Anonymous wrote:

If you are going to law school because you think it will be good training for lots of things and you don't really want to practice law, I urge you to reconsider. . . .
If quality of life is important to you, you likely will not like BigLaw, despite busting your ass for years to get good grades in undergrad, get into a top law school, get good in law school, get on a journal, etc etc etc.

Unless you understand the complaints about BigLaw life and are still determined to do that, then take on as little debt as possible. Take the scholarship or try for a full ride at a lower ranked school. (Although a PP makes a good point that you should check and make sure you don't have to maintain a certain GPA. Most law schools grade on a curve and working hard and keeping up with your classes will not guarantee you a B+ average.)

Op, congrats on your law school acceptances. Just one piece of advice - think really, really long and hard about why you are going to law school. Do you want to practice law? If so, what kind and at what type of employer?

If you are going to law school because you think it will be good training for lots of things and you don't really want to practice law, I urge you to reconsider. Many, many smart people find practicing law to be a real drag. Not to mention, if you are smart enough to go to a top law school and land a BigLaw job, your life will pretty much suck for a very long time. If quality of life is important to you, you likely will not like BigLaw, despite busting your ass for years to get good grades in undergrad, get into a top law school, get good in law school, get on a journal, etc etc etc.

Just think about it...

20:27 and 20:32 are correct. I had a similar dilemma (T5 v. Half scholarship at two T20s) and I took the top 5 school. I'm a relatively recent grad working in big law but I don't regret my decision at all. Yes the loans suck and at times so does my job, but the loans would still suck if I had half the debt I have now, and who knows if I'd be able to afford them at all. i have a friend at one of the T20 schools I turned down who struggled finding a shitty paying job, as did all of his friends. Yes there were people in my class who didn't get big law and who had to scramble for shitty paying jobs, so the top school doesn't guarantee you success, but it makes the job search so much easier.

At my firm, the higher your law school the less likely honors or law review are required to get you in the door. We have dozens and dozens of Harvard, Columbia, Chicago grads without honors, etc. but almost all lower T14-T20 grads were highest honors and law review. Any lower than that is not only EXTREMELY rare but those lawyers most certainly had to have law review and highest honors, as well as unique work experience and a stellar undergrad (also with honors). So, it happens but only for the top 1-3 students per class.

Anonymous wrote:Why don't you just name the schools?

Yeah, seriously.

OP, I think it depends a lot on what you want to do with your law degree. Personally, if I were gunning for a high level judicial clerkship or BigLaw position I'd go to the T14 school, because those types of employers recruit primarily by name recognition and may not even give someone in a lower-tier school a look at hiring time. On the other hand, if I wanted to practice regionally at a smaller firm or if I was interested in public interest law, then I'd be inclined to more seriously entertain the lower-tier law school because I'd avoid incurring massive debt.

The correct answer is: do not go to law school.

-Signed,
Woman who chose T5 over full ride, but hated law school/law practice anyway

Why don't you just name the schools?

I would say as long as the scholarship is to a top 20(ish) school and it's geographically ok then I would go there (unless perhaps if someone else is paying for law school or you have a guaranteed job after law school).

I dealt with a similar situation 20 years ago I had an acceptance at a top 14 law school, and close to a full ride at a school that was somewhere around 25. I sought advice from a person involved in law school higher education. She said to me 'are you ***ing out of your mind, you would be crazy to go to the lower ranked school when you are in to the upper ranked.' I took her advice and have never regretted it.
If I was the type of person who was going to work hard enough to be at the very top of my class at the lower ranked school it might have been worth it, but I knew myself well enough to know that I was not.
You are always better off going to the better law school. This is even more intensely true when they are in the same city.

Anonymous wrote:Can you give a range of this top 10 school, your UG school rank and what you'd like to do post grad? A Harvard acceptance is very different thanone from Michigan, for example, and your goals also matter.

+1 Although I don't think UG school rank matters that much, except if it goes dramatically down. If you went to a not-so-great UG, people won't care too much and judge based on your UG. If you went to an awesome UG, then the lesser ranked law school may not look great, but 20-25 isn't super low.

A sense of the place within the top 10 would be helpful, though.

Depends on what your goals are. Which school has the network that is more important to you? (Regional, public interest, etc.)? Would you be taking loans for the top 10 school, and do they have a good loan repayment program?

Is the scholarship guaranteed or do you have to maintain a certain class rank?

Can you give a range of this top 10 school, your UG school rank and what you'd like to do post grad? A Harvard acceptance is very different thanone from Michigan, for example, and your goals also matter.

I was in a similar situation - I was offered a full scholarship at a law school ranked towards the bottom of the top 20. Took it and am glad I did. Gave me a lot more freedom to take a clerkship, a public interest job, and then Government job after graduation. But if you are looking to go to a firm, the analysis could be different, I don't know because I was never interested in that.

I've been accepted to a top 10 law school. I've also been accepted to a school that's ranked between 20-25--and they've offered me a scholarship equal to two years tuition. Thoughts?