Anonymous
Post 02/20/2026 08:13     Subject: DC area law schools
I went to Catholic in the late 90s It was a last minute decision as I was planning to go to law school elsewhere in the Northeast. Many of the people I graduated with have had very successful careers as partners at big law or senior roles inhouse. None of these people are active supporters of the law school. To me that is telling.
Anonymous
Post 02/20/2026 08:13     Subject: Re:DC area law schools
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:FWIW, The current USNWR rankings are
Georgetown 14 (tied with others)
GW and Mason tied at 31 (with several others, including W&M)
Catholic 71 (tied)
American 104

I went to AU law when it was ranked in the top 50 and liked it, have had good jobs since graduation. But it was outrageously expensive then and seems to be so now. I can’t fathom what it has done to fall so far in the rankings.

If I had it to do all over again and wanted to be in this area, I would live in VA and go to Mason law school. Well ranked and a lot less expensive.


Yeah, what's going on at AU Law?


Likely nothing is "going on at AU Law," the rankings have never meant much beyond top 15 or so and they have shifted like crazy for many, many schools in recent history, and usually for no obvious reason. I attended Tulane when it was just inside the first tier at 40 and now it's 78. Nothing "going on" (although there were some issues when Katrina hit, that was over 20 years ago).


LOL. The "first tier" stops way short of no. 40.


Not when I went to law school it didn't. It referred to the top 50, not the top 14 like now.


We must have gone to law school at the same time time.
Anonymous
Post 02/20/2026 07:55     Subject: DC area law schools
Don't bother with law schools unless you can get into top 5 - not even top 10.
Anonymous
Post 02/20/2026 07:54     Subject: Re:DC area law schools
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Interesting that Howard hasn't been mentioned yet...


Howard has a law school?


Yes, in Van Ness, right by the Levine music school. (Fun fact for DC folks, the old “H” bus lines, which ran east-west, connected the main Howard campus to the Howard law and divinity schools.)

Howard Law is not great but it is a better choice than the UDC law school which has already been mentioned.
Anonymous
Post 02/20/2026 07:41     Subject: Re:DC area law schools
Anonymous wrote:Interesting that Howard hasn't been mentioned yet...


Howard has a law school?
Anonymous
Post 02/20/2026 07:27     Subject: DC area law schools
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Most would rank GW #2, but it has two major problems.

1) it’s absurdly expensive.
2) most GW students wanted a T14 and didn’t get it. They still want the same jobs that usually go to T14 students. The school convinces them that the school sets them up for those sort of careers. Graduates are often disappointed and disappointing.


So true. No one from Catholic expects T14 jobs, so they set there sights lower and often have rewarding careers. Lots of GW grads fail to be rich lawyers, so they end up not being lawyers at all.


This is so true but still doesn't make any sense.
If a JD can't become rich with a JD required job, they will never become rich with a JD advantage job.
Anonymous
Post 02/20/2026 05:20     Subject: DC area law schools
My God. How is AU so low? I went there when it was 48th and rising.
Anonymous
Post 02/20/2026 00:08     Subject: DC area law schools
Anonymous wrote:Most would rank GW #2, but it has two major problems.

1) it’s absurdly expensive.
2) most GW students wanted a T14 and didn’t get it. They still want the same jobs that usually go to T14 students. The school convinces them that the school sets them up for those sort of careers. Graduates are often disappointed and disappointing.


So true. No one from Catholic expects T14 jobs, so they set there sights lower and often have rewarding careers. Lots of GW grads fail to be rich lawyers, so they end up not being lawyers at all.
Anonymous
Post 02/20/2026 00:06     Subject: DC area law schools
Most would rank GW #2, but it has two major problems.

1) it’s absurdly expensive.
2) most GW students wanted a T14 and didn’t get it. They still want the same jobs that usually go to T14 students. The school convinces them that the school sets them up for those sort of careers. Graduates are often disappointed and disappointing.
Anonymous
Post 02/19/2026 23:54     Subject: DC area law schools
Anonymous wrote:If you want Biglaw your only realistic choices are Georgetown and GWU. [b]Mason may be highly ranked but its reputation doesn't match its ranking. As for AU, virtually all of its top students end up transferring.
[url]

Scalia law has done amazing things since it started unaccredited around 1976. Today, it hovers between 25-34. It sends a lot of its students to conservative judges and justices, who also teach there. It has sent six students to clerk in the Supreme Court. And,it is with great with merit (offered my son free tuition)
Anonymous
Post 02/19/2026 23:50     Subject: DC area law schools
Anonymous wrote:

UDC





No, Scalia law at 25/26 ranks way
above AU which is 151 out of 193.
And Catholic at 51 ranks way above AU at 151.



Sorry ^ Google gave me old data. Here is the current. https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/law-rankings
Anonymous
Post 02/19/2026 23:47     Subject: DC area law schools


UDC





No, Scalia law at 25/26 ranks way
above AU which is 151 out of 193.
And Catholic at 51 ranks way above AU at 151.
Anonymous
Post 02/19/2026 21:57     Subject: DC area law schools
Anonymous wrote:My DH went to Catholic at night. He says: "It was fine." If you need a night school option (he was a practicing accountant at the time and his firm paid for his school), it's a good one. (Personally, I could never handle work and law school -- I attended a regular daytime one, but not in DC).


What was your DH's career like?
I went to law school full-time and acted like it was an extension of college, which was just an extension of sleep away camp. But my law school had a large evening division and I always secretly admired those folks.
Anonymous
Post 02/19/2026 20:45     Subject: DC area law schools
*GMU
Anonymous
Post 02/19/2026 20:45     Subject: DC area law schools
That's a lotta law schools within DC. GMI is in nearby NoVa