Top Law Schools

Hello, I am currently preparing to apply for law school and I am torn between two schools.

I currently live in Utah and could probably get into the University of Utah, our BYU (both rank 25-30 schools).

However, I am planning to move to North Dakota for family reasons after. There is only one law school there, the university of North Dakota. It is a much much lower ranked school, both in ranking and LSAT/admission requirements. However, everyone in North Dakota goes to that school. Almost all the justice of their Supreme Court went there also.

While I know there is a debate between good student at an average school or average student at good school, does the local prestige of the school matter? Even if the school is not the best, is it still worth going to if it is what everyone in the area goes to?

Apply to all 3 and see which one ends up being the most affordable. It probably makes sense to go to North Dakota if you plan on living there indefinitely in the future. But if for some reason Utah or BYU gives you a full ride then it makes sense to take those.

To answer your question, yes, going to the most prominent local school often makes more sense than going to a higher ranked school. Utah and BYU are both good schools, but they are not going to make you more competitive in North Dakota than going to the University of North Dakota. This would be a different call, if you could get into a top 14 school with national reach.

I would assume that North Dakota is pretty insular and would expect that if you plan on living there indefinitely, North Dakota Law for free would be your best possible option.

I would hope that if you have the stats for much higher ranked schools you'd be able to get a strong scholarship at North Dakota.