Top Law Schools

Hi,

First, immense appreciation to Ken for creating such informative site & webboard! I love it.

I was recently accepted to the schools mentioned above, plus Northwestern (just heard of the news a days ago). I am still waiting to hear from a few more schools, but I think I am pretty set on UVA or Upenn, unless something magical happens and Yale accepts me, =) or NYU/Boalt wants me. hehe

I talked to a few people regarding which school to pick - I just wanted to share the take from them. one is a graduate from santa clara law(think 15 yrs ago?), currently working for Department of Interior in washington d.c., and the other one is a close friend of my professor.. I am not sure of what he does.. Anyhow, I thought the e-mail exchange we had some good information(albeit some might be biased, not true, or whatever)

I've sent the same e-mail to both of them:

Dear Piggylola,

Thank you so much for appreciating this site and the forum. Applying to law schools 10 years ago I read everything I could and felt that there was not enough out there, especially information that was available for free. I get great happiness knowing that you and others are benefiting from this site.

You have gotten into 5 excellent law schools and I think the information you have received about them is all correct. The only major contradiction I would put forward is that UCLA is not a regional school and those I know who graduated there were able to get jobs anywhere in the nation they wanted. So few UCLA Law School grads leave CA that the few that are willing to are highly coveted.

That being said, I highly recommend the University of Virginia Law School, which offers an amazing combination of excellent academics and job prospects while at the same time providing a great quality of life. In fact, many of the schools you are considering made my list of the best law schools to attend. This list is not merely a ranking of law schools, but instead is a gestalt, or overall view of what schools offer the complete package of academics, quality of life, social scene, campus beauty, etc. Note that Yale Law School and NYU Law School would probably be listed after U. Penn on this list (Yale is hurt by being in dumpy and unsafe New Haven). Stanford Law School, my #1 pick, is not included here since you are not considering them.

2. U. of Virginia Law School - What an amazing law school experience. The U. of Virginia Law School facilities are world-class, Charlottesville is a beautiful college town, and the picturesque campus evidences the design genius of Thomas Jefferson. With their median grade of a B+ being commonly given out, there is no cut-throat competition and job prospects are plentiful. There is more stress given to one's performance in the all important softball games than there is for exams. U. of Virginia Law School seeks to admit unique and diverse individuals and lively professors make classes enjoyable. The only real negative of this top 10 law school is the steep tuition, with the U. of Virginia Law School as expensive as any private school.

3. Tie between UCLA Law School and Berkeley's Boalt Hall. Both of these schools have the amazing combination of powerhouse academics in the California sunshine. While tuition has gone up quite a bit of late, it is still a great bargain for in-state residents and even out of staters can usually be declared residents after one year and benefit from lower tuition. Boalt offers the best intellectual property program out there and has a decent social life, with many students taking weekly trips across the Bay to San Francisco. UCLA has a beautiful campus and nice law building and Westwood provides the glitz of LA but with a collegial atmosphere. Both schools provide excellent job opportunities both in California and nationwide. Profiles below:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/boalt-hall.html
http://www.top-law-schools.com/ucla-law-school.html


4. U. of Pennsylvania Law School - U. Penn Law School combines the best of both worlds, an Ivy League pedigree with a great quality of life. I remember that I was touring the nation looking at top law schools and after visiting the U. of Chicago, Yale, and Harvard, I was amazed to see the dichotomy at the U. of Penn Law School. Students were smiling and happy, versus overworked and nervous at the other top law schools I had just visited. Having access to classes at Wharton Business School greatly helps with plentiful job prospects, and the quality of life is good overall. Quite an attractive combination if you want that Ivy League experience.

http://www.top-law-schools.com/penn-law-school.html

Of the law schools to which you have thus far been admitted, I would choose UVA over Penn Law School, but it is very close. However, your interest in taking classes at Wharton is a huge plus for Penn, which is excellent in corporate/business law as you can imagine. You will not go wrong with either choice and I would make your determination by which law school you like the most on your personal visit. I HIGHLY recommend that you visit any law school that you are seriously considering.

If you do get in to NYU or Boalt, please let us know as both do offer great opportunties as well.

You can now relax as the rest of your admissions come in, for you already have some great choices. Congratulations again!

Thank you so much for posting such great information! =)

Another Q though - Isn't it easier to get a biglaw job for a person in the middle of the class pool (grade-wise) as the ranking of the school goes up?

i.e.) a person in the middle of the pool @virginia/penn has a better chance of securing a biglaw job than a person w/ the same rank @ucla/georgetown

I would buy you a thank-you coffee or something if I could! Once again, thanks so much for spending your valuable time to aid others.

Dear Piggylola (I love that screen name),

You are right that on a nationwide basis, the higher a law school is ranked the more coveted the graduates will be. Graduating at the middle of your class at U. Penn, one would still have many job opportunities available, not necessarily true at Georgetown (although likely to still have some choices).

As you have mentioned though, there are regional strengths that do come in to play. While all of the law schools you are considering are national schools, UCLA will have the most clout in SoCal, UVA and Georgetown a lot in D.C., and U. of Penn Law School will carry a lot of weight in NYC and Philadelphia.

Overall, it seems like U. Penn or UVA are the best places for you to consider, but lets keep our hopes up for Boalt and NYU, both of which are amazing law schools.

Wow so this has just turned into a great thread. I have actually been considering applying ED to UVA. I am having a very hard time doing it as it would make it impossible to see if i get accepted to Berkeley.

So, Ken, if the choice was between UVA and Berkeley which school would you decide upon? I feel like applying to UVA ED is a huge plus to getting accepted, but at the same time limits your options as well as that small chance (for me) of being accepted to HYS or CCN.

Any insight?

Holy bump.

I have been foruming at various places for years now and I have literally never seen a necro like this. Wow.

clintonius wrote:I have been foruming at various places for years now and I have literally never seen a necro like this. Wow.

One of the downsides of asking people to use the 'search' function I guess. Oh the irony.

00ps

Remember back in 2006 when job prospects were plentiful for T14 grads ?

KibblesAndVick wrote:Remember back in 2006 when job prospects were plentiful for T14 grads ?

Reading this is painful.

lawschoollll wrote:

KibblesAndVick wrote:Remember back in 2006 when job prospects were plentiful for T14 grads ?

Reading this is painful.

At least we have the benefit of knowing which schools will have bad employment prospects. I imagine that many of the people around 2006/2007 went to law schools right in the middle of the crash. They didn't even have the chance to avoid the situation, so I feel bad for them. Us on the other hand... we make the stupid decision to approach a bad legal market with full information; that's way worse.

Edit: I just necro'd a necro thread. Whoops.

clintonius wrote:I have been foruming at various places for years now and I have literally never seen a necro like this. Wow.

I once saw an eight year necro.