Factors to Consider When Choosing a Law School

A highly demanded blog post! I will admit, I did not have a hard time choosing a law school. In fact, I didn’t even tour a single one before making my decision. That’s because UC Davis was the best law school I got into, they offered me the most financial aid, and I was an undergrad on the same campus at the time (and very familiar with the law school). For me, it wasn’t even a question. I was going to go to King Hall. Over the last two years of law school, I’ve appreciated my decision to stay in Davis for law school. I’ve also gathered plenty of information on law school generally and what students look for when choosing one. The purpose of this post is not to provide advice on which schools are better or which one you should pick, but to a list factors you should consider in the admissions process. Let’s begin:

• School Rank.
• What is your financial situation? Law School tuition is a lot, and finances should play into anyone’s decision on which law school to attend, or the decision to attend at all. How much financial aid a law school offers you + cost of tuition/living is definitely a huge factor. (I would also be skeptical and do your research on any school offering you “conditional” scholarships, or financial aid somehow conditioned on your class rank and academic performance)
• Dual degree programs offered, if you want to do one.
• Location/alumni network re: where you want to end up practicing. You may want to consider a school in the state where you want to end up practicing so that they are teaching you relevant material for the state Bar exam you’ll end up taking. You may want to look into how strong the alumni network is because it’s important to build a professional network where you want to work.
• Do you want to stay near home or near a place you’re familiar with? This is the main reason why I chose Davis, to be honest. I was already living in the town for undergrad and loved the area. Plus I didn’t have to adjust to living in a new place. While everyone was moving into their apartments and figuring out where the bookstore was, I was relaxing.
• What area of law are you interested in? And it’s totally okay to say “no idea” (Some people don’t even know what area they want to practice in when they LEAVE law school). However, if you do have a particular area of interest, I would research what the law schools on your list offer for that practice area. Do they have clinics, journals, courses, noteworthy professors… in that area of law? I would also suggest seeing what would be available for you to do in that area of law nearby the law school. Does the school’s city/town have good internship opportunities in that area of law? (For example, I knew UC Davis would be great location-wise for environmental law because the nearby town of Sacramento had the CalEPA office, other environmental agencies, and many environmental legal nonprofits.)
• Clinics. I just briefly mentioned clinics above, but it gets its own bullet point because it’s a factor that matters a lot to some prospective law students. The existence of a clinic would also be important even if you aren’t planning on doing one, just to be reassured that the school prioritizes and is actually putting money/resources into the area of law you care about.
• Diversity and Inclusion. One website’s ranks of law school diversity can be found at the U.S. News Diversity Index. Also, maybe look into if the schools you’re interested in have specific resources/organizations for your affinity group (if you belong to one).
• Student culture. Tour the school, sit in on a class, and chat with students who go there. Overall, see if you like the vibe.
• Class sizes.
• Do you plan on working or being responsible for others during law school? I’ve seen classmates handle law school fine with responsibilities as home, but you could also look into schools that offer an evening program. Usually this type of program will take 4 years instead of 3 but allows students to work part or full time, or take care of children, family, etc.