Top Law Schools

all things equal, which is the better school, especially if i want to eventually do something other than big law (like teach or go into public policy)? Got accepted to duke today and really wasnt expecting it (was emailed about 5 min after my interview), thought georgetown was gonna be the gem....but now im reconsidering...both have deadlines this week so I gotta make a decision fast. One of these schools has to be my anchor as i wait to hear back from CCN. Which one should it be? I'm essentially job secure for next summer, but am looking for the degree that will give me wider career options beyond big law.

Current rank? Duke is better, unless you really want to intern for your congressman.

fratstar1 wrote:Current rank? Duke is better, unless you really want to intern for your congressman.

my class rank or school rank?

Class rank.

That's a lot of debt.

Congrats! Would you mind sharing your stats?

In terms of how many law professors these schools turn out per capita, Duke is ahead of Georgetown, but only by one spot, looking at data from 2003-2007: http://www.leiterrankings.com/jobs/2008 ... hing.shtml. (See also http://leiterrankings.com/new/2011_LawTeachers.shtml, a 2011 study "identify[ing] the law school alma mater (J.D. only) of tenure-stream academic faculty at 43 leading law faculties who graduated since 1995"). Honestly, though, getting into legal academia will be really difficult no matter what school you go to, so if your goal is to teach law someday, there may not be a statistically significant reason to choose Duke over Georgetown, or vice versa.

Objectively, Duke places better... however, you should consider whether you'd rather live in a city or a country-bumpkin area. Also consider the connections you are trying to make and the experience youre trying to have.


I've not been accepted by Duke, but I know those questions would be mulling over in my head ... I'd probably choose Duke personally

GULC's transfer class is too big. Duke has a much smaller transfer class and student body, so it (intuitively) seems as though it would be easier to interact and bond with prof's quickly, which will be vital for clerkship apps if you want to pursue academia.