Regional vs. national law schools Forum

[GMasters5]

I have a question regarding lower T-20 schools, namely Cornell, UT, UCLA, Vandy, and WUSTL. Do any of this schools have a strong national reputation or are they mainly regional? I have seen some info on here, but it's not unanimous. My main goal after law school is securing a judicial clerkship or working in FL (where I want to live) or GA (where I was born and live now), but I'm trying to avoid biglaw unless I choose to go to a T-14 with little or no scholarship. I assume being at the top of one's class at Cornell would warrant a consideration for a clerkship or a job in a completely different state, but I'm mainly wondering if it is a possibility at the last 4 schools that I listed?

[ilikebaseball]

I can't really speak for any of the other schools, but UT is definitely regional. By far, the best school in Texas. But as far as like New York, Boston, LA etc it doesnt place well

[Chrstgtr]

Only T14s have true national reach. Cornell is a T14.

[GMasters5]

I can't really speak for any of the other schools, but UT is definitely regional. By far, the best school in Texas. But as far as like New York, Boston, LA etc it doesnt place well

Thanks! When I chance myself on mylsn those are the schools where I seem to have the best shot at getting substantial scholarships. I'm trying to go to law school without much debt, but I'm also trying to set myself up for the best chance at clerking or going back to where I'm from to practice. Do you think that would be a possiblity going to UT?

[cron1834]

Anything outside of the T14 is regional. The consensus seems to be that you should either go to a T14/national school, or a good school on scholarship in the area you want to practice in. That means no UCLA, UT, or WUSTL for your goals. You should still apply there for scholarship leverage, but you can't go there. Cornell (T14) or Vandy (maybe? southern bros will have to confirm) are reasonable in your case.

[Chrstgtr]

Anything outside of the T14 is regional. The consensus seems to be that you should either go to a T14/national school, or a good school on scholarship in the area you want to practice in. That means no UCLA, UT, or WUSTL for your goals. You should still apply there for scholarship leverage, but you can't go there. Cornell (T14) or Vandy (maybe? southern bros will have to confirm) are reasonable in your case.

I've read Vandy has some pull in FL. With that said it is still no T14.

[GMasters5]

Only T14s have true national reach. Cornell is a T14.

I'm just wondering if there is any possibility at all to receive a clerkship or go back to my hometown (GA) to practice if I go to UT, Vandy, UCLA, or WUSTL? I'm aware that Cornell has national reach, but is it that much more substantial than the schools mentioned above? I feel like people put an arbitrary barrier on lower T14 vs. T15-20. Tell me if and why I'm wrong because I really am just trying to gain insight about law school

[Mullens]

You have a high enough GPA that you can get a lot of money at a T14 with a good LSAT score. You should not even be considering regional schools. Keep working on the LSAT until you have a score that will get you T14 $$$. Also, T14 schools give you the best clerkship odds (without going into the argument about how picking schools based on marginal differences in clerkship percentages is asinine).

[GMasters5]

Anything outside of the T14 is regional. The consensus seems to be that you should either go to a T14/national school, or a good school on scholarship in the area you want to practice in. That means no UCLA, UT, or WUSTL for your goals. You should still apply there for scholarship leverage, but you can't go there. Cornell (T14) or Vandy (maybe? southern bros will have to confirm) are reasonable in your case.

I've read Vandy has some pull in FL. With that said it is still no T14.

Would you say that I'm better off going to a T14 with a smaller scholarship than a substantial scholarship from the schools I listed for my goals?

[Mullens]

You should be focusing all your energy on studying for the LSAT. Your goals are too nebulous and vague for anyone to give you specific advice. Your GPA is high enough that if you post a school-choosing thread with something like the scenario described above, you will be met with a chorus of RETAKE!

[GMasters5]

You have a high enough GPA that you can get a lot of money at a T14 with a good LSAT score. You should not even be considering regional schools. Keep working on the LSAT until you have a score that will get you T14 $$$. Also, T14 schools give you the best clerkship odds (without going into the argument about how picking schools based on marginal differences in clerkship percentages is asinine).

Thanks! I'm planning on studying my heart out for the LSAT, but I'm just looking at other options in case everything doesn't go as planned, which seems to be a recurring theme in my life

[Mullens]

You have a high enough GPA that you can get a lot of money at a T14 with a good LSAT score. You should not even be considering regional schools. Keep working on the LSAT until you have a score that will get you T14 $$$. Also, T14 schools give you the best clerkship odds (without going into the argument about how picking schools based on marginal differences in clerkship percentages is asinine).

Thanks! I'm planning on studying my heart out for the LSAT, but I'm just looking at other options in case everything doesn't go as planned, which seems to be a recurring theme in my life

You should look into the various LSAT guides and threads here on TLS. Keep working at it until it goes as planned. Don't settle.

[GMasters5]

You should be focusing all your energy on studying for the LSAT. Your goals are too nebulous and vague for anyone to give you specific advice. Your GPA is high enough that if you post a school-choosing thread with something like the scenario described above, you will be met with a chorus of RETAKE!

I'm asking vague questions because I want vague responses tbh. I just want to know general info about Lower T14 vs. T15-20 disparities and the chance of getting a clerkship from a lower ranked school

[GMasters5]

You have a high enough GPA that you can get a lot of money at a T14 with a good LSAT score. You should not even be considering regional schools. Keep working on the LSAT until you have a score that will get you T14 $$$. Also, T14 schools give you the best clerkship odds (without going into the argument about how picking schools based on marginal differences in clerkship percentages is asinine).

Thanks! I'm planning on studying my heart out for the LSAT, but I'm just looking at other options in case everything doesn't go as planned, which seems to be a recurring theme in my life

You should look into the various LSAT guides and threads here on TLS. Keep working at it until it goes as planned. Don't settle.

Solid advice. I've been looking around the LSAT threads, but it's not time for me to start studying heavily because I have a year before I actually take the LSAT. This is definitely the first place I will go when the time comes though!

[Chrstgtr]

Only T14s have true national reach. Cornell is a T14.

I'm just wondering if there is any possibility at all to receive a clerkship or go back to my hometown (GA) to practice if I go to UT, Vandy, UCLA, or WUSTL? I'm aware that Cornell has national reach, but is it that much more substantial than the schools mentioned above? I feel like people put an arbitrary barrier on lower T14 vs. T15-20. Tell me if and why I'm wrong because I really am just trying to gain insight about law school

The T14 is real. It has been those schools and nothing appears to be changing. Cornell is a very good school and considerably better than those other schools. Look in these forums for clerkships+biglaw numbers. Cornell is considerably ahead of all those other schools. You will notice a small gap between the T13 and Georgetown and a more noticeable gap between Georgetown and the next school.

Yes you can can a clerkship from another school but you have to do very well and even then it is not guaranteed.

[cron1834]

Yes, the lower T14 destroys 15-20 in clerkship odds. No, you should NOT be considering UT, WUSTL, and UCLA if you want to clerk and/or practice law in Florida.

Someone from the dirty will have to chime in re: Vandy.

[runinthefront]

.

[Mullens]

You should be focusing all your energy on studying for the LSAT. Your goals are too nebulous and vague for anyone to give you specific advice. Your GPA is high enough that if you post a school-choosing thread with something like the scenario described above, you will be met with a chorus of RETAKE!

I'm asking vague questions because I want vague responses tbh. I just want to know general info about Lower T14 vs. T15-20 disparities and the chance of getting a clerkship from a lower ranked school

There is a difference of 10%+ in biglaw+clerkship placement between the T13 and T15-20. You can go look at the numbers at Law School Transparency.

One year is also not too early to start studying for the LSAT. You should consider taking a diagnostic test to see how far you are from your goal. Some people here have studied for up to a year to reach their goals while others have done it in a few weeks/months. A diagnostic will give you a better idea of how long you need to study so you can avoid the retaking process.

[ilikebaseball]

I can't really speak for any of the other schools, but UT is definitely regional. By far, the best school in Texas. But as far as like New York, Boston, LA etc it doesnt place well

Thanks! When I chance myself on mylsn those are the schools where I seem to have the best shot at getting substantial scholarships. I'm trying to go to law school without much debt, but I'm also trying to set myself up for the best chance at clerking or going back to where I'm from to practice. Do you think that would be a possiblity going to UT?

I mean, I'm sure its possible. I know of a UT law school grad thats in Tampa right now. But its unlikely without connections. Sure, UT is better than any school in the florida/ georgia area, but its not a T14. If you want national placement, its T14. I'm sure firms would be impressed that you're a UT grad, but if you go to UT then the best chance of you working back to where you wanna work would be to network and stuff. If you wanna work in Georgia or Florida, then you should go to the schools that place best in florida or T14. If you wanna work in Texas, then by all means UT should be where you go.

[GMasters5]

Only T14s have true national reach. Cornell is a T14.

I'm just wondering if there is any possibility at all to receive a clerkship or go back to my hometown (GA) to practice if I go to UT, Vandy, UCLA, or WUSTL? I'm aware that Cornell has national reach, but is it that much more substantial than the schools mentioned above? I feel like people put an arbitrary barrier on lower T14 vs. T15-20. Tell me if and why I'm wrong because I really am just trying to gain insight about law school

The T14 is real. It has been those schools and nothing appears to be changing. Cornell is a very good school and considerably better than those other schools. Look in these forums for clerkships+biglaw numbers. Cornell is considerably ahead of all those other schools. You will notice a small gap between the T13 and Georgetown and a more noticeable gap between Georgetown and the next school.

Yes you can can a clerkship from another school but you have to do very well and even then it is not guaranteed.

Thanks for your input! I guess I just didn't want to believe that there would be such a drastic change from 2 or 3 rankings. Anyways, do you know anything about Ithica? It seems boring, but I've seen a lot of people say that it's actually quite enjoyable

[A. Nony Mouse]

Clerkship chances: yes, you can get a clerkship coming from UT, Vandy, UCLA, or WUSTL. But as with many kinds of employment, you will generally need to be ranked more highly in the class to get something from these schools than from the T14 (though less highly than at less influential regional schools - say, SMU, Emory, Davis, or the like). However, clerkship hiring is also fairly idiosyncratic. Some judges want high grades + pedigree, some judges want high grades from a wider range of schools, some judges will take note of something else in your application entirely and hire for that, some judges will hire whoever their buddy profs at the local law school tell them to hire, etc. There are probably Texas judges who will always take a UT grad over T14 grads. But then, there are also probably South Texas alum judges who will always hire out of South Texas. That doesn't make it good odds to go to South Texas.

Look at Law School Transparency and compare clerkship numbers.

But also keep in mind that a clerking is generally a one- or maybe two-year gig on the way to some kind of permanent legal career. You want to go to the right school for the career. There's an argument to be made that most people are far better off graduating law school debt-free (or at least tuition-debt-free) without clerking than they are taking on $250K debt and clerking, for instance.

[baal hadad]

Even the t14 are regional

All law schools are regional to varying degrees

Go study for the last

[GMasters5]

Yes, the lower T14 destroys 15-20 in clerkship odds. No, you should NOT be considering UT, WUSTL, and UCLA if you want to clerk and/or practice law in Florida.

Someone from the dirty will have to chime in re: Vandy.

Yeah I'd like to hear some input from law grads that work in GA or FL, or law students that went/go to Vandy, since it's in the same region...almost

[baal hadad]

Yes, the lower T14 destroys 15-20 in clerkship odds.

Wut go look at the fed clerk stats

http://www.lstscorereports.com/compare/ ... ulc/texas/

You're wrong but making a decision on the low probability of a temp job is stupid anyway

[baal hadad]

Vandy is not gonna be good for fl unless you have strong preexisting ties to fl

T14 likely won't be good for fl either unless you pull hys so yeah

Srry bro