Top Law Schools

I am accepted to American and Pepperdine (both with less than 1k scholarship) and Santa Clara ($$).
I'm interested in international law (arbitration, IP etc), and I think these schools have quite good programs on these subjects.
My GPA is 3.5 (from top private school) and LSAT score is 163.
Which school should I attend? I also consider reapplying next cycle, but this would probably be the last thing I will do..

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Okay..Let me take this back: "I'm interested in international law (arbitration, IP etc), and I think these schools have quite good programs on these subjects".
What's more important for me to know is which school is the best to attend AMONG these three schools.

Kayla2012 wrote:I am accepted to American and Pepperdine (both with less than 1k scholarship) and Santa Clara ($$).
I'm interested in international law (arbitration, IP etc), and I think these schools have quite good programs on these subjects.
My GPA is 3.5 (from top private school) and LSAT score is 163.
Which school would be the best among these?
I also consider reapply next cycle, but this will probably be the last thing I would do..

Where do you prefer to live and practice after law schools?

melanne89 wrote:

Kayla2012 wrote:I am accepted to American and Pepperdine (both with less than 1k scholarship) and Santa Clara ($$).
I'm interested in international law (arbitration, IP etc), and I think these schools have quite good programs on these subjects.
My GPA is 3.5 (from top private school) and LSAT score is 163.
Which school would be the best among these?
I also consider reapply next cycle, but this will probably be the last thing I would do..

Where do you prefer to live and practice after law schools?

Location-wise I don't have any preference: I like all of them. I'm originally from San Francisco and lived in New York for a while. So living and practicing in CA or DC (or both) is all good for me.

All options are not good. Retake Reapply.

Kayla2012 wrote:

melanne89 wrote:

Kayla2012 wrote:I am accepted to American and Pepperdine (both with less than 1k scholarship) and Santa Clara ($$).
I'm interested in international law (arbitration, IP etc), and I think these schools have quite good programs on these subjects.
My GPA is 3.5 (from top private school) and LSAT score is 163.
Which school would be the best among these?
I also consider reapply next cycle, but this will probably be the last thing I would do..

Where do you prefer to live and practice after law schools?

Location-wise I don't have any preference: I like all of them. I'm originally from San Francisco and lived in New York for a while. So living and practicing in CA or DC (or both) is all good for me.

I know Pepperdine offers a lot of opportunities to study and intern abroad to through their global justice program and study abroad programs, which may offer a gateway to landing an internship at a firm that is does international work.
You should look into American and see what they have to offer in regards to interning abroad and see if it is comparable and that might help you in your decision.

melanne89 wrote:
I know Pepperdine offers a lot of opportunities to study and intern abroad to through their global justice program and study abroad programs, which may offer a gateway to landing an internship at a firm that is does international work.
You should look into American and see what they have to offer in regards to interning abroad and see if it is comparable and that might help you in your decision.

No. Going to Harvard may offer a gateway to landing an internship at a firm that does "international work". If you want to practice law in America, study law in America. In my opinion, law is not a field of study that benefits from study abroad opportunities.

This is simple. None of the above. Retake ASAP, and apply next cycle.

The Rover wrote:

melanne89 wrote:
I know Pepperdine offers a lot of opportunities to study and intern abroad to through their global justice program and study abroad programs, which may offer a gateway to landing an internship at a firm that is does international work.
You should look into American and see what they have to offer in regards to interning abroad and see if it is comparable and that might help you in your decision.

No. Going to Harvard may offer a gateway to landing an internship at a firm that does "international work". If you want to practice law in America, study law in America. In my opinion, law is not a field of study that benefits from study abroad opportunities.

A lot of schools offer internships abroad. You will not find schools that get full time employment abroad. International law is a myth as an employment field. You certainly will not get it from these schools.
What are your reasons for wanting to do international law? I find people generally signal two things when they talk about international law:
They are looking for some alternative to corporate law.
They want to do policy work, in which case get a MPP of similar.

Yeah if you want to do international work you should really go into a different field. International law work is very rare. If you just want to spend a summer or a year studying abroad you can do that through a variety of ways that don't involve a 3 year commitment to law school. If you want to simply live abroad then go do that now instead of law school. If I wanted to do international work I would be looking for a job with an NGO that does international work, or I would look for work abroad. I wouldn't go to law school. It would be last on my list.

dissonance1848 wrote:This is simple. None of the above. Retake ASAP, and apply next cycle.

If you want to be a lawyer, this is the credited response. All terrible options.

If you want to work internationally, you should go into different field. Being an international lawyer requires a great school and previous experience. Going to a school like American with no money intending to do "international law" is just a horrible idea. Although, with $200,000 in debt from American and no job, you may be inclined to flee overseas to avoid the debt collectors.

But seriously, retake or don't go.