"AS LAW SCHOOL admissions decisions roll in, many applicants find at least a few tempting acceptance letters to offset the rejections and waitlists. Now they face a welcomed decision: how to compare their options and choose the right law school.
Applicants weighing multiple law school acceptances should consider the following factors:
Actual offers.
Campus visits.
Financial offers.
School strengths.
Alumni and expert opinions.
Actual Offers
Weigh only existing offers, not those that haven’t yet come that you want or expect. Don’t give up hope on schools that put you on the waitlist, but they shouldn’t factor into decisions between existing offers once deposits are due.
If you are genuinely interested in a school that wait-listed you, try to avoid obsessing over it. Simply send a letter of continued interest, stay on the list and make a decision if and when an opportunity appears." …
https://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/law-admissions-lowdown/articles/how-to-weigh-competing-law-school-acceptances
Possibly the worst article regarding law school choice that I have ever read.
What would YOUR advice be, @Publisher? And do you disagree with all the things they are using for assessing options?
The two most important factors are cost of attendance and school rank. Also, unless you can get into a tippy top school with a national reputation, it’s generally a good idea to go to a school in the same geographic region that you would like to settle in after graduation.
Usually it’s pretty straightforward. If you are hoping to make big bucks and/or practice in a big firm, aim for a T14. If the financial differences are significant between various T14s, choose the least-expensive T14 you were admitted to.
Only consider schools outside the T14 if you are planning to practice locally in a smaller firm and they awarded you a massive scholarship, with the understanding that your chances of working at a big law firm would be dramatically reduced to almost nil. That is, have eyes are wide open on future earnings possibilities.
Back in the old days, there was a ton of salary data available from NALP and presumably that is still the case. Applicants can also look up firms, lawyers and where they attended law school on the Martindale-Hubbell website as well as on the firm’s website.
Campus visits are not necessary to choose. It’s 3 yrs. Just pick up and move already, yes, across the country (BTDT).
Visiting a campus & school strengths are fairly insignificant factors. (The University of Colorado at Boulder School of Law offers a breathtakingly beautiful campus & setting, but unless one has a full tuition & fees scholarship and wants to work in Colorado, it does not justify turning down a T-14 law school due to far superior post law school career placement.)
The primary concerns should be cost & job placement.
Also, “actual acceptances” often are not enough to justify attending that or those particular law schools sometimes calling for a gap year to improve one’s LSAT score & reapply.
Agree with @TheBigChef that low cost regional law schools can work for some who wish to practice locally & are not targeting biglaw.
So much of this article is pure silliness that it is hard to believe that the author has any familiarity with law school admissions whatsoever. For example: The article asks: What if you want to practice “international law” ? This has for over a decade been a running joke among law school websites.
Getting on a waitlist at a T-14 law school can be significant & prompt one to take a gap year in order to improve one’s LSAT score.
In short, it is all about LSAT scores, money & jobs (as applicants can no longer affect their undergraduate GPA once they have earned their first BA or BS degree). Scholarships & biglaw placement.
Agree with @Publisher FWIW, I tend not to read any article that Berry posts here and links to, because they tend to be useless.