Top Law Schools

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coffeebeanie wrote:[NDLS $$$ vs. USC $$ vs. Vanderbilt $$ vs. WUSTL $

Money symbols don't help for this analysis. We need actual COA numbers.

Interested in biglaw or corporate law (A), but open to other areas (but not gov or PI). Not rewriting or reapplying another year later (it's now or never) (B).

For someone with your attitude in (A), your list of schools you're choosing between doesn't present you great odds of success. Here's your implied biglaw odds out of these schools:

ND: 48%
USC: 51%
Vandy: 51%
WUSTL: 40%

So, basically, since you should assume you'll end up in the neighborhood of median at these schools, your expected outcomes have wide variance at each of these schools. Being even 5-10% off of median will basically shut you out of biglaw.

So, knowing that, your position in (B) comes with a lot of risks.

I'm really torn between these four schools, which each have strong pluses and minuses to each. I want to practise in NY but would be okay with Cali, Chicago, or DC for a few years beforehand, thus I'd like as little a regional school as possible.

First, each of these schools is regional. Thankfully, you've got some schools that can get you to the regions you are interested in. You can use WUSTL or ND for Chicago and USC for California. Really, any of these can get you to NY if your grades are good enough. The school that should be on your list for your goals is Cornell, which gives you a great shot at BigLaw in NYC and should not require dramatically better stats than what you used to get into these schools.

Beyond that, your thinking about each of these schools is problematic. You are focused on marketing gimmicks ("different kind of lawyer") and irrelevant considerations like climate and certificate programs while at the same time you are saying alarming things like you have no interest in practicing in the areas of several of the regional schools you're considering.

As I said, your school choice does not properly reflect your stated goals and preferences. In choosing any of these schools, you will be selecting a school that objectively does not make sense. You said you're determined to go and that's your business, but you aren't taking a good bet ex ante and this is before we even know your actual costs at these schools.

coffeebeanie wrote: Not rewriting or reapplying another year later (it's now or never).

Why?

Without real ties it is pretty unlikely you crack the Chicago market from any school.

We need to know how much each school costs and what your GPA/LSAT is but if you want big law you're probably going to have to retake/reapply. These schools don't really align with those aspirations, you need to aim higher. Focus on the T14.