To those familiar with law school/the admissions process...

[CollinEstes]

It isn't always about the name. Like the example I told you, Fulbright and Juworski is one of the largest defense firms in the US and one of the tops places to work in Houston, they interview canidates from Harvard, Yale, Penn, UT as well as South Texas, Houston, Baylor. The difference is the will interview someone in the top 25% from Harvard, but only take people in the top 10% or top 1% from Houston or South Texas.

Getting the interview is the main purpose your school does for you, once you get the interview your creditals are good enough to be hired at that point it is just how well you interview and sell yourself. (This is coming from several different attorneys I know who work or have worked there, so it is second hand)

[nickg1532]

Well I think you're both right in a sense. You're point that it is not ALL about the name is probably valid; many people have gone to "lesser" schools and still managed to get excellent jobs. Going to such a school doesn't mean you're doomed to fail. His point, however, is that going to the better schools simply gives you more opportunities. It opens more doors (certainly an interview is an example of a door). So you're right that I can be sucessful going either route, but the top-school-route will make achieving that sucess (much?) easier.

[freekobe]

[ QUOTE ]
It isn't always about the name. Like the example I told you, Fulbright and Juworski is one of the largest defense firms in the US and one of the tops places to work in Houston, they interview canidates from Harvard, Yale, Penn, UT as well as South Texas, Houston, Baylor. The difference is the will interview someone in the top 25% from Harvard, but only take people in the top 10% or top 1% from Houston or South Texas.

Getting the interview is the main purpose your school does for you, once you get the interview your creditals are good enough to be hired at that point it is just how well you interview and sell yourself. (This is coming from several different attorneys I know who work or have worked there, so it is second hand)

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I don't disagree with this. What I'm saying is that bigger name schools give you opportunities.

Furthermore, it's better to have gone to a big-name school if you don't want to work at a law firm but want to get into business, politics, etc.

I do agree than once you get below the Top 25 or so, the intangibles matter. Location, scholarships, specialities, etc. But if you can get into a "Top" school, turning it down would be, in my opinion, a big mistake.

[freekobe]

[ QUOTE ]
Well I think you're both right in a sense. You're point that it is not ALL about the name is probably valid; many people have gone to "lesser" schools and still managed to get excellent jobs. Going to such a school doesn't mean you're doomed to fail. His point, however, is that going to the better schools simply gives you more opportunities. It opens more doors (certainly an interview is an example of a door). So you're right that I can be sucessful going either route, but the top-school-route will make achieving that sucess (much?) easier.

[/ QUOTE ]

This post is really an endorsement for top schools and for what I was saying. You'll have more flexibility later in life. If you go to a lesser school, making top 5 or 10% is still REALLY tough. People go to lesser schools for lots of reasons, and it's not always because they couldn't go elsewhere. Most people who go to law school are pretty smart, so the competition will be intense for the most part. Giving yourself flexibility to finish in the top 25% is really nice.

[on_thg]

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Play a lot of golf and poker during your 3rd yr and maintain a decent GPA. Enjoy it as much as you can. And if you go to a law firm after, prepare to be [censored] miserable

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FYP.

As for the OP, I think quite a bit of good advice has been given. Where you end up will probably end up being some function of (1) where you want to live, (2) where you can afford to go and (3) where you can get in.

If you can get into one of the very best schools with your numbers, I'd say go for it unless your ideal future is living in a small town running your own firm or something else "small time" (NTTAWWT) in which case all you need is a degree. Any degree. If you want to be "big time", working in a big firm in a big city, nothing opens doors like a degree from Harvard, Yale, Stanford etc.

That being said, if you don't get into someplace really top notch, you might think about skipping the rest (like, say, anything beyond the top 10 or so) and going to a strong local school if you know where you want to end up. If you wanted to be in Minneapolis, for example, going to the U of MN would be a much better play than going to Georgetown, Hastings, Virginia, Penn, etc. (I'm just making up examples here, I haven't looked at the rankings in years).

The wild card of course is where you can afford to go. Knowing what I know now, I would never again consider taking on a significant amount of student loan debt in order to go to a "better" yet not Top 10 school. In most cases, it just isn't worth it.

Okay, enough pointless rambling. Brain fried from too much law stuff.

[lucas9000]

[ QUOTE ]
That being said, if you don't get into someplace really top notch, you might think about skipping the rest (like, say, anything beyond the top 10 or so) and going to a strong local school if you know where you want to end up.

[/ QUOTE ]

this is the best advice for the op because with his numbers it is highly unlikely he'll get in to a top 10 school. this is not an insult, because i would say the same about myself when i applied. so, all this discussion about what you can do with a degree from harvard/yale/chicago/etc is irrelevant. but you'll never know if you don't apply...so i say if you can afford the extra admission fees, apply to some top 10 schools.

[gvibes]

3.7 (top whatever engineering school)
173 (average)

Applied:
Harvard
Columbia
Chicago
Northwestern
Penn
NYU
Michigan
Illinois
Wisconsin

Accepted:
NYU

Waitlisted:
Harvard
Columbia
Chicago
Northwestern
Penn
Michigan
Illinois
Wisconsin


I applied late.

And, honestly, if you don't get into a top 14 school, or a cheap school where you want to work, don't go.

[gvibes]

[ QUOTE ]

Good advice. I'd like to think employers would be open-minded about candidates from less prestigious schools, and I was hoping it wasn't all about the "name", but I trust what you're telling me and can see how this would be the case.

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First job out, it's mostly school and grades.

[scalf]

[img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] only two questions are important for law school admission...

1. are you a liing, cheating, no good filthy sniveling cowardly cheat?

2. are you a really proficient at the above?

this is all that is needed..

think about it!!

bill clinton: law school grad
hillary: ditto

gl

[img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]

[HDPM]

"univ. of colorado is definitely underrated because its rank got shot by the crappy building and library. the buildings were just horrible. but, construction is underway on entirely new facilities, and it's going to be sweet. expect it to move up a few spots once that's done, which i think is going to be next summer"




I thought the building was the least of its problems. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]


I must admit it served its purposes for me, although I didn't like much about CU or the law school. It was cheap and I got the training I wanted.