Top Law Schools

Unsure where to post this, but I'm wondering what the conventional wisdom is on getting into Boston big law.

Although I would be content to practice anywhere after law school my first choice would be in Boston. From what I've gathered on TLS it is one of the more difficult markets (hur dur Boston Market!!1) to get in unless you're HYS, BC, BU or if you have significant ties. But do any of the strong regionals, say in the 15-35 rankings, stand a chance of placing a grad in Boston? FWIW my SO and I grew up next to Boston and we both did our undergrad in Boston too.

chimera wrote:Unsure where to post this, but I'm wondering what the conventional wisdom is on getting into Boston big law.

Although I would be content to practice anywhere after law school my first choice would be in Boston. From what I've gathered on TLS it is one of the more difficult markets (hur dur Boston Market!!1) to get in unless you're HYS, BC, BU or if you have significant ties. But do any of the strong regionals, say in the 15-35 rankings, stand a chance of placing a grad in Boston? FWIW my SO and I grew up next to Boston and we both did our undergrad in Boston too.

Regional schools are "regional" for a reason. Boston big law firms hire from the t-14 and BC and BU. I wouldn't recommend going to a school like WashU or Vandy and aiming for Boston, even with ties. If you get into both Vandy and BC/BU chances are you have money at either Boston school anyways (and should pick BC/BU or retake).

You're fine in terms of ties, but you should really go to a school where Boston firms interview students. It's true that you can always massmail, but having gone through OCI, I think it's an advantage to get your resume in front of an interviewer.

So let's take a look at a few Boston offices I picked randomly. Skadden Boston interviews at the following schools:

Boston College Law School
Boston University School of Law
Columbia University Law School
Cornell Law School
Georgetown University Law Center
Harvard Law School
New York University School of Law
University of Connecticut School of Law
university of pennsylvania law school
Yale Law School

Proskauer Boston's list is pretty similar, though they don't come to CLS/NYU. That's probably just because the New York office of Proskauer is MUCH more popular at CLS/NYU.

Boston College Law School
Boston University School of Law
Cornell Law School
Georgetown University Law Center
Harvard Law School
Northeastern University School of Law
Suffolk University Law School
University of Connecticut School of Law
university of pennsylvania law school

And here's Choate. Weirdly they don't interview at NYU, but I believe they were at CLS.

Boston College Law School
Boston University School of Law
Columbia University Law School
Cornell Law School
Georgetown University Law Center
Harvard Law School
Northeastern University School of Law
Suffolk University Law School
University of Virginia School of Law
Yale Law School

redsoxfan1989 wrote:

chimera wrote:Unsure where to post this, but I'm wondering what the conventional wisdom is on getting into Boston big law.

Although I would be content to practice anywhere after law school my first choice would be in Boston. From what I've gathered on TLS it is one of the more difficult markets (hur dur Boston Market!!1) to get in unless you're HYS, BC, BU or if you have significant ties. But do any of the strong regionals, say in the 15-35 rankings, stand a chance of placing a grad in Boston? FWIW my SO and I grew up next to Boston and we both did our undergrad in Boston too.

Regional schools are "regional" for a reason. Boston big law firms hire from the t-14 and BC and BU. I wouldn't recommend going to a school like WashU or Vandy and aiming for Boston, even with ties. If you get into both Vandy and BC/BU chances are you have money at either Boston school anyways (and should pick BC/BU or retake).

I don't even think your prospects are good these days from BC/BU, even for Boston...unless you're like in the top 25%.