Top Law Schools

I would like to practice in New York -where i am from and have significant ties- D.C would be my second option (a very close second to NY) and Cali third.
Region inst exactly as important as getting a job for me ITE
Assuming all COA are equal.
Cornell is also an option but haven't considered them as heavily.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated

If you want NY, easily Penn. None of the other schools come close in NYC placement.

The poll is currently 11-0-0-0-0 for Penn. Your choice has been made.

schween wrote:If you want NY, easily Penn. None of the other schools come close in NYC placement.

These are peer schools. They are all great for NYC. Penn probably has an edge, but if they all cost the same I'd pick your preference.

bk187 wrote:

schween wrote:If you want NY, easily Penn. None of the other schools come close in NYC placement.

These are peer schools. They are all great for NYC. Penn probably has an edge, but if they all cost the same I'd pick your preference.

The language is a bit hyperbolic outside of the 2011 NLJ 250 numbers, but I go to UVA and I agree with the general sentiment.

5ky wrote:

bk187 wrote:

schween wrote:If you want NY, easily Penn. None of the other schools come close in NYC placement.

These are peer schools. They are all great for NYC. Penn probably has an edge, but if they all cost the same I'd pick your preference.

The language is a bit hyperbolic outside of the 2011 NLJ 250 numbers, but I go to UVA and I agree with the general sentiment.

FWIW, I go to Michigan and I also picked Penn.

hp2 wrote:I would like to practice in New York -where i am from and have significant ties- D.C would be my second option (a very close second to NY) and Cali third.
Region inst exactly as important as getting a job for me ITE
Assuming all COA are equal.

I didn't vote in the poll, because I think your opportunities in NY Big Law will be about the same at all of these schools. I won't be the first to give you this advice, but visit the schools, talk to students, and choose the one where you think you'll most enjoy spending three years.

I think Penn's location helps quite a bit. People doing callbacks in NYC can catch the train a few minutes from the law school and be in midtown-Manhattan in just over an hour. Anecdotally, it seems like this is a significant boost, as it's a much smaller investment for employers bringing people out for callbacks. This also applies to DC, but to a lesser extent. Also, Penn, and presumably V and M, have regional OCIs in CA.

If you want the big city feel, Penn is really the only contender. The cost of living will be cheaper at M and V, but not by a huge margin (and much cheaper than B). You can live quite close to Penn, safely and comfortably, for relatively little, assuming you don't opt to live in one of the ridiculously overpriced buildings near the law school.

Thank everyone for the responses so far. I have a lot to thank about. The general feeling went kind of where i expected it to go, Im leaning a bit more towards Penn and UVA. I know that Penn has a slight edge in NYC but from what i have gathered-and i may be wrong here- but UVA has a slight advantage in DC. Any idea on that?

hp2 wrote:Thank everyone for the responses so far. I have a lot to thank about. The general feeling went kind of where i expected it to go, Im leaning a bit more towards Penn and UVA. I know that Penn has a slight edge in NYC but from what i have gathered-and i may be wrong here- but UVA has a slight advantage in DC. Any idea on that?

UVA places about double the % of its students in DC compared to Penn (about 22% to 11% for c/o 2010).

There's almost certainly more DC employers coming to UVA in general, but there are more people who want it, while I assume the majority of Penn students self-select out of DC. So those are competing factors that make a broad claim one way or another difficult.

That said, my intuition would be the same, that UVA would have a slight DC advantage overall, just because more employers are likely there.

bk187 wrote:

schween wrote:If you want NY, easily Penn. None of the other schools come close in NYC placement.

These are peer schools. They are all great for NYC. Penn probably has an edge, but if they all cost the same I'd pick your preference.

This. Plus due in large part to their students' proclivities, the schools tend to place strongest regionally. More Penn grads are in NYC because they want to be, not necessarily because Penn is more desirable to NYC firms.

NYC is also known for not caring about demonstrable ties, so that being said, all the more so that the schools are probably just about equal in terms of OP's stated goals.