<p>Princeton Review lists University of Chicago & Northwestern's Law schoosl to have average starting salaries of 160K, which is higher than Harvard's, Columbia's and NYU.</p>
<p>What do you guys make of this considering Harvard NYU & Columbia rank above chicago and northwestern?</p>
<p>That a higher percentage of grads of UChi and NW take jobs with big law right out of school. </p>
<p>The higher up the totem pole--as a general rule--the higher the percentage of grads who take clerkships. These pay less. (Of course, a lot of firms offer signing bonuses to folks who have clerked, but the bonuses aren't included in starting salary.)</p>
<p>Also, some schools, which would include Harvard and NYU--I know less about Columbia--offer loan forgiveness programs and scholarships to those interested in public interest law. This means they attract a higher percentage of those who are interested in public interest law, which pays less.</p>
<p>Harvard and Yale have the best two LRAPs; NYU's and Columbia's are noticeably worse. Not sure about others.</p>
<p>Don't believe everything you read.</p>
<p>Given that $160K is close to the top salary anyone pays first year associates, for that to be the average, the entire class, from top to bottom, would have to be getting that salary.</p>
<p>Doesn't anyone do judicial clerkships any more? Or take another job with the government?</p>