Top Law Schools

Hi all - I am in the process of applying and deciding between a few schools and keep running into the same question: how important should where I want to live post-law school be? I am pursuing health law so looking at schools like Maryland, Penn, Columbia, and a few others, though I plan on living in the southeast after graduation. Should I only be looking at schools in the southeast? Or is it easy to move to a new state if you go to a good school in your concentration and do well? Any help would be much appreciated!

Location is crucial if you're picking a school outside the t14. Those schools just don't have much reach beyond their home market.

With the t14s its less important, but still a valid consideration. Based on your preference for the southeast, I think duke/uva should probably be at the top of your list. I'd pick duke over columbia if I really wanted to be in north carolina when I graduate, for example.

There's no such thing as concentrating in health law in law school. Specialty programs are meaningless. Go to a T14 or a strong school for free or nearly free in the state you want to practice in.

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You should try to decide where you want to live after law school and aim to attend a school in that same geographic area. This will give you access to many more job opportunities, as the majority of law firms recruiting at your school will be local.

You will also have a much larger alumni network at your disposal if you remain in the same region. For example, if you know you want to live in Boston but you go to law school in Chicago, you will have dozens of connections in Chicago after graduation but likely very few in the Boston area.

mlw128 wrote:You should try to decide where you want to live after law school and aim to attend a school in that same geographic area. This will give you access to many more job opportunities, as the majority of law firms recruiting at your school will be local.

You will also have a much larger alumni network at your disposal if you remain in the same region. For example, if you know you want to live in Boston but you go to law school in Chicago, you will have dozens of connections in Chicago after graduation but likely very few in the Boston area.

Except arguably t10 or so.

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Yes.