"Overly-Competitive" Law Schools to Avoid? Forum

[ksllaw]

Hello everyone:

I'm currently in the middle of reading Law School Confidential, which was recommended to me by TLS members and there's a discussion of law school environments that can be deemed "toxic" and "over-competitive," where students sabotage their peers and make life unnecessarily and even unethically difficult for others.

The authors recommend researching schools that have these types of reputations and environments (not just any school that is competitive - as that would basically include every law school - but ones that are competitive to the point of being unhealthy) and advised readers to avoid them.

I would love to get some of your feedback about this and whether anyone has any reliable data on what schools might fit this "toxic" competitiveness category? Are these more urban legend (e.g. students hiding books for important assignments, purposely giving you false information, and so on...) than fact? Are there schools that actually are historically like this? Does it not really depend on a particular class rather than the school itself?... Do you feel your school or others you know of have these negative characteristics? ...These are the types of things I'd be grateful to have more knowledge about.

And, did you personally consider this factor when deciding which schools to apply to and/or attend?

I very much appreciate your time and thoughts. Thank you!

(ETA: I'm not sure how I feel about the authors' suggestion to avoid these schools, but am just curious about the topic in general.)

[HeavenWood]

Hello everyone:

I'm currently in the middle of reading Law School Confidential, which was recommended to me by TLS members and there's a discussion of law school environments that can be deemed "toxic" and "over-competitive," where students sabotage their peers and make life unnecessarily and even unethically difficult for others.

The authors recommend researching schools that have these types of reputations and environments (not just any school that is competitive - as that would basically include every law school - but ones that are competitive to the point of being unhealthy) and advised readers to avoid them.

I would love to get some of your feedback about this and whether anyone has any reliable data on what schools might fit this "toxic" competitiveness category? Are these more urban legend (e.g. students hiding books for important assignments, purposely giving you false information, and so on...) than fact? Are there schools that actually are historically like this? Does it not really depend on a particular class rather than the school itself?... Do you feel your school or others you know of have these negative characteristics? ...These are the types of things I'd be grateful to have more knowledge about.

And, did you personally consider this factor when deciding which schools to apply to and/or attend?

I very much appreciate your time and thoughts. Thank you!

(ETA: I'm not sure how I feel about the authors' suggestion to avoid these schools, but am just curious about the topic in general.)

Pick your law school according to the best balance between debt and employment prospects. Unless you are picking between two true peers, this should not come into play.

[IAFG]

Pick your law school according to the best balance between debt and employment prospects. Unless you are picking between two true peers, this should not come into play.

But... but... but... how competitive could a school be when everyone's always drinking beer and playing softball?