With seat deposit deadlines quickly approaching, I know how stressful it can be to decide where you want to attend law school. It’s hard to believe that it has been an entire year since I was finishing up the law school application process and deciding where I wanted to go. I vividly remember feeling the pressure when deciding which law school to attend, because it felt like where I chose to go to school would be where I would have to live for the rest of my life which was very overwhelming. I wanted to give you guys some tips about how to choose a law school that I wish I could tell myself a year ago. I hope you find this helpful!
Location & Size
When I chose my undergrad school, I knew that wherever I decided to go would likely only be my home for college. I ended up at an SEC school in a small town that was an excellent place to go to college, but I knew I would move away as soon as I graduated. In contrast, choosing a law school is very different, and arguably more important. With the exception of T14 schools, it is very common to remain in the city or state where your law school is located. Some people decide to move to different locations after graduating, but it is certainly advantageous to attend law school where you want to practice. While ranking is undoubtedly important, I cannot stress enough how important it is to like the location of the law school you choose. I ended up attending a law school in a city I had only visited once for 48 hours. Turns out some cities are very fun to visit, but not great to live in. This is one of the many reasons that I feel like I chose the wrong law school for me and am transferring for my 2L year. When it comes to size, it is very likely that your law school will be much smaller than your undergrad school, or potentially even your high school. However, there is a huge difference in a school of 1,500 students and a school of 200 students. Think about whether it is important for you to be able to easily interact with students in other sections. Also consider that larger schools will most likely have more student organizations, journals, clinics, and other resources. My current school is pretty big, and I have found that there is an abundance of student organizations and resources, but I only know two people who are not in my section and the tight-knit community feel is lacking.
Cost
Law school is very expensive and considering tuition, living costs, and scholarships should be an important factor when choosing a law school. If the cost of attendance is relatively similar between a few schools, always choose the better school. Debt is very intimidating, but if one school is significantly better than another school, yet more expensive, choose the better school. I ended up attending the highest ranked school that I was accepted to, even though I had received a bit more money in scholarships at a few other schools. However, the city where my school is located has a lower cost of living than the schools that were offering me more money.
Opportunities
Look at what each particular law school can offer YOU. If you’ve already been accepted, clearly the school feels that you will bring value to them, so now is the time to be selfish because each school wants you to attend their school and now the ball is finally in your court. Look at what student organizations the school has, clinics, journals, trial competitions, course offerings, and what resources are available to students. Look into the Career Services Office because you will be needing their help a lot over the next three years. Also, look into whether the school offers credit for internships/ externships and how many of your credits can be from experiential learning (externships, journals, clinics).
Reputation, Ranking, and Curve
Ranking is not everything. However, it is very important and anyone who says otherwise is lying. Going to the best school you can get into is going to help you succeed. Look very closely at a school’s ranking and how it has shifted over the past several years. You should also look at a school’s bar passage rate, employment statistics, and how many students transfer in and out. A school with a low bar passage rate is not teaching their students all they need to know to pass the bar, and schools with low employment rates are a huge red flag. All of these factors are VERY important because they will impact your career prospects. The legal market is competitive and you want to be in the best situation to succeed that you can possibly be in.
Something I really wish I knew before I chose a law school is the specific curve of the school. I had no idea how the law school curve worked when I was in the application process. My school has a 3.0 curve, which means that half of my class must get below a 3.0. It is common for regional schools to have harsh curves to weed out students who aren’t performing well which can increase a school’s bar passage rate. This is a harsh reality, but it is something I did not know about until after choosing and starting law school. Law school is very competitive and competing for grades is stressful! My scholarship was contingent on maintaining a 3.0, which seemed easy coming from undergrad. But with half of the class getting under a 3.0, that seems a bit more difficult. Keep in mind that the better the curve, the higher your grades will be. GPA and class rank are important to employers, and if I could go back to last year I would have probably looked at schools that had better curves.
Programs/ Certifications
If you are interested in a particular area of the law, some schools might just have speciality programs. My school offers “certificate programs” which are similar to undergrad majors. Many schools offer dual degree programs which allow you to get your JD and a Master’s Degree simultaneously. Additionally, some schools offer JD/LLM programs where you spend your third year abroad and graduate with two degrees in three years.
I hope you all enjoyed this post! Stay tuned for more posts coming soon.
