Top Law Schools

Can someone explain the tier system to me? What's the difference between tier 1 and tier 2 law schools? Is it based on median lsat and GPA scores of entry level students?

How about Montana Law school, is it any good?

Thanks

First of all do not go to Montana Law School.

T1 = Top 14 schools

T2 = 14-50th schools

T3and T4 = Just don't to these. You dont know have to now what they are.

Curious1 wrote:First of all do not go to Montana Law School.

T1 = Top 14 schools

T2 = 14-50th schools

T3and T4 = Just don't to these. You dont know have to now what they are.

There are several different versions of the Tier system. One is above, and is less common. Another is based on the old USNWR system (BY FAR THE MOST COMMONLY USED):

T1= 1-50
T2= 50-100
T3+4= 100- INF

The most recent USNWR version which nobody yet uses is:

T1= 1-100
T2= 100 and lower
There might be a T3 and 4, cannot remember.


TL;DR: Use T14 to distinguish T14 from the rest of the T1, which is 1-50. T2= 50-100. Nobody cares after that. Better yet use exact ranks like T20, T30, T50, etc.

Also, keep in mind that school rank barely matters outside of the T14 and T20. Regional modifiers are going to be more important than anything else at that point. A T35 school is not automatically better than a T55 school in job placement. In fact, many are worse than lower schools.

OH wow. I didn't know that--always thought T1 was T14. Thanks.

Anyway some people would tell you that anything lower than the T14...you should never pay full price for.

Norway --> UK --> Montana?

I say go for it brother. Follow your dreams.

It's from US News and World Report. It use to be (when I started applying) that 1-50= tier 1, 50-100= tier2, 100-150= tier 3, and the rest were tier 4. Then they switched to to 1-100= tier 1, 100-150= tier 3 (apparently USNWR doesn't know how to count), and the rest were tier 4. Now they just divide it by ranked and unranked (clearly math wasn't USNWR's forte)

US News & World Report ranks the schools using various metrics, including median LSAT & GPA, money spent per student, peer reputation and...I'm too lazy to look up the rest. I'm sure it's published somewhere.

Tier 1: 1-50
- T3: HYS (Harvard/Yale/Stanford) the only truly nationally portable JDs, almost guaranteed job
- T6: HYSCCN (HYS+Columbia/Chicago/NYU) more or less portable, great shot at job
- T14: HYSCCNMVPBDNCG more or less portable with regional ties, good shot at job(...+Michigan/UVA/Penn/Boalt/Duke/Northwestern/Cornell/Georgetown)

Tier 2: 50-100
For the most part, not portable. Can be worth attending with big scholarships, if the school is not located in a market saturated by better schools (NY/DC/Chi/SF), and/or if you have a guaranteed job.

Tier 3/4: 101-200+
Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here. Almost never worth attending.

To give an answer on the Montana question, no it's not a great school. HOWEVER: if you want to live and practice in Montana for the rest of your life and you can attend cheaply it's not a bad idea. Thinking you can go there and land a job in DC/NYC/LA is wishful thinking though.

Thank you, and I was quite amused by 'Follow your dreams' that's a nice thing to say and clever to follow the user through two different topics. I have a much better idea of the tier system now. Obviously I understand that Montana law degree is only good in Montana. But what are the main criteria employed to judge the quality of institution? Is it reputation, quality of teachers, size of the library, size of the endowment fund, probably all of them together. It seems to me that quality follows reputation a little rather than the other way around, any thoughts?

sfaarab wrote:Thank you, and I was quite amused by 'Follow your dreams' that's a nice thing to say and clever to follow the user through two different topics. I have a much better idea of the tier system now. Obviously I understand that Montana law degree is only good in Montana. But what are the main criteria employed to judge the quality of institution? Is it reputation, quality of teachers, size of the library, size of the endowment fund, probably all of them together. It seems to me that quality follows reputation a little rather than the other way around, any thoughts?

The single biggest criterion for choosing a law school is the likelihood that a JD from school X will get you the kind of job you want in the region you want to live in. (Or any job at all, in some cases.) Unfortunately, the employment data provided by schools varies from 'somewhat misleading' to 'piles of steaming bullshit.'

sfaarab wrote:What are the main criteria employed to judge the quality of institution? Is it reputation, quality of teachers, size of the library, size of the endowment fund, probably all of them together. It seems to me that quality follows reputation a little rather than the other way around, any thoughts?

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-gr ... ology-2012

If you want a good chance at getting a worthwhile job, aim at the top 14 schools.

Curious1 wrote:First of all do not go to Montana Law School.

If he wants to live and practice in Montana, I'm sure there is no better school for him.

joncrooshal wrote:

Curious1 wrote:First of all do not go to Montana Law School.

If he wants to live and practice in Montana, I'm sure there is no better school for him.

OP is apparently from Norway and was educated in the UK, so I'd be surprised to learn he's aiming for any particular state in the US at this point.

Unless he's looking for a climate similar to home.