I think that I may have missed my calling earlier in life. I have found that I have a deep interest in the US Constitution and American History. Up until my Senior year in High School, I was primed to do something in College, of what, I didn't know then. I had a 3.2 GPA and was taking all AP classes. I scored a 1250 on the SAT as well.
I don't know what happened my senior year, but I lost all interest in school. The only reason I actually went to class and passed my classes is because I was involved in sports during the whole year and had to maintain at least a 2.0 in order to compete. When it came time to apply for a school, I only applied for one, Southern Oregon University, and got in. I didn't even end up going there. I enrolled at Rougue Community College, but didn't even make it through the first quarter before I dropped out and joined the Navy.
Now that I look back, if I would have had any sense of purpose or academic goal, I would have probably stayed in school and majored in Law or Political Science. It is kind of funny because I had been told that I was bright early on in elemetary school. I was always in Talented and Gifted programs at school. My parents had aspirations of me going to Stanford Law. In retrospect, they nailed it on the head.
I don't regret any decisions that I have made. I am married to a wonderful woman and have two beatiful children. I have a good job that provides a good living for me and my family. I think that I have done well for myself in spite of some of the bad choices I made when I was younger.
I took the money at the lower ranked school. Turned out fine for me. I got the big job to start out , so all of the doors I would have had open at the bigger school are still open for me. Looking back, I think I may have decided to go to the higher ranked school, it definitely would have made the last 3 years much easier. Going to the lower ranked school is a gamble because you really do need to be at the top of the class to get the better jobs.
You can do well from a lower-ranked school, you just have to haul a$$ and work harder because the opportunities won't fall into your lap.
In response to Clay...Vanderbilt is full of people that couldn't get into a Top-14 school. hth. There are reasons why someone would choose to go to any of the T14 over Vandy, even Cornell. You article smacks of bitterness and insecurity about how you just couldn't cut it in practice.
Well... I wish I would have known a few things before I went, but I'm satisfied with the decision because it put me where I wanted to go.
First, go to the highest ranked school you can go to. It gives you better opportunities and the grading curve is easier. When I say "highest ranking," I mean top 10 school.
If you can't make it into a top ten school, then decide where you want to practice. Employers tend to question people applying from out of state. I've met a few people from out of state that had a hard time finding employer (at least straight out of law school). I worked with a person from UVA, a high ranked school, but she had a hard time finding a job on the west coast.
Go to the highest rank school in that state. If that is not possible, then go to the cheapest or the one that offers you the most money. Law schools have no shame in raising tuition. Hence, the cost of law school will increase while you are attending.
Second, know what you want to do before you go to law school. Do you want to do civil litigation, criminal defense, transactional work, securities, etc.
Finally, if you want to go big law, the formula is simple. Ace first year, get on law review, and get that 2L summer job. Nothing else matters. Don't join clubs or run for president of the SBA or volunteer for community service. Just finish in the top ten your first year and get on law review. That's all that big law looks at.
I started at a 2d tier school with no money. Aced my first year, like all the advice says you have to, and they offered me a scholarship for my 2L year and I would have been on law review, etc. Instead, I transferred to a top-10 school.
Do not do this. If you are in the top of your class at any top-50 school, you can get a good job. Plus, you sacrifice all the reputational benefits you would have at the lower school with your solid GPA and law review credentials, etc.
The regional advice is good, too. Go to law school in the geographic area you want to practice after you graduate. This is especially true in California for some reason... it's tough to get a job there if you haven't demonstrated a previous tie to the region. I guess that's because they have a smaller legal market than NY and a large amount of top schools to hire from (USC UCLA UCB Stanford... I might be forgetting some others.).
That said, if you got into a good school for your first year, take it, unless, as our author says, the people at the school are socially stilted gunner jackasses.
I went to a lower ranking school, beat the stuffing out of us for 3 years for an average GPA of 2.8. But it was affordable, and at the time had a 96% bar pass rate, I cleared 2 bar examines within 6 months after getting out. And yet being out as a trial lawyer right afterwards was harder than law school, in its own way, up at 5 AM preparing for trial.
Go to school in a region you want to live in. Went to Chicago, lol, mistake. But unless your tops in your class your going to start on a grunt job anyway, I can't looking for a 1st year law job being that different coast-to-coast, it was all about work ethic and personality.
Maybe a top tier law school would give you alumni connections, maybe. My brother got a graduate degree in engineering from MIT, now HE had connections. Somehow I think grades and demonstrated writing skills are more important than whatever you think your school is going to give you.
