<p>I'm just wondering, we always hear people talk about the top6 and bottom 3 in the t-14 but rarely do I ever heard anyone talk about Penn, Michigan, Virginia, duke, and a little bit of berkely. Why? Do less people apply to these schools? Does anyone think schools like ucla, vanderbilt and texas are better than say virginia or michigan?</p>
<p>Considering Vanderbilt and Texas are not part of the T-14, they would probably never be considered in a T-14 conversation. Texas has a very strong regional pull especially if you want to practice in state.</p>
<p>I don’t think less people apply to the mid t14 at all. You just hear more about the top 6 and the lower t14 being referred to because people who are competitive for t14 tend to aim for the top of it and people who don’t quite have the numbers for the t14 hope to squeak their way into it, of which the bottom few are less difficult to get in.</p>
<p>Jamaica Law College is the global #1.</p>
<p>According to my Michigan Law alumni magazine, almost 6500 people applied for admission last year–a 20% jump from the year before (!) but still not topping the all-time record, set in 1991. The entering class is around 360 people. So I don’t think it’s fair to say that few people apply to them. </p>
<p>I can’t speak to the other schools, but I think Michigan was great for me. No top law school is particularly good at preparing practitioners, especially non-firm ones, in my opinion; they focus more on training future professors and law clerks. But the clinics and extracurriculars were helpful and the summer internship and loan repayment funding made it easier for me to do public interest work. I made connections with some excellent and kind professors, and there were fewer jerks in its student body than most of the alums I know from other schools. The dean of admissions makes it known that she has more than enough applicants who can do the work, so she selects in part on niceness. [Friends</a> with cognitive benefits. - A 2 Z](<a href=“http://www.law.umich.edu/connection/a2z/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=38]Friends”>http://www.law.umich.edu/connection/a2z/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=38)</p>
<p>Two other great things about Michigan: people go lots of different places afterwards, so you’re not competing with your whole class for the spots at one city’s employers, and the cost of living is very low compared to most places where T14 schools are located. I paid $430 a month in rent during law school, and my loans are lower for it. </p>
<p>Finally, as for the question of whether UCLA/Vanderbilt/UT might be better than T14 schools, I think that may well be true if you’re convinced you want to stay in the region where they’re located, and is probably true if you know you want to stay AND they give a decent scholarship. It is probably not true if you want to move out of state, and is almost definitely not true if you want to clerk for a prestigious judge or become a law professor.</p>