Top Law Schools

Just got my grades back and am somewhat disappointed. I ended up with a 3.82 - putting me either barely out of the top 10% or barely in. I am a CA resident and my current school is ranked in the lower 80's. I want to practice in either DC, NY, SF, or LA. I would like to land a SA position for next summer (Big Law and a Federal Clerkship after graduation). Eventually, I want to transition into Government work. Which highly ranked schools would I have the best chance of getting into? Thanks!

Apply to UM, NU, and Georgetown. Anything above that is a reach. Top 10% will matter as well - inside that mark will help you a lot. DC will be very tough, since you would be competing with kids with similar GPAs who are already at T14s. I'd mail LA + SF b/c of your ties, but mostly focus on NY.

Any shot at Berkeley, Penn or NYU?

I highly doubt it. I think you would need closer to top 5% to be in there (and at Penn and NYU). General consensus is you need at least top 10% from T1 at these schools and top 5% from T2.

I finished ~12% at a T30 (then T25) and was rejected at Penn, NYU, and Columbia and accepted at UM and NU. Know another guy from my school same year who was just inside top 10% and got accepted at Columbia. Also know of someone the year before at my same school who was also ~12% and got accepted, but he was from PA, wanted to practice there, and had a compelling personal statement explaining this.

You could maybe throw an app at Berkeley b/c of your CA ties, but I wouldn't be super-optimistic.

Other than the aforementioned schools (GULC, NU, UM), do apply to Berkeley. Being a CA resident helps a lot.

Looks like I am top 10%! So GULC, NU, UM, UCLA and maybe Berkeley and NYU?

Anonymous User wrote:Looks like I am top 10%! So GULC, NU, UM, UCLA, Berkeley, and NYU

Yes.