Can you realistically make 6 figures by going into lower schools?

Comments

• 1 Like

  Ohnoeshalpme Alum Member ⭐

  August 2018 edited August 2018 2531 karma

  It depends on the market that you’re looking at. For example, plenty of top 25% students at University if Georgia make 6 figures starting out. But to some this would still be considered a law school that is toward the top. Generally the top 40 schools in the right market offer the chance to make six figures. But the percentage of six figure graduates increases as you close in on the T15.
• MissChanandler Alum Member Sage ⭐

  August 2018 3256 karma

  What @Ohnoeshalpme said. It depends on what you mean by "lower" school- if you mean non T14 but still a very strong regional school, then yes it is possible. Your chance of Biglaw greatly improves when you go to higher ranked schools though. I think that if you do end up at a lower but still strong school, it will take longer to reach six figures but it can be done. You also want to keep cost of living in mind. Making six figures in NYC Biglaw is going to be a lot different than making six figures in Indianapolis if you go to IU Bloomington. If you know where you want to live, that can help your decision making process a lot.
• hawaiihi Free Trial Member

  August 2018 973 karma

  @Ohnoeshalpme said:
  It depends on the market that you’re looking at. For example, plenty of top 25% students at University if Georgia make 6 figures starting out. But to some this would still be considered a law school that is toward the top. Generally the top 40 schools in the right market offer the chance to make six figures. But the percentage of six figure graduates increases as you close in on the T15.

  Yes, that's true. In my home state, even the "BigLaw" (for our state) firms prefer grads from the state law school (and may be prejudiced against HYS-type grads in fact)!
• LSATisJustLikeDarkSouls Alum Member

  August 2018 439 karma

  I think a JD from a regional school and some business sense could get you to 6 figures. It's just about finding a niche and filling it. But if starting your own firm seems scary, the top ranked school to big law route is definitely positively correlated with big money.
• tekken1225 Alum Member

  August 2018 edited August 2018 770 karma

  According to the TLS forum, unless T14 schools and perform better than median there, then no.
• Ohnoeshalpme Alum Member ⭐

  August 2018 2531 karma

  @tekken1225 said:
  According to the TLS forum, unless T14 schools and perform better than median there, then no.

  ^This is false. For example, about half of graduates at Vandy get BigLaw and they aren’t T14. Also, UCLA, BU, Wustl, Notre Dame and several others all have more than a third of their graduates in large firms (100+ attorneys).
• 1 Like

  tekken1225 Alum Member

  August 2018 770 karma

  @Ohnoeshalpme said:

  @tekken1225 said:
  According to the TLS forum, unless T14 schools and perform better than median there, then no.

  ^This is false. For example, about half of graduates at Vandy get BigLaw and they aren’t T14. Also, UCLA, BU, Wustl, Notre Dame and several others all have more than a third of their graduates in large firms (100+ attorneys).

  Haha, I know. I was being tongue-in-cheek about TLS forum, how negative that forum is. Should have been clearer.
• 1 Like

  Ari_Gold180 Member

  August 2018 43 karma

  I have a question that goes off of what OP asked..
  If someone were to go to a lower-ranked school that has one of the top programs for a certain practice of law (I.e - American University for International Law or Santa Clara University for Intellectual Property), would being in a top program help an applicant get to that 6figure mark or even help with getting into Big Law?
• 1 Like

  alyssamcc0593 Alum Member

  August 2018 290 karma

  I know at University of Houston and SMU if you are in the top 15 percent majority of people go into Big Law and make 6 figures. You are stuck to Houston or Dallas though, which is fine if you are from Texas, so it is possible.