<p>I've been considering law school and a public interest career. I have pretty good, although not outstanding stats: high LSAT, decent GPA, excellent undergraduate school (like anybody cares). I could probably get into several top ten law schools; I'm not Yale or Stanford material, but NYU or Penn would be reasonable matches.</p>
<p>I'm considering moving to Seattle. If I went there, I would likely want to stay. And that means that if I went to law school, I'd likely go to U of W (currently ranked #27 by US News). I could get in-state tuition and possibly a full scholarship. That matters to me, but it doesn't matter a ton--I wouldn't have to put myself in debt to go to a more expensive school.</p>
<p>So, I know that rankings matter a lot if you want to pull in the big bucks at a high-powered law firm. What if you don't; what if you want to go into, say, civil liberties; do they still matter? Is the competition so much lower that the rankings are far less significant? I've heard that you should go to a top 14 school if you want to work outside your region, but if you want to work in the same region as where you go to school, do rankings still matter--will a Penn grad have an advantage over a Washington grad in Washington? If I get a scholarship from the school and advertise the fact on my resume, will that mitigate the effect of the ranking? I know 27 isn't all that low--it's pretty good, as a matter of fact--but will I be screwing myself to stay in Washington if I drop twenty rankings to do it? And if I do go there, is the Seattle job market so limited that I'd have to go out of state to find decent work anyway, or would I have a reasonable chance at working in my desired field and staying in the region?</p>
<p>The more you interact with non-lawyers, the more that the general prestige of your law school will matter.</p>
<p>For example, if you ever want to start your own law firm, or otherwise be a "rainmaker" (i.e. landing law clients for a firm), it obviously helps to be a graduate from a highly prestigious law firm that the public knows about, like Harvard Law or Yale Law. Having that name brand is going to help you establish credibility with clients. </p>
<p>On a similar note, such a school also seems to help tremendously if you ever decide to get into politics, something that a lot of grads from the most prestigious law schools end up doing. There are a lot of grads from the super-elite law schools that serve as Representatives, Senators, and Presidents.</p>
<p>My advise to most people interested in the Seattle job market outside of BIGLAW is that a degree from UW might even more more desirable than a degree from Penn. </p>
<p>One exception to the above, however, may be in the area of public interest jobs in the area of civil liberties. The competition for such jobs is intense. The people hiring for such jobs are more likely than most Seattlites to be familiar with Penn's reputation.</p>
<p>A personal anecdote: I was similarly situated when I applied to law school - admitted at Penn and NYU, rejected at Harvard, and didn't bother applying to Stanford or Yale. (I ended up at Boalt). I applied to UW, as it appeared to be a slam-dunk safetey school, given my stats. It was the last application I completed; I had no connections toWashington State, and used an essay that I had written for another school. </p>
<p>I was ultimately offered admission, but not until several months after most of my other acceptances. The lesson here: emphasize your ties to Washington, and treat even your application to your "safety" school like your future could be riding on it. It might turn out to be true.</p>
<p>Sorry; have no knowledge of the current Seattle job market, least of all of what it will be like in 3 -4 years. However, if your desire is to live in the Seattle area if possible, my expectation is that partners and many other attorneys in the law firms with which you would interview are much more likely to be graduates of UW than of any other school, especially an east coast school such as Harvard or Yale. So if you do well at UW, you and they will have have something in common.</p>
<p>Thanks all. Greybeard, that's exactly the kind of advice I'm looking for. I'm sort of jealous, since if I did go to law school, Boalt would probably be my first choice, and it's also the only non-top-3 school I don't think I stand a chance at--they seem to have higher GPA standards relative to their rank than other schools.</p>