Top Law Schools

Right now I'm three semesters from graduation and I estimate my debt upon graduation to be around 85-90k. I don't know what law schools I would apply to, because with my projected numbers it's unlikely that I'll get into anything higher than Emory; my range is effectively 25-60--I have no idea what "tier" that falls into. I was looking at UIUC, but they upped their GPA median to 3.8 according to this site.

I'm a Texas resident, so the practical choice seems like University of Houston. It's cheap to live in (which is great for paying off loans), and they award good amounts of money. I'm also not against practicing law in Houston, which seems to be the logical choice.

What are my options here?

P.S. Having read a lot of posts like this one, the response I predict is "reconsider if you want to go to law school." Already have; I do. I'm a philosophy major, and I'm not exactly going to pay off $90k in debt by going to a philosophy firm. I've structured my course selection around the idea of "being a lawyer" since my freshman year. (This, as you would expect, is related to the debt. High school seniors should not have access to biglaw market salary numbers. >_>)

most schools from Emory down are experiencing poor OCI turnouts, and there's no indication things will get dramatically better in the next 5-10 years (some economists project high unemployment until 2021). the point is, you are unlikely to obtain a high enough salary to pay down $200k+ in debt. Your realistic target at this point is more like 120k debt, which will require considerable financial restraint on living costs, etc.

taking on that much UG debt was improvident, but its a sunk cost at this point...I'd apply conservatively and hope for big $$$. SMU, Houston, Baylor seem like reasonable choices given your interest in TX. Also give Tulane a shot, I've seen 90k+ scholarship packages from them in the past.

Thanks a bunch for the reply. (and from a fellow person-who-is-named-after-a-food, no less!)