Choosing Law Schools
Finding the Right “Fit”
Ranking and cost are not the only factors in selecting the schools to which you apply. Consider the following points:
- Is a school strong in the areas of law which interest you?
- Does it have non-academic organizations addressing issues that are important to you?
- Is a school friendly to ethnic and racial "minorities," or students from LGBT communities?
- How many of its graduates pass their bar examinations?
Create Your Own Law School Rankings
Most pre-law advisors and law school admissions counselors recommend that you decide which school is "right" for you by considering a number of factors, giving each factor the weight appropriate to your values and goals.
Make a checklist of what is important to you and apply a point system to rank each factor. You can find suggestions below:
- class size
- academic challenge
- quality of teaching
- specializations
- diversity of students and faculty
- religious or secular-based
- job placement rates (private practice, non-profit, judicial clerkships, etc.)
- affordability; scholarships; loan forgiveness programs
- location and quality of life
- library technology and facilities
- clinics, internships, and externships [read more]
- study abroad opportunities
The ABA-LSAC Official Guide to ABA-Approved Law Schools
The Official Guide to ABA-Approved Law Schools is available at www.LSAC.org. This is an invaluable research tool for anyone interested in law school. The Guide to ABA-Approved Law Schools can help you select schools based on a variety of factors including GPA and LSAT scores; tuition and fees, housing, enrollment and ethnicity; curriculum, living expenses, library resources; grants and scholarships; J.D. attrition, employment, and bar passage rates. The guide also contains details on taking and preparing for the LSAT, choosing a law school, completing your law school applications, and professional options.