Law School Ratings

Law School Ratings

Your goal is to apply to an appropriate range and number of schools. You should apply to approximately five law schools. You will want to include several schools you are very likely to be admitted to as well as several schools where your chances are less certain.

Start by reviewing law schools in the geographic area you are most interested in. The Official Guide to U.S. Law Schools can be purchased from Law School Admission Services at www.lsas.org. This book provides especially detailed information regarding the LSAT scores and undergraduate grades of the applicant group and admitted students. It also provides application deadlines and fees for each school. Your review should almost always include the major state law school for the state where you are most likely to practice law.

Your next step is to look at the reputations of the various schools. Law schools are routinely rated by various authorities. In recent years there has been a frenzy of media attention directed at these ratings, especially the U.S. News & World Report's rating of the Top 50 Law Schools. You shouldn't turn your search for the school that best fits your needs (and budget) into a blind race for status and prestige. The law school ratings are useful in a general way, but you need to keep in mind the following important points:

Once you pass the bar exam, you will be able to practice law with a degree from any ABA approved law school. Graduates of so called lesser rated schools have gone on to distinguished careers in law and in the judiciary.
You should be more concerned with identifying the best program to meet your specific needs and with finding a learning environment in which you will thrive. The best use of the law school ratings is to give you a good overview of the schools. It is still up to you to focus on which school has the courses you need, the connections that will matter most for the job and region in which you wish to be employed, and the academic and social environment best suited to your needs.

There are two key web sites that will help you get started:

U.S. News & World Report's Top 50 Law Schools
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/law/brief/lawrank_brief.php

The most widely used law school rankings.

Index to Law School Rankings
www.ilrg.com/rankings.html

This essential site ranks law schools using many different criteria including: Rankings by Median Salary, Rankings by Employment Rate, Rankings by Tuition, Cost Benefit Analysis of American Law Schools, Top Environmental, Top Intellectual Property, Top Health, Top International, Top Tax, etc.