Top Law Schools

I plan to study 2 year JD program for foreign-trained lawyers. As far as I understand the best law school offering such accelerated jd program for international lawyers is Northwestern University.

The rank of Northwestern is 11, and it's the most expensive (64k) school among my options but I can afford it. My other two options are Arizona State University and Iowa College of Law. Both schools have the same rank (27) and they also have similar tuition fees (26k-27k)

Apart from the school rating Chicago doesn't attract me actually. I don't like to live in such huge city with full of skyscrapers. And cost of living and high crime rates are other problems with Chicago.

ASU in Phoenix is another alternative and for me the only problem is extremely hot climate.

Iowa seems the best alternative to live. It has average climate and low cost of living...

Of course I am looking for a place to study not to live. However I will bring my family here. So in addition to quality of school, city features and quality of life are also important for me

Which school would you recommend, I'd like to get your opinions. Thanks.

Do you plan to work in the United States after law school?

Yes I do. It's my ultimate goal.

You need to do more research then. Where you go to school affects where you will work and the type of job you will get. Look at employment statistics.

Luwain, I am an Iowa native and attended Iowa for undergrad (but not for law school). I live in Iowa, I'm very familiar with family life/cultural life/basically anything about Iowa and Iowa City, and I'm happy to answer any questions you might have.

We need more information about where you want to practice (I understand that kind of seems up in the air) and what type of law.

If you need a visa, the only law firms that would generally be able to sponsor you for that would be BigLaw firms. In that case, Northwestern gives you a much, much better shot than ASU or Iowa.

Northwestern will also probably give you the option of working elsewhere if you don't like Chicago. ASU & Iowa are both going to likely confine employment to you in their respective states.

Good luck.

I have a friend who did the two year JD, and he had one hell of a time finding a big law job (though he did manage to get one). Apparently you go through OCI without grades/before you even start 1L.

Were you admitted to all three schools? Or are you just contemplating where to apply?

If admitted, then I'd say go for NW. I understand your thoughts about living experience, lack of desire to live in a big city, etc, but you will spend two years of your life and a substantial amount of money and the ultimate goal is to find job in the US. NW will give you more options, like approximately 90 percent more than any other school with a similar program.