Top Law Schools

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Region is the biggest difference. Do you want to work in Indianapolis or Atlanta when you graduate?

If you compare the Law School Transparency charts from the Class of '09, the difference is pretty stark:

IU-Bloomington: --LinkRemoved--
Emory: --LinkRemoved--

The $50k in savings from IU makes it more difficult -- also, can you declare residency after your first year? That might make an even bigger difference. Everything I've heard about Emory's administration around here sounds terrifying, but that alone isn't a reason to turn down a school.

Like the above poster said, though, region is the key here. Have you visited the schools, and if not, can you?

I still don't understand why people think IUB is as good as most of the non-T18 good schools. It's not. At the same price, the vast majority of the T50 are better options.

OP - How much is your total debt projections for each?

Curious as to why you think that Indiana is not a good tier one law school.

Neither administration seems to be on top of this admissions cycle. Indiana is having a tough time buying law students & has mis-predicted their yield. A few weeks ago IUB was offering accepted students increased scholarships to defer a year, now they seem to be scrambling for students to attend by awarding money to some non-URMs with LSATs in the mid-150s.

Emory has had a rough couple of years due to poor job placement. Plus, Emory has tough competition from Georgia, Georgia State, Vanderbilt, Duke & Virginia for the best Atlanta positions.

Depends on where you want to practice. Emory might have more trouble in its own region than IU-B has in its region. If you want to work in Indiana, definitely IU-B. If Georgia, definitely Emory. If mobility is an issue, you might want to reconsider both, and reapply to schools in the region in which you definitely want to practice.

OP: Consider asking each school for more scholarship money. Indiana's offer of $60,000 is low compared to their typical $120,000 package this cycle.

I still don't understand why people think IUB is as good as most of the non-T18 good schools.

Because they shovel scholarship money at students. It's pretty easy to have a good ROI when the denominator is small compared to the alternatives. A 167 isn't getting anyone 120k from Fordham or Washington & Lee.

At the same price, the vast majority of the T50 are better options.

I fully agree that IU-B isn't worth a lot outside of Indiana, but if Indiana is what you want, it's easily the best choice outside the T-18. But between 23 and 50, it's just a bunch of regional schools. Where you want to spend the next 10 years of your life is the main determinant in distinguishing between these schools, with not bankrupting yourself a close second.

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I think I would like to be around Texas. Would this be difficult with either school?

Both schools put negligible numbers of grads in Texas.

friendliest curve (lowest chance of intense competition and overly harsh grading), best chance of decent paying job if I do ok, environment, friendly people/profs, experience, etc., where would you go?

FWIW, I went to IU-B on ASD and really liked the school. It seems to fit most of the criteria you list above. I don't know about job placement in general though, and had no interest in working in Indiana in particular. It probably won't be cheap, but you may want to visit these schools, or at least ask for an extension to decide.