<p>Ok, so you don't have the numbers to get into the top 20. Sucks, but not the end of the world (and anyone that says so is a dumbass)... But say that you do have the numbers to get into schools ~20/25 and below. Does the conventional wisdom 'go to the best school you can get in to' still apply?</p>
<p>Specifically, let's just say (for example) that someone wants to eventually go back home and settle in Kansas City, MO. Does going to the University of Minnesota, Iowa, Notre Dame, Illinois, Emory, Colorado, Boston College, etc. put him in any real better position than going to a school in the region where he wants to settle (e.g., the University of Missouri-Columbia, ranked ~60,... or for that matter UMKC- University of Missouri Kansas City, a tier 3 school)? </p>
<p>To me, it seems once you get below the top 20/25, you should place a lot more emphasis on location than rank. This seems especially true when you don't really care about boosting your ego by name dropping where you went to law school and instead only really care about getting a decent job where you want to live. </p>
<p>Does anyone else agree/disagree? Thanks, as this will really help me in deciding where to send apps.</p>
<p>Well, lots of people go to school far far away from their area for 10 years (Bill Clinton cough cough, DC, England, and then CT) and then come back to their home city and become rich and famous within a year. </p>
<p>Being in the city is overrated - a skillful person can settle down even if one hasn't been in the area for a while. I recommend going to law school where you think the law school will give you the best oppurtunity, and ignore location except for what sort of environment you'd want to live in during your law school time.</p>
<p>Though beyond the top 20, law school prestige drops heavily, being ranked #25 is still quite a diff. from being #60, though it's less of a difference than between #10 and #21.</p>
<p>I agree with your comments on a skillful person being able to establish himself/herself wherever... I'm not exactly sure how far that goes though. Most attorneys I have talked to about the actual 'business' of being a lawyer place heavy emphasis on the issue of referrals. (From what I understand, an attorney that 'brings a case in the door' makes X amount on the person simply calling and asking for that lawyer, regardless of how much time that attorney actually spends on the case.) A lot of people I've talked to, especially the ones that are well-established in their fields, say that a majority of referrals come from people that they know from law school and the people they've come to know from practicing in the respective city for a number of years. </p>
<p>In my opinion, the 'politics' of being a lawyer seem almost as important as how good you actually are. All this seems even more true if you don't want to work for a 250+ firm and you want to run your own shop. With all that said, I don't think that going to the University of Minnesota (rank ~25) would put you in ANY better position over going to UMKC (tier 3) in the long run. It may actual put you in a worse situation...</p>
<p>The conventional wisdom (which comports with my own view) is that if you want to practice law in a particular city, and don't have the numbers to get in a T14 school, your best bet is to choose the best law school you can get into in the region where you want to practice.</p>
<p>I assume there are limits to this advice. Vanderbilt Law, for example, is surely a better choice than [Fourth Tier SF Law School], even if you want to work in SF?</p>
<p>A candidate who can get into Vanderbuilt should be able to do better than a fourth tier law school in the region where he/she wants to practice.</p>
<p>To take a realistic example: a candidate who really wants to practice in San Francisco who's admited to Vanderbuilt (ranked 15 by US News) and Hastings (ranked 38th) would probably be more likely to achieve his/her goals by picking Hastings. All of the big San Francisco firms recruit at Hastings, and many small ones do as well; I suspect Vanderbuilt can't say the same.</p>
<p>Actually, for Greybeard's example, a Vanderbilt grad would really stand out from the crowd. In an area where everyone and their brother is from Hastings, being from a higher ranked school might be a plus. A Vanderbilt grad will definitely get interviews in SF if they have a good class rank; obviously you will need to travel to SF to do the interviews.</p>