC/omaha etc....

Honestly, I think getting decent grades is more of a headache than if I would have just bombed this semester. In the end, my small hope of biglaw might cause me to be severely disappointed.
What do you guys think?

thexfactor wrote:10-12% ranked at 50 ranked school. Prob grade on to law review according to prev years.
Regions that I like....
Cali/NY/Midwest ( Chicago/Detroit)

Ive been doing a lot of research and I have read a lot of bad things about Wustl on autoadmit. Slightly less about ND.

I looked at placement numbers and it "seems" that ND places more to the west coast and NY? Again, I understand both are regional schools. I kinda lean towards ND because I would rather work around the great lakes rather than the great plains. It seems that a sizable number of Washu grades work in KC/omaha etc....

Honestly, I think getting decent grades is more of a headache than if I would have just bombed this semester. In the end, my small hope of biglaw might cause me to be severely disappointed.
What do you guys think?

Why just ND/WUSTL ? Have you applied to others or are those the only two that you are considering?

I voted ND...I think their alumni network is incredible which is why they place decently even outside of the midwest...are you Catholic and/or down with Catholics? The law school's goal is to "become the premiere legal institution training Catholic lawyers" or something like that and aim for like a 65% Catholic class make up, which may sit terrible or wonderful for you...

EDIT: I have heard from many u-grads that their ugrad alumni network is amazing...maybe not the law school quite as much but I would bet still great.

I am not catholic. That is why I am a little concerned about ND. I am also non white. (asian) I am applying to higher schools, vandy gt.. but I dont think I will be able to get in. It will probably come down to ND or Washu.
I am from the midwest so I wanted to stay around the area. That is why I am applying to washu and ND.

However, washu has only recently risen in the rankings. ND has been in the low 20s consistently.

Do you have a significant scholarship at your current school?

If not...
Where is your current school located?
Do you plan to visit ND or Wash U?

I know for a fact that Wash U has a separate writing competition time for transfers in the summer; I would assume that ND does as well.

I chose Wash U over ND because of its location, larger scholarship offer, atmosphere, higher student quality, all around prestige (Ranked higher than ND in virtually every academic area on USNWR).

Location, Location, Location
Already this summer, Wash U has contacted me about a summer program at Sonnenschein that is exclusive to Wash U students, a Thompson Coburn scholarship that includes $10,000, mentorship with a partner at Thompson Coburn, and a guaranteed 1L summer associateship. This offer is exclusive to Mizzou, Illinois, SLU, and Wash U students. Sonnenschein also has a public interest grant available to 2 Wash U students every year but not ND.

I know since you will be a 2L that these opportunities do not apply to you, but I am just saying that I think Wash U has an edge over ND because of its urban location.

My school is in the midwest. The only issue with washu is that i see 25% or so of the people work in KS, nebraska missouri. Im not sure if it is due to self selection. It just seems that ND has more reach? 15% west coast 15% dc 15% NY

Also ND has a better presence in the upper midwest, where I am from.

I have a minor scholarship from my current school.

kdw94780 wrote:Do you have a significant scholarship at your current school?

If not...
Where is your current school located?
Do you plan to visit ND or Wash U?

I know for a fact that Wash U has a separate writing competition time for transfers in the summer; I would assume that ND does as well.

I chose Wash U over ND because of its location, larger scholarship offer, atmosphere, higher student quality, all around prestige (Ranked higher than ND in virtually every academic area on USNWR).

Location, Location, Location
Already this summer, Wash U has contacted me about a summer program at Sonnenschein that is exclusive to Wash U students, a Thompson Coburn scholarship that includes $10,000, mentorship with a partner at Thompson Coburn, and a guaranteed 1L summer associateship. This offer is exclusive to Mizzou, Illinois, SLU, and Wash U students. Sonnenschein also has a public interest grant available to 2 Wash U students every year but not ND.

I know since you will be a 2L that these opportunities do not apply to you, but I am just saying that I think Wash U has an edge over ND because of its urban location.

What about applying to George Washington, USC, UCLA, Fordham, Cornell, Georgetown....?

jonas wrote:What about applying to George Washington, USC, UCLA, Fordham, Cornell, Georgetown....?

+1

thexfactor wrote:My school is in the midwest. The only issue with washu is that i see 25% or so of the people work in KS, nebraska missouri. Im not sure if it is due to self selection. It just seems that ND has more reach? 15% west coast 15% dc 15% NY

Also ND has a better presence in the upper midwest, where I am from.

I have a minor scholarship from my current school.

kdw94780 wrote:Do you have a significant scholarship at your current school?

If not...
Where is your current school located?
Do you plan to visit ND or Wash U?

I know for a fact that Wash U has a separate writing competition time for transfers in the summer; I would assume that ND does as well.

I chose Wash U over ND because of its location, larger scholarship offer, atmosphere, higher student quality, all around prestige (Ranked higher than ND in virtually every academic area on USNWR).

Location, Location, Location
Already this summer, Wash U has contacted me about a summer program at Sonnenschein that is exclusive to Wash U students, a Thompson Coburn scholarship that includes $10,000, mentorship with a partner at Thompson Coburn, and a guaranteed 1L summer associateship. This offer is exclusive to Mizzou, Illinois, SLU, and Wash U students. Sonnenschein also has a public interest grant available to 2 Wash U students every year but not ND.

I know since you will be a 2L that these opportunities do not apply to you, but I am just saying that I think Wash U has an edge over ND because of its urban location.

I am from Kansas City, so yes I am cool working in Missouri.

The idea that going to ND will give you an edge anywhere over Wash U sounds silly to me.

Top 14 > Wash U : sure
ND > Wash U : seriously?

thexfactor wrote:10-12% ranked at 50 ranked school. Prob grade on to law review according to prev years.
Regions that I like....
Cali/NY/Midwest (Chicago/Detroit)

I looked at placement numbers and it "seems" that ND places more to the west coast and NY? Again, I understand both are regional schools. I kinda lean towards ND because I would rather work around the great lakes rather than the great plains.

Dude, this just isn't how it works. Any school to which you'd be looking at transferring (probably GULC on down through the T30) can get you out to Cali, if you're from there, or the Great Plains, if you're from there, or the Great Lakes area, if you're from there.

ND will not get you a job in South Bend, IN, if you can't demonstrate a desire to stay. This national/regional distinction proliferated on TLS is false--not because there isn't a real difference in school's ability to place (look at their NLJ 250 stats, and the number and caliber of NYC/DC firms that come to OCIs)--but because going to any of these schools is usually insufficient to land you a job in the school's region.

ND "places" as large of a proportion of its class in Cali as Penn and Mich. This means nothing. ND also has "weak placement" in the southeast. It was still the region where I, a 'southeasterner', had the easiest time getting a BL job.

Weird two year bump is weird.

Interesting update:

On April 19, 2012, OP posted that he is currently at WashUStL,very anti-WUSTL & that Notre Dame is better known/better reputation in the Upper Midwest, yet recommends that another poster take a $45,000 scholarship at WUSTL.