Top Law Schools

How do firms look at students from schools on opposite ends of the ranking spectrum? Is being in the top 25% from a T30 law school looked at about the same as the top 5-10% from a Tier 2/3? Do firms simply have grade cut-offs that get you an interview and then you are simply evaluated on the interviews?

This smells like a 0L, but I'll bite. Top 2/3 at HYS = median at CCN = top 40% at MVPB = top 30% at DCNG = top 15% at a good T30 = top 5% at a T1/upper T2 = top 5 people at a lower T2/T3.

Edit: This only really applies to AmLaw 200 firms, but there are probably exceptions in both directions.

LawIdiot86 wrote:This smells like a 0L, but I'll bite. Top 2/3 at HYS = median at CCN = top 40% at MVPB = top 30% at DCNG = top 15% at a good T30 = top 5% at a T1/upper T2 = top 5 people at a lower T2/T3.

Edit: This only really applies to AmLaw 200 firms, but there are probably exceptions in both directions.

lol difference between MVPB and DCN. In NYC, P probably has a slight advantage over the rest. In Chicago, N has an advantage over the rest. Outside NYC, HYS >>> Rest of T14 (being on level playing field).

Best thing you can do is find information about how people at certain ranks at particular schools fared in terms of jobs, and compare that to ranks at other schools. Honestly, after seeing a ton of posts here about OCI/transferring results, you get an intuition for how individual rankings at particular schools translate. Of course, it's worth remembering that every firm and school is different. Some firms/schools reach deeper into schools they have strong ties to than they would similarly ranked schools. For example, UC Hastings grads looking at SF offices can likely enjoy a bit more of a ranking cushion than other similarly ranked schools looking at the same firms because of the strong reputation of Hastings in the area.

I have a sneaking suspicion that you're a 0L, in which case your post is misplaced and, if you're contemplating the decision of going to a higher tier school vs a lower one, you're almost always going to be smarter going to the higher one. I know people that transferred from TTTTs to T14s and said that their first year group of students were fiercer to compete with than anyone at their new school. While you might get lower LSAT scores down the ranks, you also have crazy incentive and desperation to reach for the top.

TLDR: Don't go into law school with the assumption that you'll make top 10%

Anonymous User wrote:How do firms look at students from schools on opposite ends of the ranking spectrum? Is being in the top 25% from a T30 law school looked at about the same as the top 5-10% from a Tier 2/3? Do firms simply have grade cut-offs that get you an interview and then you are simply evaluated on the interviews?

Also, top 25% from a T30 is probably not going to get you BigLaw (and those are really the only firms TLS really "knows" about).

I'm actually looking at branch offices of big law and larger firms > 100 in secondary markets where there are few alumni from my school, but a ton of alumni of schools much closer. I'm just trying to gauge how competitive I am.

LawIdiot86 wrote:This smells like a 0L, but I'll bite. Top 2/3 at HYS = median at CCN = top 40% at MVPB = top 30% at DCNG = top 15% at a good T30 = top 5% at a T1/upper T2 = top 5 people at a lower T2/T3.

Edit: This only really applies to AmLaw 200 firms, but there are probably exceptions in both directions.

I hope this is a joke. To break down percentage differences in career prospects between applicants at T14s by 10 percentiles is laughable. For anyone not in the top or bottom of the class, personality is going to go a lot further than the 10% buffer you supposedly think going to M buys you over D (which is flat out wrong by the way).

OP - another point to consider is that T2s are not created equal. Do research on the particular T2s you are considering and see how they place.

Depends on the firm. There is no universal or blanket way in which firms look at the numbers. I know of a few v50 firms that took students in the top 1% of their T3 over median HYS students.

LawIdiot86 wrote:This smells like a 0L, but I'll bite. Top 2/3 at HYS = median at CCN = top 40% at MVPB = top 30% at DCNG = top 15% at a good T30 = top 5% at a T1/upper T2 = top 5 people at a lower T2/T3.

Edit: This only really applies to AmLaw 200 firms, but there are probably exceptions in both directions.

Irate Michigan 1L who is mad as fuxk that Northwestern bros style all over them at OCI.

Style is an underrated verb.

lawyerwannabe wrote:top 25% from a T30 is probably not going to get you BigLaw (and those are really the only firms TLS really "knows" about).

Someone doesn't pay attention to employment statistics, considering that quite a few T30 schools place more than 25% in biglaw/fed clerkship,

But to answer the question, firms are familiar with the schools they interview at. So, a firm that interviews at, say, Columbia, Fordham and Cardozo, might be willing to talk to anyone above median at Columbia, limit interviews the top 25% at Fordham, and only consider the top 10% and Cardozo, whereas they might refuse everyone at Touro.
On the other hand, if someone from William Mitchell (Minnesota) approaches them, as they've probably never heard of the school, they're generally reject anyone who's not top 5%, but will probably be amenable to interviewing the top 5 students.

Desert Fox wrote:

LawIdiot86 wrote:This smells like a 0L, but I'll bite. Top 2/3 at HYS = median at CCN = top 40% at MVPB = top 30% at DCNG = top 15% at a good T30 = top 5% at a T1/upper T2 = top 5 people at a lower T2/T3.

Edit: This only really applies to AmLaw 200 firms, but there are probably exceptions in both directions.

Irate Michigan 1L who is mad as fuxk that Northwestern bros style all over them at OCI.

Cosigned.

dingbat wrote:

lawyerwannabe wrote:top 25% from a T30 is probably not going to get you BigLaw (and those are really the only firms TLS really "knows" about).

Someone doesn't pay attention to employment statistics, considering that quite a few T30 schools place more than 25% in biglaw/fed clerkship,

But to answer the question, firms are familiar with the schools they interview at. So, a firm that interviews at, say, Columbia, Fordham and Cardozo, might be willing to talk to anyone above median at Columbia, limit interviews the top 25% at Fordham, and only consider the top 10% and Cardozo, whereas they might refuse everyone at Touro.
On the other hand, if someone from William Mitchell (Minnesota) approaches them, as they've probably never heard of the school, they're generally reject anyone who's not top 5%, but will probably be amenable to interviewing the top 5 students.

This sounds about right, except for the "Fordham Firms" out there where they'll give people down to pretty much bottom third at Fordham a shot because 1/5 of the firm is from Fordham. Its really quite interesting at Fordham which firms will consider which candidates as grade selectivity becomes pretty blatantly apparent. That said, there are firms that interview up to 1/4 the whole class at Fordham to pick 3-5 people so you see all types.