But seriously, what's a good enough school?

Cynical Bean Counter

It's my goal practice law in my home state of Pennsylvania, but I don't want to rule out attending any schools outside of my state if the school is recognized enough to get work back in the area.

About where on the list is a school recognizable enough to be employable after school and out of that state?
Also, are there any niche schools that my not rank high on the list but are more so employable out of state?

Cynical Bean Counter

I wish I could just edit those typos out of there... XD

NicoleTheOwl

Hello @"Cynical Bean Counter" As someone who is going to law school in her late 30s I have often asked myself this as well. I have been looking at sites like Above The Law (ATL) for rankings and Law School Trasnparency (LST) to review overall outcomes. What I like about LST is that you can put in the states where you want to live after law school and then it will provide you State Placement Data on graduates along with salary and job type. This way you can make a data backed informed decision. It's actually part of the LSAC LawHub and can be found here: https://www.lawschooltransparency.com/

ATL puts out its own rankings that put a greater emphasis on outcomes for ranking than US New's inputs to law school applicants.

Just thinking long term I would also look at the law firms where you think you want to work in PA and see where the lawyers who work there attended school. In thinking about being a summer associate or networking opportunities, you are more likely to have those if you are part of the same alumni network. You could also look at speciality law publications (i.e. trial lawyers, patent lawyers, corporate, public interest, environmental, etc.) to see where the people who are ranked in PA went to school.

Hope that helps and best of luck on your journey!

NicoleTheOwl

Oh and I didn't mention that LST actually provides you a list of schools based on the parameters you input including in what state do you wish to live after graduation. It's also free.