Choosing a Law School

 

How to Pick a Law School

The following are a few tips we recommend you review before choosing the law school you will study at for the next three years. This decision is imperative to your future success as an attorney and we encourage you to put a lot of thought into it before you pay a deposit.

1. Reputation/Caliber of Students: The reputation and quality of students attending the institution you are considering says a lot about the type of education you will receive. Refer often to the ABA – LSAC Official Guide to ABA-Approved Law Schools and make sure you check the following information on the school’s data section:

• Average incoming GPA and LSAT scores
• Bar Passage Rates

You should also review the annual LSAC Reports distributed in the Prelaw Advisement Center and make note of the GPA and LSAT averages of the BYU students getting accepted into the schools you’re interested. This will give you a good idea of the caliber of BYU students you are competing with to get into the schools of your choice.

Lastly, you may refer to the rankings in the U.S. News & World Report every year, though these rankings should be used to give you a very rough idea of how schools are viewed nationally due to the somewhat arbitrary and often questioned way in which they assign numbers to schools. For example, it might be helpful to look at the rankings in comparing a school like Yale to Florida Coastal, but is not helpful to do a comparison between schools number 26 and 35.

www.usnews.com

www.lsac.org

2. Cost: Although the cost of attending law school is a worthwhile sacrifice for the education you will receive, do not forget to consider you will graduate with both a J.D. degree AND debt. Here are some key things to look for in the ABA – LSAC Official Guide to ABA-Approved Law Schools when deciding on which school to invest in:

• Tuition for residents vs. non-residents
• Difference in cost for Private vs. Public  schools
• How many law school graduates are employed 9 months after graduating
• The estimated living expenses (this is for singles only)
• How many students receive scholarships and grants

In addition, we also recommend that students research the cost of living in each city and state they plan on moving to and factor in how these expenses will affect their overall debt after graduation. Helpful sites to consider are:

www.bestplaces.net

www.nalp.org

3. Geographical Location: Students often neglect the fact that they will be living in a certain city for 3 years or more and that many of their future employment opportunities, networks and connections will correlate with the people they meet. Make sure you are familiar with the area the law school of your choice is located. Some factors all students should consider are:

• Climate
• Crime Rates
• Quality of elementary/middle/secondary schools (if you have children)
• Employment rates (if you have a working spouse)
• Cultural Diversity
• Leisure Activities
• Commute time
• The “singles scene” (if you’re not married)

A great tool to use when researching law schools’ locations is Money Magazine’s yearly survey of the “Best Places to Live”:

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2007/index.html

4. Other Factors that are important to you

Other resources you can take advantage of to determine whether the school you’ve chosen is the best fit for you is to:

• Visit the school in person
  • Visiting a school once you have narrowed down your choices to 2-3 schools is a crucial part of the process
  • Law schools have different personalities; you need a law school that will suit your personality and by making a visit to a law school, in one day you can usually ascertain if that law schools is a good "fit" for you
• Contact current students at the law school
  • We have over 500 BYU alum contacts currently attending law school; simply email prelaw@byu.edu and list the schools you would like contacts for, and we will email you our current contacts at that school.
• Contact the J. Reuben Clark Law Society Chapter of the school you’re planning to attend (call the law school and request the information or search for it on the internet) and email questions to current members
• Use the BYU J. Reuben Clark Law School’s Advisor Network Directory to contact former graduates of the school you’re considering about their experience there:

https://www.law.byu.edu/AdvisorNet/

Username: law

Password: school

• Go to www.lds.org and find the corresponding stake or ward to the law school you’re considering and contact any church leaders for questions about the locale