Top Law Schools

Update: 4/9 with scholarship from BU.

Updating (again) because of new offer.
I'm looking at starting this fall at law school, looking towards a career in public interest law. Specifically looking at helping children's and families in poverty as child/poverty advocate. Whether this happens at a nonprofit, a government agency, or somewhere else has yet to be seen. I have no desire for "Big Law." I've been accepted to a few schools (and rejected from a good number of others).
What are your thoughts on my choices keeping these things in mind.
1. I want to go to the BEST school possible.
2. Since making money is not my biggest concern, a school with a good LRAP would be a good fit.
3. If possible, I'd like to stay close to the east coast (NJ) as I have an ill mother. Would probably prefer to practice somewhere in the northeast Like New York down to Washington DC area. I'm currently in PA.
4. I want the school with the best track record/program in public interest.
5. I wouldn't mind a judicial clerkship after graduation.
6. I want to work hard and have a job soon after graduating.

Now- Here's my current offers:
Boston U (15k per year)
University of Illionis (with 11k scholly per year)
Notre Dame (20k scholly per year)
Washington and Lee (20k scholly per year)
U Maryland (4k scholly per year)
American (20k scholly per year)
Penn State (15k scholly per year) *Note: Penn State has no in-state tuition break

I appreciate your help. If I could hear some of your thoughts on your vote, that would be terrific as well.

For what ti's worth- I have visited Notre Dame and W&L, and am leaning heavily towards Notre Dame. I have a visit scheduled for BU next week.

Notre Dame.

Notre Dame or BU. The others are not worth the similar amounts of money you'd be paying at these two.

t14fanboy wrote:Notre Dame or BU. The others are not worth the similar amounts of money you'd be paying at these two.

I'm surprised that you have not included W&L, as they are peer schools? (For what it's worth, W&L is currently ranked higher than BU...)

BU or ND

We are number twins from same state too btw / congrats on ND (they wait listed me)

ThreeRivers wrote:BU or ND

We are number twins from same state too btw / congrats on ND (they wait listed me)

Checked out your lawschoolnumbers page. So, where are you headed? BU? (I wonder why W&L gets no love)

tallgaloot wrote:

ThreeRivers wrote:BU or ND

We are number twins from same state too btw / congrats on ND (they wait listed me)

Checked out your lawschoolnumbers page. So, where are you headed? BU? (I wonder why W&L gets no love)

And as I say that I notice it has the most votes on the page here...

On a related note and as somebody new to the 'law school game' why did BU fall in the rankings this year and should it matter to me that it is now ranked below both ND and W&L when just last year it was above both?

tallgaloot wrote:On a related note and as somebody new to the 'law school game' why did BU fall in the rankings this year and should it matter to me that it is now ranked below both ND and W&L when just last year it was above both?

Rankings don't matter. If you want to be in NJ/PA, its BU. However, sticker is scary, so I'd probably do ND and pray you can swing the east coast after.

Blindmelon wrote:

tallgaloot wrote:On a related note and as somebody new to the 'law school game' why did BU fall in the rankings this year and should it matter to me that it is now ranked below both ND and W&L when just last year it was above both?

Rankings don't matter. If you want to be in NJ/PA, its BU. However, sticker is scary, so I'd probably do ND and pray you can swing the east coast after.

Rankings must matter some at least (which is why we're talking about BU instead of Penn State. Notre Dame seems to have national placement. I don't think it would be too much of a barrier. I'm still waiitng to hear from BU on scholarship. If they offer me a comparable offr, I'm guessing the consensus would be BU?

tallgaloot wrote:

Blindmelon wrote:

tallgaloot wrote:On a related note and as somebody new to the 'law school game' why did BU fall in the rankings this year and should it matter to me that it is now ranked below both ND and W&L when just last year it was above both?

Rankings don't matter. If you want to be in NJ/PA, its BU. However, sticker is scary, so I'd probably do ND and pray you can swing the east coast after.

Rankings must matter some at least (which is why we're talking about BU instead of Penn State. Notre Dame seems to have national placement. I don't think it would be too much of a barrier. I'm still waiitng to hear from BU on scholarship. If they offer me a comparable offr, I'm guessing the consensus would be BU?

ND is national-ish, but it doesn't transfer well to the east coast. Back when the economy was good, ND -> NYC wasn't impossible, but nowadays its not looking so good. Its best to go to a school in the region where you want to practice. While BU isn't in PA or NYC, its the best school in your list by far for NYC and actually places in PA if you want (we have a philly big-firm recruiting fair).

I would instantly knock out Penn State and American (not worth it unless full-ride). UIUC is extremely regional and won't get you to NYC, W&L focuses mostly on VA, and MD mostly on Maryland.

tallgaloot wrote:

Blindmelon wrote:

tallgaloot wrote:On a related note and as somebody new to the 'law school game' why did BU fall in the rankings this year and should it matter to me that it is now ranked below both ND and W&L when just last year it was above both?

Rankings don't matter. If you want to be in NJ/PA, its BU. However, sticker is scary, so I'd probably do ND and pray you can swing the east coast after.

Rankings must matter some at least (which is why we're talking about BU instead of Penn State. Notre Dame seems to have national placement. I don't think it would be too much of a barrier. I'm still waiitng to hear from BU on scholarship. If they offer me a comparable offr, I'm guessing the consensus would be BU?

rankings are ballpark. Looking at employment stats BU / ND >>> W&L. There are some stupid (no other criteria for it) parts of the ranking systems

Also, BU is my number 1 choice but I'm still waiting on scholly offer. Its starting to look like I'll be attending UMN

ThreeRivers wrote:

tallgaloot wrote:

Blindmelon wrote:

tallgaloot wrote:On a related note and as somebody new to the 'law school game' why did BU fall in the rankings this year and should it matter to me that it is now ranked below both ND and W&L when just last year it was above both?

Rankings don't matter. If you want to be in NJ/PA, its BU. However, sticker is scary, so I'd probably do ND and pray you can swing the east coast after.

Rankings must matter some at least (which is why we're talking about BU instead of Penn State. Notre Dame seems to have national placement. I don't think it would be too much of a barrier. I'm still waiitng to hear from BU on scholarship. If they offer me a comparable offr, I'm guessing the consensus would be BU?

rankings are ballpark. Looking at employment stats BU / ND >>> W&L. There are some stupid (no other criteria for it) parts of the ranking systems

Also, BU is my number 1 choice but I'm still waiting on scholly offer. Its starting to look like I'll be attending UMN

Yea, BU is a bad idea at sticker. I don't know how receptive they are to negotiation though.

I am only familiar with BU, ND, and W&L - so those are the only that I can comment on, but for those schools I am in the exact same situation as you (waiting on scholarship data at BU, 20K to ND and W&L). So I will share my thoughts with you on these three (maybe it'll help me decide as well!)... I also prefer to stay on the east coast.

I would say that unless money isn't an issue for you, BU at sticker probably isn't worth it. It's a hard one for me to give up since I am interested in health law and it is great at that, but the expense of attending there at sticker, plus the cost of living in Boston, makes it restrictive.

ND and W&L are both great schools, and have similar feels. Both seemed to have a really tight-knit community and professors that care about each student. Both seemed like places where you could get a high quality education. ND seems to be a bit more nationally well-known, and I don't think you would have too much trouble getting jobs anywhere with a degree from BU (especially areas that have larger Catholic populations). W&L seems stronger on the East Coast than in the rest of the country (though did you get that packet recently with letters from the alumni from all over the country?), but that doesn't sound like a problem for you since you want to stay East Coast. W & L has a lot of students that end up in DC. Both ND and W&L are found in rather unimpressive towns. Lexington is charming, but incredibly small. South Bend at least has more people, and a few stores in Mishawaka. Cost of living is low in both places.

I don't recommend most state schools unless you want to end up in that specific state (though obviously there are exceptions).

My vote for you (and for myself as I am trying to figure this out), is to go to either W&L or ND, unless BU gives you money. Both are great schools, have smaller classes, professors that care, low cost of living, and a strong sense of community that will probably result in a stronger network/better alumni connections.

mh2015 wrote:I am only familiar with BU, ND, and W&L - so those are the only that I can comment on, but for those schools I am in the exact same situation as you (waiting on scholarship data at BU, 20K to ND and W&L). So I will share my thoughts with you on these three (maybe it'll help me decide as well!)... I also prefer to stay on the east coast.

I would say that unless money isn't an issue for you, BU at sticker probably isn't worth it. It's a hard one for me to give up since I am interested in health law and it is great at that, but the expense of attending there at sticker, plus the cost of living in Boston, makes it restrictive.

ND and W&L are both great schools, and have similar feels. Both seemed to have a really tight-knit community and professors that care about each student. Both seemed like places where you could get a high quality education. ND seems to be a bit more nationally well-known, and I don't think you would have too much trouble getting jobs anywhere with a degree from BU (especially areas that have larger Catholic populations). W&L seems stronger on the East Coast than in the rest of the country (though did you get that packet recently with letters from the alumni from all over the country?), but that doesn't sound like a problem for you since you want to stay East Coast. W & L has a lot of students that end up in DC. Both ND and W&L are found in rather unimpressive towns. Lexington is charming, but incredibly small. South Bend at least has more people, and a few stores in Mishawaka. Cost of living is low in both places.

I don't recommend most state schools unless you want to end up in that specific state (though obviously there are exceptions).

My vote for you (and for myself as I am trying to figure this out), is to go to either W&L or ND, unless BU gives you money. Both are great schools, have smaller classes, professors that care, low cost of living, and a strong sense of community that will probably result in a stronger network/better alumni connections.

I really appreciate your comments! Just had a crazy 2 weeks where I visited all 3 schools. I just got back from Boston tonight. IF it's coming down to 'feel' and personal preference, I think Boston is out for me. I was not a huge fan of the city (of cities in general actually) and living for 3 years in such an expensive/urban area will probably drive me insane. SOme people love the city, I have friends in Boston, NYC, Philadelphia and they think I'm crazy to want to live away from such convenience. But I digress, I did get a scholarship offer from BU today (15k/per year). BU is a great school, but I'm not sure it's THAT much better than ND. They have similar placement statistics and I don't think placement on the east coast will be an insurmountable barrier (granted that it would be easier from BU). I think my choice is going to be Notre Dame, but I'm resetting the vote with the new scholarship offer and seeing if anyone else has any comments. Thanks everybody!

tallgaloot wrote:

mh2015 wrote:I am only familiar with BU, ND, and W&L - so those are the only that I can comment on, but for those schools I am in the exact same situation as you (waiting on scholarship data at BU, 20K to ND and W&L). So I will share my thoughts with you on these three (maybe it'll help me decide as well!)... I also prefer to stay on the east coast.

I would say that unless money isn't an issue for you, BU at sticker probably isn't worth it. It's a hard one for me to give up since I am interested in health law and it is great at that, but the expense of attending there at sticker, plus the cost of living in Boston, makes it restrictive.

ND and W&L are both great schools, and have similar feels. Both seemed to have a really tight-knit community and professors that care about each student. Both seemed like places where you could get a high quality education. ND seems to be a bit more nationally well-known, and I don't think you would have too much trouble getting jobs anywhere with a degree from BU (especially areas that have larger Catholic populations). W&L seems stronger on the East Coast than in the rest of the country (though did you get that packet recently with letters from the alumni from all over the country?), but that doesn't sound like a problem for you since you want to stay East Coast. W & L has a lot of students that end up in DC. Both ND and W&L are found in rather unimpressive towns. Lexington is charming, but incredibly small. South Bend at least has more people, and a few stores in Mishawaka. Cost of living is low in both places.

I don't recommend most state schools unless you want to end up in that specific state (though obviously there are exceptions).

My vote for you (and for myself as I am trying to figure this out), is to go to either W&L or ND, unless BU gives you money. Both are great schools, have smaller classes, professors that care, low cost of living, and a strong sense of community that will probably result in a stronger network/better alumni connections.

I really appreciate your comments! Just had a crazy 2 weeks where I visited all 3 schools. I just got back from Boston tonight. IF it's coming down to 'feel' and personal preference, I think Boston is out for me. I was not a huge fan of the city (of cities in general actually) and living for 3 years in such an expensive/urban area will probably drive me insane. SOme people love the city, I have friends in Boston, NYC, Philadelphia and they think I'm crazy to want to live away from such convenience. But I digress, I did get a scholarship offer from BU today (15k/per year). BU is a great school, but I'm not sure it's THAT much better than ND. They have similar placement statistics and I don't think placement on the east coast will be an insurmountable barrier (granted that it would be easier from BU). I think my choice is going to be Notre Dame, but I'm resetting the vote with the new scholarship offer and seeing if anyone else has any comments. Thanks everybody!

Don't know how but the poll got messed up with multiple options, so any comments on hwo to fix that or about my choices are helpful.