I have 3 Years to Get Into Law School (Cross Posted in NTS)

[FalconJimmy]

Jennings, "bottom feeder" may have been harsh, but you are right to realize that there is a very distinct pecking order in law schools. 

The better the law school, the better your chances of success.  The worse the law school, the worse your chances.  Simple as that. 

So, no need to be apologetic.  This sort of debate happens here all the time.  There are folks who think that some 0Ls are a little too "brand conscious" when they pick a school.  So, they draw out anectdotes.  X judge went to crappola law school.  Y senior partner went to Clown Law College. 

Yeah, it happens, but you don't want to make a career in the law any harder than it already is.

[Maintain FL 350]

Jennings, "bottom feeder" may have been harsh, but you are right to realize that there is a very distinct pecking order in law schools. 

The better the law school, the better your chances of success.  The worse the law school, the worse your chances.  Simple as that. 

So, no need to be apologetic.  This sort of debate happens here all the time.  There are folks who think that some 0Ls are a little too "brand conscious" when they pick a school.  So, they draw out anectdotes.  X judge went to crappola law school.  Y senior partner went to Clown Law College. 

Yeah, it happens, but you don't want to make a career in the law any harder than it already is.

I agree that prestige matters, and that law can be a prestige-obsessed profession. If Student A goes to Stanford and Student B goes to Golden Gate, obviously Stanford guy has an immensely better shot at most (if not every) job. The fact is, however, that Stanford (and other elite law school) grads make up a small percentage of all law schools grads. The GGU grad will mostly be competing with grads from McGeorge, USF, Santa Clara, even JFK. Between those schools, I'm not convinced that what ever reputational advantage Santa Clara might have over GGU would be worth $150k. OTOH, I believe it would be worth $150k to attend Stanford or Berkeley over any of those schools.

OP, I certainly didn't mean to sound like I was scolding you, sorry if I did! Kick ass on the LSAT, score scholarship, and you'll do fine. Good Luck!

[FalconJimmy]

I agree that prestige matters, and that law can be a prestige-obsessed profession. If Student A goes to Stanford and Student B goes to Golden Gate, obviously Stanford guy has an immensely better shot at most (if not every) job. The fact is, however, that Stanford (and other elite law school) grads make up a small percentage of all law schools grads. The GGU grad will mostly be competing with grads from McGeorge, USF, Santa Clara, even JFK. Between those schools, I'm not convinced that what ever reputational advantage Santa Clara might have over GGU would be worth $150k. OTOH, I believe it would be worth $150k to attend Stanford or Berkeley over any of those schools.

That's a very valid point.  As I've said here on these boards, if a school is ranked, say, #96, and another school is ranked #68, personally, I don't think the differences in ranking should be one of the top considerations in choosing one school over another.  It should be A factor, but not necessarily THE factor that tips the scale.

I think, honestly, once you get out of the top 14 or so, where you want to practice should have a lot more to do with the decision than most other factors.  Still, if you can hold all other things equal, going to, say, the #43rd best school in the country is probably a better idea than going to the #75th. 

[legend]

No apologies it's an anonymous internet board remember your entitled to say whatever you want without repricussion. Glad to hear this advice is helpful, but also I said a million times take everything you read with a grain of salt. I personally think the advice on this thread has been good and delivered with good intent, but it could be 100% wrong.

As for the rankings I have said my piece plenty of times on this board and in my personal opinion they mean so little, but that is my opinion and everyone else is entitled to their own. One thing to  ask for yourself is when have you ever been impressed with 75th, 95th, or 114th best. I imagine you don't have a 75th favorite restaurant, a 75th backup option for a prom date, a 95th best friend, or 114th place to visit. In my anonymous internet poster opinion same goes for law school.

Also take this into consideration remember the legal profession is a service industry you make the client happy or not. I imagine you have a doctor, dentist, orthodontist, optometrist, etc. I have a doctor I have gone to since I was a kid and I honestly have no idea what school he went to I have been to other doctors and I liked that Doc the most. This is an aside, but there is only one time I knew where the doctor went to school and he went to Harvard (and I only know that, because he couldn't stop telling me about how great he was). This was not helping the health problem I had and I never went back. (Not trying to say Harvard Doctors are bad by any means that guy was just weird). Other than that I have no idea what school my dentist, doctor, etc goes to.

Most clients just want a problem resolved they don't want to talk about your law school or even the legal issues of the case. Many attorneys really want to explain the legal theories etc to the client, but it is not that interesting to most people they don't care about the History of Rule Against Perpetuitities etc they want to know if they are getting 100,000 or not.

Same as when you go to a doctor your not really interested in all the intricacies it is how long am I in the cast. What pills do I need to take etc, etc. I would say never forget that your job as a lawyer is to serve your client and get a result whether you went to an online-school or Harvard if you get that perosn their 100,000 they are going to be happy. If you don't they are not it is really that simple at least in my anonymous internet poster opinion.

Again good luck in your legal career and thank you for serving.