<p>so ok, i want to live in los angeles when i graduate from law school. would ucla law school be the best choice? or would i be better off going with a higher ranked law school?</p>
<p>Either is probably fine. Higher than UCLA, you get into schools with a very national reach. UCLA itself doesn't have quite the national reach, but you don't need it to. Higher-ranked schools have the two advantages of giving you flexibility should you change your mind and a broader national exposure and experience -- an important part of personal and cultural growth.</p>
<p>Many (most?) law schools do their best placement on their home turf, and sometimes even have a lock on a large section of the local market with their alumni network. If you really want to stay in LA, UCLA can probably place you really well there. It's not like you're weighing the West Hollywood College of Law against Stanford here, UCLA is a good school. As an added bonus, if you have the numbers to go to a higher ranked school you can probably get money out of them.</p>
<p>IMO, if you want to practice in Los Angeles, a degree from USC would be even better than UCLA. The Trojan Family is huge in SoCal, and the increased connections and alumni support would well be worth the lower-ranking (assuming money is not an issue).</p>