Ep 82: Factors to Consider When Creating Your Law School List
There are many factors to consider when creating your law school list. It can be overwhelming and you may not know where to start. Today, Alice will go over just a couple of factors to build a balanced initial list. We go over some hard factors such as the bar passage rate and programs, and soft factors like location.
Episode Highlights
Hard Factors
Programs/Clinics
Schools that typically have high bar passage rates. Are going to offer a lot of extra support throughout your time in the law school, whether that is partnering up with commercial bar prep courses, it's offering a bar prep course in your two or three L year. Most of the time it's in your three L year, and it's gonna go through all of the subjects you're going to need for the bar exam, because a lot of the time you haven't seen those since you were A one L.
And then you'll get back into them in bar prep over the summer if you're planning to take it in. Schools with slightly lower bar passage rates may not have all of that support for you as a student. So you want to ensure that you are going to a school that matches the support level that you need
Employment Rates
Schools that typically have high bar passage rates. Are going to offer a lot of extra support throughout your time in the law school, whether that is partnering up with commercial bar prep courses, it's offering a bar prep course in your two or three L year. Most of the time it's in your three L year, and it's gonna go through all of the subjects you're going to need for the bar exam, because a lot of the time you haven't seen those since you were A one L.
And then you'll get back into them in bar prep over the summer if you're planning to take it in. Schools with slightly lower bar passage rates may not have all of that support for you as a student. So you want to ensure that you are going to a school that matches the support level that you need
Bar Passage Rate
Schools that typically have high bar passage rates. Are going to offer a lot of extra support throughout your time in the law school, whether that is partnering up with commercial bar prep courses, it's offering a bar prep course in your two or three L year. Most of the time it's in your three L year, and it's gonna go through all of the subjects you're going to need for the bar exam, because a lot of the time you haven't seen those since you were A one L.
And then you'll get back into them in bar prep over the summer if you're planning to take it in. Schools with slightly lower bar passage rates may not have all of that support for you as a student. So you want to ensure that you are going to a school that matches the support level that you need
Admissions Data
Check out websites such as Law School Transparency and the American Bar Association’s page for information about every law school in the country. You can even go to the speicifc law school website itself. Look at all of these statistics there and look at GPA and LSAT medians, compare those to what you have. Just take a peek at them.
Soft Factors
Name Recognition
There are two major types of law schools: regional law schools and national law schools. One is not inherently better than the other.
School Community
You want to make sure that you are trying to get to a place where you will be happy. Make sure it's a place that you fit well in. If you are a very laid back, very non-competitive, and end up at a law school that is hyper-competitive, you will likely be unhappy. Maybe you’re the opposite. If you have to squeeze yourself into a community where you do not fit, you will likely be unhappy, and if you are unhappy, generally your academics will often suffer.
Location
The reason that location is in soft factors instead of hard is because the things that are going to determine what's important as far as location goes, are going to vary student to student. They're going to vary with what it is you're interested in pursuing as your career. It's going to vary with what you feel comfortable in.
Tweetable Quotes
“Law school is hard enough when you are happy and feeling good. Do not make it harder. Find a place that meshes with the way that you learn, that meshes with the way that you want to be, that meshes with the place that you want to live.”