Top Law Schools

So. I am attempting to make a decision by April 1 (American scholarship recipient deposit deadline). I am interested in environmental law and working for the fed. government/public sector, so I probably should be in DC. I have the 1 year 10k scholarship at American and no money at George Mason or Maryland (no residency in either). When I visited GMU it seemed difficult to obtain residency - also, although I know it is the highest ranked of the four, I'm not sure the school is my cup of tea. Maryland has the best environmental law program, but being in Baltimore I am not sure if that is a disadvantage for DC placement.

Also, does American really have a better national reputation than GMU/Maryland?

On top of this, I have 25,900/yr at Brooklyn, which seems silly to pass up, but not really heavy on the environmental law/not in DC.

Thoughts?

I'm not sure American has much of a national reputation at all, so it would be silly to choose it for its national prestige over another school. That said, it seems to me American definitely has a better reputation in DC than either GMU or Maryland. It's not uncommon to see an American grad working for a big firm in DC (granted they excelled at American).

It comes down to where you want to work, as well as employment prospects. Brooklyn is in a tough market, although if it comes with no class rank stipulations, that would probably be the optimal choice in this situation. As to the others, GMU and American are competing in a very fierce market for DC. I would think Maryland would be easier to hack in terms of finding a private legal job somewhere.

Any stips on the scholly? For me, it would be a tossup between Maryland and American (depends on the terms of the scholly).

This isn't a good situation to be in.

If these are your absolutely only options, and you won't wait and retake/reapply, ignore Brooklyn and go with the cheapest of the others.