I applied to my schools partially because of rankings, but more on the feasibility of where I would be most competitive with my UGPA/LSATs. As much as I would have loved to somehow get into a T14 school, I only applied to UVA (okay... Duke as an afterthought but we'll ignore that...) because it was my alma mater (big mistake since I wasted $70 and they're literally hanging me with a noose and not giving me a decision).
I had the rather pleasant time deciding between GW, W&L, and W&M, since reality has to set in and in all likelihood, I'm not getting into UVA. GW would be my best hope of landing a lucrative job in the Washington DC Metro area (preferably so I can live close to home in N. Va) and has a much stronger reputation as a law school than W&M.
W&L fell out pretty quickly, since they 'ran out' of funds to give me. That's fine. I didn't want to go to Lexington where there's only one Chinese restaurant.
So at first, considering W&M is a lowly 27th (I can't even say I'm in the 'Top 25' Law schools in the country!) I was really depressed to no end. My entire life had been based on rankings, both personal and academic institution-wise, and as a Korean-American, I live in a rather number-oriented, rank-oriented household. But in the end, I've decided to go to W&M (and wait for UVA to reject me) because they're offering me $8,000, and a lot of non-ranking factors come into play...
While I hate the idea of living in Williamsburg, between the absence of a social life and allergies, I think that I'd hate living in the middle of DC and commuting even more. While I want to work out there... living in DC is a horrific experience, and I'm simply not ready to tackle the commute. Furthermore, in terms of finances, my tuition+living costs for UVA would be $43k, GW would be $50k, and W&M would be $28k-$8k per year. That would mean, even if my parents paid $10k of it a year, I would be assuming a whopping $120k debt for GW, a $90k debt for UVA, and a $30k debt for W&M.
That being said, I think if I got into UVA, there would be a high probability I'd be willing to swallow that debt. But in all honesty, as a Va resident, I'm not convinced my education will be adversely affected if I declined GW and went to W&M. Sure, my chances of landing a top-level job in DC will be more difficult, but going to W&M doesn't adversely keep me from my ideal job market... and I just don't think I would be able to sleep at night accumulating $120k of debt for all three years of LS...
For marginal differences in my opinion in terms of standards of education, paying four times as much seems to be a huge sacrifice for very little benefit. Not to mention the likelihood I will be run over by a car in DC.
Am I a ranking whore? Yes I am. It still bothers me sometimes that I'm headed only to W&M rather than GW or even W&L... but last I heard, sleep is pretty important for learning. $30k of debt, regardless of how low W&M grad starting salaries are, is going to be cinch to wipe out. $120k... less so.