Top Law Schools

By this, I mean schools that aren’t T17 and that US News doesn’t do justice for with their rankings. I’m thinking of schools that won’t bankrupt you (this depends partly on financial aid and whether or not you have in-state or OOS tuition, too) and where even graduating at median means you have a shot at some sort of meaningful legal employment.

UDub?
Temple?
W&L?
Ohio State?
Boston College?
Hastings?

Thoughts?

IMO BC blows the rest of those away in terms of employment prospects (relatively) although I would still be worried about attending at sticker.

Emory is apparently the most underrated in the country according to vault.com

UDub is my top school, but I think it's pricetag is pretty typical unless you're in-state (luckily, I am). And unlike some other states, you can't claim residency after your first year and get instate tuition after that. You have to live here for at least a year for reasons other than education before they'll give you the tuition break.

Don't know about the others.

Yale, ASU, U of A, Penn (of course)

nematoad wrote:Emory is apparently the most underrated in the country according to vault.com

They're more over- than under-rated.

nematoad wrote:Emory is apparently the most underrated in the country according to vault.com

Maybe by employers Their OCI is reported to have been nigh-unbelievably brutal for a T-25 school that charges 45k in tuition. Also, you can probably add UGA/UNC instate to the list. Both are cheap for residents and relatively well-respected in their main markets.

These threads have been played to death on this forum. Short answer: Any school which is reasonably priced and places reasonably well within its respective region.

stratocophic wrote:Maybe by employers Their OCI is reported to have been nigh-unbelievably brutal for a T200 school that charges 45k in tuition. .

FTFY

2009 Prospective wrote:These threads have been played to death on this forum. Short answer: Any school which is reasonably priced and places reasonably well within its respective region.

Indeed. But it gets complicated when some law schools throw scholarships at applicants (Tulane) and some tell applicants to suck it up (Fordham).

BYU. LSAT scores and Biglaw placement are way better than all their "peers" in the USNWR rankings. Should be in the T25. LSAT and GPA-wise, it should be like 17th.

spinsta wrote:BYU. LSAT scores and Biglaw placement are way better than all their "peers" in the USNWR rankings. Should be in the T25. LSAT and GPA-wise, it should be like 17th.

This is absolutely credited. Seems like they place as well as a 15-17.

Aberzombie1892 wrote:

stratocophic wrote:Maybe by employers Their OCI is reported to have been nigh-unbelievably brutal for a T200 school that charges 45k in tuition. .

FTFY

2009 Prospective wrote:These threads have been played to death on this forum. Short answer: Any school which is reasonably priced and places reasonably well within its respective region.

Indeed. But it gets complicated when some law schools throw scholarships at applicants (Tulane) and some tell applicants to suck it up (Fordham).

Credited on both counts. At many schools applicants with low numbers subsidize the people who forgo better opportunities to attend a slightly lower-ranked school, so it largely depends on how you fare numerically (beyond just in-state rates at decent state schools).

UF/FSU are instate is 20k per yr w/ tuition & COL. That's cheap.

I think Howard is really underrated based on what I have heard. George Mason too but it is generally moving up, even if it went down last year, so it is hard to complain about that. With the educational quality ranking of 26, and the good job prospects in VA and DC I think it should probably rank around in the upper 20's as the Alumni network grows. I'm sure there are others too but these are the two I know of around my area.

By the way, I'm probably not applying to either one of these schools bust still think they are better than their rankings.

Ohio State in-state w/ money is a good deal for students who want to practice in Ohio, but it doesn't reach very far out of the state.

Please no one else say howard. They can't even get their students passing the bar. Over 15% below NY state average in 2009.

BYU. LSAT scores and Biglaw placement are way better than all their "peers" in the USNWR rankings. Should be in the T25. LSAT and GPA-wise, it should be like 17th.

True, but it's only really an option for LDS members. Tuition doubles if you aren't a member of the faith, and I doubt many non-believers would really feel comfortable in that environment.

nealric wrote:

BYU. LSAT scores and Biglaw placement are way better than all their "peers" in the USNWR rankings. Should be in the T25. LSAT and GPA-wise, it should be like 17th.

True, but it's only really an option for LDS members. Tuition doubles if you aren't a member of the faith, and I doubt many non-believers would really feel comfortable in that environment.

Yah mang, schools only become underated due to arbitrage. Otherwise you just need to follow the rankings T14 > best local.

spinsta wrote:BYU. LSAT scores and Biglaw placement are way better than all their "peers" in the USNWR rankings. Should be in the T25. LSAT and GPA-wise, it should be like 17th.

What is their primary market? San Francisco? I'm not interested in applying, just curious.

Bumi wrote:

spinsta wrote:BYU. LSAT scores and Biglaw placement are way better than all their "peers" in the USNWR rankings. Should be in the T25. LSAT and GPA-wise, it should be like 17th.

What is their primary market? San Francisco? I'm not interested in applying, just curious.

What?

Bumi wrote:

spinsta wrote:BYU. LSAT scores and Biglaw placement are way better than all their "peers" in the USNWR rankings. Should be in the T25. LSAT and GPA-wise, it should be like 17th.

What is their primary market? San Francisco? I'm not interested in applying, just curious.

I dont think Mormons + San Francisco is the most logical placement

bk187 wrote:

Bumi wrote:

spinsta wrote:BYU. LSAT scores and Biglaw placement are way better than all their "peers" in the USNWR rankings. Should be in the T25. LSAT and GPA-wise, it should be like 17th.

What is their primary market? San Francisco? I'm not interested in applying, just curious.

What?

Do they have a lot of biglaw in Provo? It's not a complicated question. If BYU places much better than its peers in biglaw, I was curious where these BYU-infested biglaw firms were. I doubt they're in Provo. So is it regional cities like Salt Lake City or Denver, or the closest top legal market which would be . . . . San Francisco. New York isn't exactly close to Utah.

And yes, there are mormons in San Francisco.

Bumi wrote:Do they have a lot of biglaw in Provo? It's not a complicated question. If BYU places much better than its peers in biglaw, I was curious where these BYU-infested biglaw firms were. I doubt they're in Provo. So is it regional cities like Salt Lake City or Denver, or the closest top legal market which would be . . . . San Francisco. New York isn't exactly close to Utah.

And yes, there are mormons in San Francisco.

BYU places in Utah. Why would an SF firm hire a BYU grad over UCD/UCH let alone UCLA/USC/UCB/Stanford?

bk187 wrote:

Bumi wrote:Do they have a lot of biglaw in Provo? It's not a complicated question. If BYU places much better than its peers in biglaw, I was curious where these BYU-infested biglaw firms were. I doubt they're in Provo. So is it regional cities like Salt Lake City or Denver, or the closest top legal market which would be . . . . San Francisco. New York isn't exactly close to Utah.

And yes, there are mormons in San Francisco.

BYU places in Utah. Why would an SF firm hire a BYU grad over UCD/UCH let alone UCLA/USC/UCB/Stanford?

Nah dood, BYU is a national law school because LDS from all over the US go there. You can find associates from BYU at most of the V100. It places mainly in the mountain west tho. Think of it like Texas - places mainly in one region but some mobility in all large markets for the top of the class.

spinsta wrote:BYU. LSAT scores and Biglaw placement are way better than all their "peers" in the USNWR rankings. Should be in the T25. LSAT and GPA-wise, it should be like 17th.

Heh? Their LSAT median (LinkRemoved) is 163. How does that put them at 17th