Rankings are important. I think some of the law schools at the very bottom need to close down though. Graduates from low-ranking schools are having trouble finding good paying legal jobs to pay off their student loans.
That's definitely true. I think the suggestion that a law degree from anywhere will translate into job opportunities isn't giving the full picture. That's also why it's so important that everyone look at the employment statistics before making the investment in a law school.
@@AngelaVorpahl Andrea this is the problem that I’m facing. While it is true that sometimes attending a less prestigious law school might be worthwhile there are many times or maybe to go even further most times where this backfires. Most law schools outside of T50 universities have employment outcomes below 50%. Or at least have had those kinds of outcomes at some point of time. Is graduating at the top of your class the only way of reducing the risk of unemployment? What happens if you are not able to be in the top 1/4 or 1/3 of your class? Would it be a good idea to forget about attending such universities?
Thank you for all the amazing content!! Started watching your channel back when law school was just a dream. You definitely helped a lot throughout the whole journey. Keep up all the amazing work!
Hi Louis! What an incredibly sweet message!! Thank you so much for letting me know :) I love making these videos for you guys and it's so awesome to hear when they resonate!
Want all the details on how to prepare for law school? 👉 JOIN THE FREE LAW STUDENT NETWORK FACEBOOK GROUP: facebook.com/groups/lawtribenetwork and if you have any other questions about law school rankings, drop them in the comments below!
@@manveshjitsingh5748 So that definitely depends on a lot of factors, but any T14 law school will make you competitive for positions in NYC. That being said, the closer the law school is geographically to NYC (for example, Cornell over Duke) is going to give you a bit of better advantage just because the alumni network and hiring tendancies will likely be stronger in that area based on geographic proximity alone. But most law schools are also very transparent with where their graduates land a job geographically, so if you google "XYZ law school employment stats" you can see not only what percentage of the graduating class landed biglaw jobs, but also where in the country.
When you said that "Law schools are going to be only accepting students that are not first-generation and are those who come from wealthy families"... did you mean that the rest of the population is going to have lower chances of getting accepted into law schools in general? Can you elaborate on this topic? because it seems like I have lost all my chances of becoming a lawyer since I do not come from a wealthy family and I am also a first-gen. Additionally, can you discuss different aspects of how low schools are looking at students who apply with a gre vs lsat and with a low gpa?
Ms. Vorpahl - do you think you could do a video on law schools that offer full tuition scholarships (like the one you received at your Alma mater?) I think this would be incredibly helpful to many people.
Ooh I love that idea! Like maybe a run-down of which law schools give the most scholarship money both in terms of quantity and percentage of tuition? I'll put it on the list :) P.S. I actually run a free FB group for law students and prelaw students where we dive into topics like this all the time. Would you like the link to join?
@@AngelaVorpahl Yes please! That would be amazing! Also, I really hope you get a chance to do that video. I know other students who are always wondering about this too. And thank you so much for responding!
Hi, how important is where you go to undergrad to law schools when you apply? Can you still get into a t14 law school if u came from a state undergrad school but had a high enough gpa and lsat?
Definitely! The hard numbers of the LSAT and GPA are going to be the strongest parts of your application hands down, followed by work experience, and then a smattering of other soft factors (diversity statement, adversity, extracurriculars, etc.). Are you looking to apply to law school next cycle? :)
@@AngelaVorpahl no actually I’m currently a high school senior applying to undergraduate institutions. But this is part of my decision as I want to go into law, trying to weigh cost with prestige.
@@michael305m3 That's awesome that you're starting to look into everything so early! You'll be so prepared and informed when it's ready to make these decisions. I run a free FB group for law students and prelaw students looking for clarity and support in their law school journey. Would you like the link to join? :)
Hi! I love you’re content! So would you say that Big League law firms exceedingly value t-14 law schools or would excelling in lower ranked schools be preferable?
Good question! Biglaw firms love to hire from T14 law schools because of the name recognition and the prestige associated with going to one of those law schools (it looks good for them, it looks good to clients, there's an assumption of "high caliber" law students coming out of those institutions, and many of the partners and associates are alumnis of those law schools so there tends to be a natural pipeline established). With that in mind, you will by default be much more competitive for biglaw firm associateships coming out of those law schools, and may only need to rank in the 50% percentile of your law school class to be competitive for those positions (or if you go to a Top 5 law school, you could potentially be the lowest-ranked person in your class and still be competitive for those positions). By contrast, if you go to a lower-ranked law school (i.e. a "regional" law school) (i.e. a law school that is not nationally known), you can still compete for positions in biglaw firms (almost exclusively in offices located in the city where you go to law school), but you will inevitably need to rank higher in your class to be competitive for those positions (i.e. top 10% or top 25% depending on the law firm, the strength of the economy that year, and the size of your class that year). Let me know if that answers your question! Angela
2:50 So it doesn’t matter how high or how low the varied LSAT scores are, all that matters is the median? In other words, one slightly below the median has the same impact as someone way below the median? Same with UGPA too?
Hi Drexel, I don't believe that's correct. The actually LSAT score and uGPA are reported to the ABA (which are then used by the U.S. News and World Report), and so those hard numbers are what create the median. So if your scores are 1-2 points higher than the median (even if technically in the same percentile), they overall help raise the median numbers of the law school. Let me know if that makes sense!
Ooh that's a great one, I love it!! I'll definitely be sure to put it on the list! Btw, are you already a member of the free FB group? I'm in there all the time answering questions and it's a wonderful place to connect with other law students and prelaw students as well! Would you like the link to join? :)
So that definitely depends on a lot of factors, but any T14 law school will make you competitive for positions in NYC. That being said, the closer the law school is geographically to NYC (for example, Cornell over Duke) is going to give you a bit of better advantage just because the alumni network and hiring tendancies will likely be stronger in that area based on geographic proximity alone. But most law schools are also very transparent with where their graduates land a job geographically, so if you google "XYZ law school employment stats" you can see not only what percentage of the graduating class landed biglaw jobs, but also where in the country.
So there are definitely lots of details that I would need to know in terms of which T10-T14 law schools, how much scholarship money they're offering you, where you would ideally like to live/work after graduation, if you have a specific practice area that you want to get into. All of that being said, the short answer is that UT is the highest ranked law school in Texas and therefore all else being equal gives you the most competitive advantage for jobs in the Texas legal markets. You can actually check out the specific percentages of each UT law graduating class that have gone into biglaw by googling "UT law employment stats" and clicking on the one-page ABA employment stats summary. That number will give you an idea of how high in the class you would need to rank to be competitive for biglaw positions!
T10 isn’t a law school distinction, that’s something for undergrad. No one says t10 for law school. There’s practically 0 difference between a t14 vs a t10. UT is not a t14.
I applied to University of Texas, SMU, Baylor, and Notre Dame. I was waitlisted at UT, received a full scholarship to SMU and Baylor, and received a partial scholarship to Notre Dame. Based on a mix of finances and location, I chose SMU!
