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wondering what people think about this issue? would it be better to attend a school ranked from 16-20 with full/near-full scholarship vs a school ranked from 10-14 but with no scholarship? I thought I wanted biglaw but now I'd like to keep my options open, especially after talking to people that work in biglaw. obviously t14 with substantial scholarship is the best option but i don't think that is likely.
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10 comments
Thanks for everyone's input.
If you're all but set on Big Law then you need to forget about USNWR and look at rankings like these: http://tippingthescales.com/2015/02/the-2015-go-to-law-schools/
Fordham and BC are much better options for Big Law than most of the non-T14 above them (especially for NYC and Boston) and will likely give a lot more money in scholarships to people that aren't the top candidates.
If you have a different interest aside from Big Law then I'm sure there are other rankings out there for your particular niche, it's just a matter of doing the research.
Both @nicole and @alejoroarios925 hit it right on the money with the correct answers, so I'll pitch in with my biased personal opinion. If I was set on biglaw (I am), I would go to the lower T14. However, it's important to consider that while attending a higher ranked school may open up more possibilities, the enormous amount of debt may actually limit your options and force you to go to the highest paying jobs for your first 5 years or so.
I am 90% set on NY Biglaw for reasons that are irrelevant to this question but I'd be glad to share on another platform, which is why I would (and will) choose the school that places well in biglaw. That being said, the other 10% of me wants to work in California, so if UCLA or USC gave me a near full-ride, and Michigan, Northwestern, Cornell, and Georgetown were offering me change, I would most likely go with USC or UCLA. I would, however, go with the mentioned T 14 schools (especially Cornell), over the other 16-20 schools such as WUSTL, Emory, and maybe even Vandy).
When you start considering schools outside the T14 it would be in your best interest to pick a school in a geographic region that you would be happy working in. @nicole answer is pretty much right on the money in my opinion.
Ultimately your decision on what school to attend is going to come down to what you value personally. Are you willing to take on an extra $50,000 - $150,000 of debt just to go to your dream school, or a school that's ranked slightly higher than your other options? Or are you more concerned with debt minimization, and working in a specific geographic region/specific field of law (me !!!)? It's all preference, but I'll tell you right now that I have friends in the T14 and my best friend is at a T5 and they all warn against being a "prestige whore" (i.e choosing a school primarily for it's rank).
If you unequivocally had your heart set on big law, then I would say you probably shouldn't stray from the T14. Since that's not the case I would take a really hard look at all the schools in the 15-20 range, weigh your scholarship offers, and think long and hard about what city you want to practice law in long-term.
Again there is no blanket "right" choice, but there is a right choice for you based on your expectations for your law school experience, and your legal career.
I would take a big scholarship from 15-20 school over a T4-14 but T3 over T4-14 scholarship since I have academic aspirations.
It depends on your goals. I, for example, don't care if I drown in debt so long as I get the best education possible. That's because I'm stupid and stubborn. If you want to put some brain into your decision - unlike me - then definitely weigh in all your options. I'm inclined to believe that top 16-20 with large scholarship is a better option in this case.
Having less debt means you wear the golden shackles for a shorter period of time—or maybe not at all. The further you get from the T14, generally speaking, the more you want to be regionally specific and the higher you need to rank in your class. For example—#46 SMU, with high class rank, would likely put you in a good position in North Texas (Dallas) both for big and medium size law; outside of Texas, employment could be a struggle.
Schools ranked from 16-20 are, dare I say, probably not substantially different from 4-15 for most regions, provided you're in the top half of the class (and generally a "highly employable" type of person!).
Similar boat, curious to hear feed back
thanks for asking this, I've been thinking this myself and can't decide
Would you be okay working in the school's region? Most 16-20 have very good regional reach.