Is It Worth Going to a T14 Law School vs. a Non-T14 Law School (With a Scholarship)?
Does the law school you go to really matter?
When the time comes to decide which law school to go to…the decision can be, to put it lightly, overwhelming.
Deciding between a T14 law school vs. a regional law school is among the toughest choices for anyone trying to make an intentional and well-thought-out decision for their future as a law student and lawyer, especially when that decision often has intimidating considerations with respect to job opportunities, student loan debt, and personal satisfaction.
Whether we realize it or not, we've been thrown into a narrative from the very start = that your law school is THE most important factor in your future success as a lawyer. Suits, Partner Track, Legally Blonde - virtually every prominent character goes to Harvard, Stanford, or Yale - as if a lawyering story isn’t even worth telling without a name-brand law school at the core of it.
I’m guessing that you've probably gone over the list of current law school rankings obsessively since you started studying for the LSAT. (P.S. We’ve all done it, don't worry.)
But the question becomes…how much should the law school’s name weigh into your decision about where to go?
Great question.
Let's do a deep dive into the considerations between Top 14 Law Schools and Regional Law Schools - to help you make the all-important decision of where to go to law school.
1. The Job: How important is your law school ranking for getting a job?
T14 Law School
Okay, let's get down to brass tacks.
Because at the end of the day, the purpose of law school is to help you get a job as a lawyer.
Yes, enjoying the 3-year experience is important.
Yes, vibing with your classmates and professors is wonderful.
Yes, taking higher level courses in the type of law you’re interested in is a plus.
BUT.
None of us spends 3 years and a small fortune to only enjoy ourselves.
At the end of this intense and arduous journey, we want to be in a position to do the work we’re excited to do, make the money to build the life we’ve been dreaming about, and make a difference in the lives of the people we were meant to serve.
And I’m not gonna lie.
One of the primary advantages of going to a T14 law school is the brand name power.
Every law firm and legal employer in the country not only knows the name of the law schools ranked among the top 14, but is predispositioned to believe that anyone graduating from those law schools is smart, capable, and would make a fantastic junior associate.
Because of the strength of the T14 reputation, having a T14 law school on your resume automatically puts you in a competitive position for jobs at law firms and legal employers all over the country.
That doesn’t mean that *every* T14 law school graduate will be competitive for a job at *every* law firm in the country (some are definitely pickier than others).
But it does mean that more doors will be open to you at more law firms (and in more cities) than if you go to a law school whose name brand is not as well known.
The other important advantage that T14 law schools have over Non-T14 law schools is grades.
More specifically, you don’t have to rank as high in your law school class in order to compete for jobs in big law, federal government positions, and other highly competitive roles.
In fact, some T14 law schools don’t have grades at all. I’m looking at you, Harvard.
The rationale of the law school is that any law firm would be *lucky* to have any one of their law students, such that a ranking by grades is not necessary.
This mentality rises in intensity and application among T-14 law schools. But the reality is that don’t have to worry nearly as much (if at all) about grades when thinking about job prospects upon graduation.
Non-T14 Law School
Now, going to a non-T14 law school does not mean that you won’t be competitive for jobs at law firms and legal organizations. (In fact, there are over 200 ABA-approved law schools, which means that the vast majority of lawyers practicing law right now graduated from non-T14 law schools).
BUT.
The important distinction to keep in mind when it comes to job prospects when graduating from a non-T14 law school is that (1) your 1L grades *will* be a factor in determining how competitive you are for jobs in big law, federal government positions, and other prestigious roles; and (2) you will be *most* competitive for jobs in the city where you went to law school.
Why your grades matter at a non-T14 law school.
The further that a law school is outside of the T14 list of top law schools, the less brand name recognition the law school generally has.
What that means logistically is that fewer law firms and legal organizations will actively recruit from non-T14 law schools.
In fact, the law firms and legal organizations that will come to the law school campus and/or reach out to the law school’s career services department to seek out law students from that law school to apply and interview for open positions will be those law firms that are in the same city, mostly because those law firms know the reputation of the law school, usually have a long-standing relationship with that law school, and may even be alumni of the law school themselves.
Because of the more local pool of legal employers actively seeking out law students from the law school, this means that fewer first-year associate positions are available at any given law firm.
As a result, law firms can choose to be more picky in terms of who they consider, and big law firms’ favorite metric to limit their applicant pool is by grades (specifically 1L grades).
Now, that doesn’t mean that every single law firm makes cuts based on 1L grades. (On the contrary, most first jobs out of law school are a result of networking and relationship-building.)
That being said, in a non-T14 law school, your 1L grades will always be a powerful metric to help open doors to the more competitive positions to give you the option to pursue them if you would like.
Why you are most competitive for a job out of law school in the city where you go to law school.
We mentioned this a bit further up, but to dig into it a bit more, there are three main reasons you will be most competitive for a job out of law school in the city where you go to law school.
The law school isn’t well known outside of its “home” location. The reality is that once we get outside of the T14 law school rankings, law schools tend not to be known on a nation-wide basis. Instead, the law firms and legal organizations that know about the reputation of (and, in some instances, the literal existence of) a law school are in its immediate physical vicinity (e.g. city, state, region). And, generally speaking, a legal employer would prefer to *know* the law school you graduated from before considering you for a job.
Law firms want to know that you’re going to stick around. I know this sounds old school (because it is), but despite incredibly high associate turnover rates, law firm hiring partners still want a level of guarantee that their new hires are planning to stay at the law firm for the long term. And the number one (and perhaps only) data point that law firms have to predict whether junior associates will, in fact, stick around is if they have a connection to the city where the law firm is located. By default, the strongest connection you can have to a city is the fact that you went to law school there. And so, on the flip side, if you are attempting to seek out a job in a city where you didn’t go to law school, you’re going to be in a position of needing to come up with a believable connection you have to that city so that you can convince the old-school *powers that be* that you are going to stay for the long-term.
Your strongest connections will be local. Despite the fact that we’re becoming a more transient society with each passing year, the reality is that the people that you meet and make connections with in law school will, by default, have the most and strongest connections to the local professional community. The professors that teach your courses, the attorneys and judges that come to speaking panels at your law school, the alumni that form part of your local Bar association, are all living and working in the city where you are going to law school…and likely have been for years. This means that the humans that you meet, interact with, and create relationships (and are therefore your professional network in law school) are going to have links and connections to jobs in the city where you are in law school.
So…what do we do with this information?
Step 1. The Job. I would create a literal spreadsheet with a list of the cities where you would be open to living and working when you graduate in three years, the percentage of law students who get a full-time job within a year of graduation from that law school, and the starting salaries of law students graduating from that law school. To make this as easy as possible, download the free “Law School Tracker” spreadsheet to keep track of the law schools that you’re applying to and the important metrics for each law school.
2. The Cost: Is the T-14 law school name worth the price tag?
When you ask lawyers, law students, and admissions officers whether you should go to a T14 law school or a non-T14 law school, most people tend to tell you to go to the highest-ranked law school that you can get into.
And the driving motivation for that advice is what we just talked above – the name brand power of the law school.
BUT.
The reason that choosing the highest-ranked law school you can get into is not always the right answer…is the cost factor.
Because the truth of the matter is that if you have the LSAT, GPA, experience, and compelling personal statement to get into a T14 law school, there’s a really good chance that a non-T14 law school will offer you a partial scholarship, 50% scholarship, or even FULL scholarship to go to their law school instead.
That’s where this decision becomes tricky.
Do you go with the power of the name brand of a T14 law school, and pay full price?
Or.
Do you go with a non-T14 law school, and pay a reduced price (or, sometimes, nothing at all)?
Let’s break this down.
Before we can properly make this determination, we NEED TO KNOW OUR NUMBERS.
It’s not enough to say that a law school is offering you a 50% scholarship or a 75% scholarship because that doesn’t give us all of the information.
In order for us to know exactly what the cost of going to a particular law school is going to be, we need to know…
The full cost of tuition.
The dollar amount of the scholarship.
The cost of living in that city.
I would literally bust out a spreadsheet to keep track of these three data points for each law school you are considering.
Because it’s not always the case that a higher-ranked law school charges more in tuition, that a lower-ranked law school charges less in tuition, or that the percentage scholarship a law school is offering will offset the higher cost of living in a particular city.
Let’s take a look at three resources to help with collecting this information.
1. Costs. In addition to your own personal spreadsheet, to take it to the next level, you can easily find, compare, and keep track of these three financial data points for any law school you are interested in through Law School Transparency. The average law school student comes out with $150,000 in student loan debt. Take the price into consideration when thinking long term.
2. Scholarships. If you’re looking for additional law school scholarship opportunities, definitely check out this law school scholarship database.
3. Student loan debt. Knowing these numbers is critical to helping you make a decision between a T14 law school with no scholarship money and a non-T14 law school with scholarship money because you will be able to calculate your expected student loan debt depending on the law school you choose.
The amount of student loan debt that you will graduate law school with (and the options for paying it off) is one of the important factors to consider when choosing your law school.
For so many of us, student loan debt drives all kinds of life decisions like what job we take out of law school, what city we live in, whether we buy or rent our home, when to start a family, and if we feel comfortable changing jobs (or leaving the legal industry altogether).
Step 2: The Cost. Do your future self a favor, and get in the weeds with your numbers so that they don’t control things you don’t want them to later on.
3. Do you actually want to go to *this* T14 law school or non-T14 law school?
Now that we have thought through (1) the job and (2) the cost, we need to turn to whether *this* particular T14 law school or non-T14 law school is a good fit for you.
My favorite way to think through this proposition is in the following three parts:
The law school.
If you have a chance to talk to law students who go (or have gone) to that law school, (even better), personally visit the law school campus that you’re considering, you can get a vibe check on the law school…as well as the city that the law school is in.
In terms of the law school, things to look out for are things like:
Size: Check the size of the law school as a whole, as well as the number of law students in each 1L section to get a sense for how much personalized attention you may be able to get from professors.
Bar passage rates: This should go without saying, but if you are seriously considering a law school, it’s always worth checking what percentage of law students have passed the Bar exam recently (80% or higher is a strong milestone).
Courses: If you have a specific area of law that you're interested in, see if the law school offers advanced courses, clinics, or extracurriculars in that practice area. It’s also worth checking into whether the law school has a reputation for focusing on practical skills or legal theory.
Flexibility: If you are someone who will be balancing other personal or professional commitments while in law school, definitely check to see if the law school offers evening courses, joint degree programs, and even hybrid classes to ensure that you can give the attention you need to all aspects of your life.
Vibe: If you’re able to chat with current law students, former law students and/or sit in on a class, see if you’re getting a down-to-earth vibe, a hyper-competitive vibe, a liberal or conservative political vibe, a pretentious and social-status-seeking vibe, or something else, and how that aligns with the environment in which you thrive as a student and a human.
The city.
In terms of the city, ask yourself, on a scale of 1 to 10, how happy would you be to live and work here?
For some people, the “happiness quotient” will be a built-in non-negotiable if you are already established somewhere – maybe you own a house in that city, your spouse has a job in that city, your kids go to school in that city, or your uncle wants you to take over his firm there.
For others of us, the national landscape may be much more open – maybe you’re looking to start over in a new city, with more young professionals, have an adventure, transition from a small town, or even get some distance between yourself and your family.
In terms of the city, things to keep in mind are:
The weather. I know this one sounds superficial, but if a particular city has months of snow and ice, or weeks of 100+ degree days, that’s something to be aware of.
The size. The size of a city can have implications on so many different aspects of life and work. A larger city usually indicates more legal job opportunities, more people to connect with (both personally and professionally), and more social activities. But a larger city can also mean a higher cost of living, a longer commute, or higher crime rates.
The young professional population. Whether there’s a strong cohort of other people in the same phase of life can make a big difference in how much you enjoy a particular city. Hand in hand with the people, are the things that you are able to do with those people. That is, social activities such as bars and restaurants, museums and theaters, adult sports leagues, meetup groups, and anything else that might bring you joy are things to keep in mind. Again, talking to law students or lawyers in that city, or (even better), personally visiting the city itself will give you valuable insight into how much (or how little) of a fit that particular may be for you.
The competition. I know that we don’t like to talk about the C-word when it comes to law school, but it would be a disservice if we didn’t at least bring it up as a consideration in the analysis of where to go to law school. Specifically, take a look (or a Google) at the other law schools located in the city, so that you can get a sense for which (and how many) law schools you will be competing against for jobs. Keep in mind, however, that it’s not simply the number of law schools in the area that should be the determining factor. Because if a city is larger and/or has a reputation for having a strong legal market, that strength of market (and, by extension, number of new lawyer job available) may balance itself out with the factor of law school competition. Still, the names of your neighboring law schools is a good data point to know.
Specialized areas of the law. This doesn’t come up in all cities, but certain cities have a strong population of law firms that practice a particular area of the law (usually because of a high concentration of that type of client in the area). So if you’re interested in a particular area of the law, you may want to target certain cities. For example:
Houston is known for energy law (including oil, gas, and renewable energy).
San Francisco and Silicon Valley are known for tech law, intellectual property law, and venture capital law.
Washington, D.C. is known for government-related work (including regulatory law, environmental law, international trade, and public interest law).
Boston is known for healthcare law, biotech law, intellectual property, and education law.
Miami is known for international law (especially concerning Latin America).
Los Angeles is known for entertainment law and real estate law.
Atlanta is known for entertainment law and labor law.
New York City is known for corporate law (especially mergers and acquisitions and securities law).
Denver is known for environmental law.
Buying power.
Another important consideration when deciding on a city to attend law school is not only the job prospects, but (arguably) more importantly, how far your paycheck will go. In other words, buying power.
My favorite tool to dive into this is the NALP Buying Power Index. This report compares the buying power of the median law firm salary in 93 cities to the median law firm salary in New York City to help law students determine the purchasing power that each city has by comparison.
In other words, what can your salary actually buy you in the city where you work?
For example, the report shows that the median salary of $190,000 in Houston provides more than 2.5 times the buying power of the median salary of $190,000 in New York City.
To put it another way, you would only need to make $74,635 in Houston to have the same buying power as making $190,000 in New York City.
Wow.
4. The City: is the city where the law school is located a good fit?
Given the fact that if you go to a non-T14 law school the city where you go to law school may very well be the place you live and work when you graduate, it’s important to consider…how much do you like this city?
My favorite way to think through this proposition is in the following three parts:
1. Happiness quotient. In other words, on a scale of 1 to 10, how happy would you be to live and work here?
For some people, the “happiness quotient” will be a built-in non-negotiable if you are already established somewhere – maybe you own a house in that city, your spouse has a job in that city, your kids go to school in that city, or your uncle wants you to take over his firm there.
For others of us, the national landscape may be much more open – maybe you’re looking to start over in a new city, with more young professionals, have an adventure, transition from a small town, or even get some distance between yourself and your family.
If you have the ability to talk to law students or lawyers in that city, or (even better), personally visit the cities and the law school campuses you are considering, that will give you some valuable insight into how much (or how little) of a fit that particular may be for you.
2. Competition. I know that we don’t like to talk about the C-word when it comes to law school, but it would be a disservice if we didn’t at least bring it up as a consideration in the analysis of where to go to law school.
Specifically, take a look (or a Google) at the other law schools located in the city, so that you can get a sense for which (and how many) law schools you will be competing against for jobs.
Keep in mind, however, that it’s not simply the number of law schools in the area that should be the determining factor. Because if a city has a reputation for having a strong legal market, that strength of market (and, by extension, number of new lawyer job available) may balance itself out with the factor of law school competition.
Still, the names of your neighboring law schools is a good data point to know.
3. Buying power. Another important consideration when deciding on a city to attend law school is not only the job prospects, but (arguably) more importantly, how far your paycheck will go. In other words, buying power.
My favorite tool to dive into this is the NALP Buying Power Index. This report compares the buying power of the median law firm salary in 93 cities to the median law firm salary in New York City to help law students determine the purchasing power that each city has by comparison.
In other words, what can your salary actually buy you in the city where you work?
For example, the report shows that the median salary of $190,000 in Houston provides more than 2.5 times the buying power of the median salary of $190,000 in New York City.
To put it another way, you would only need to make $74,635 in Houston to have the same buying power as making $190,000 in New York City.
Wow.
It can be easy to get distracted by the prestige T14 law schools offer… but please, make sure you are considering all the other factors. Ask questions, do the research, and find the school that would best fit you.
So, should I choose a non-T14 law school over a T14-law school?
Short answer: you certainly can.
If you have evaluated all of the factors we talked about above, it very well may be the case that a non-T14 law school is the best fit for you.
It was in my case.
I went to SMU Dedman School of Law in Dallas, Texas.
In terms of my personal calculation of the decision:
The job: The law school was ranked No. 50 at the time. It didn’t have strong name-brand recognition outside of the Dallas and Houston areas, but it was the only law school in Dallas at the time (so there was zero competition for jobs in the Dallas area). Dallas also had a very strong legal market, with hundreds of small, midsized, and big law firms. I would need to rank at the top of my 1L class in order to compete for big law jobs, but I was personally planning to stay and practice law in Dallas upon graduation from law school.
The cost: The cost factor made this decision a no-brainer for me. The cost of tuition was extremely high (the highest in the state), but I was offered a full scholarship by a private organization that meant that I would pay zero dollars in tuition, fees, and books. The cost of living in Dallas was on par with that of other major cities in the state, like Houston and Austin.
The law school: In all honesty, I didn’t know much (if anything) about SMU Law, or any law school for that matter. I did visit the campus before accepting admission, and I generally thought that the campus was lovely, the vibe was relaxed, and the city itself was really great. I knew that Dallas had a reputation for having a lot of young professionals, tons of bars and restaurants, and activities, and the weather (although hot like most of Texas) was something I was completely used to. I didn’t know this at the time, but later found out that big law firms in Dallas paid big law starting salaries that matched those of the New York City law firms, but with the much lower cost of living in Dallas, meant that the buying power in Dallas was more than twice that of New York City.
I definitely don’t want to give the impression that I made an informed and well-thought-out decision about where to go to law school. As I explain in this video, I largely based my decision on the law school that offered me the most scholarship money and was in a city I thought was cool. Learn more about my story here.
But I hope that going through this step-by-step breakdown helps to make this decision more intentional and aligned for you so that you can feel confident that you’re choosing based on data points that are relevant for you and your life.
Is a T14 law school worth it down the line?
The last thing I want you guys to consider are the implications of the law school that you choose for your future life and career.
Because it’s definitely true that the name of your law school will be looked at in every interview and lateral position you apply to, for as long as you’re in the legal industry.
And having a name-brand law school will generally pull more weight in more cities across the country than a law school that is lesser known.
However, the amount of student loan debt you take out to go to that name-brand law school will also have implications for your future career five, ten, twenty years from now.
I say that not to scare you, but to hopefully motivate you to think about the life you want to build after law school so that you can make the best decision you can with the information you have available to you at this point in time.
But remember: there are pros and cons to every decision, and adventures and excitement no matter which one you choose.
What really matters when choosing a law school…
You can build a life and legal career you’re excited about no matter where you start.
Despite what anyone says, there are many different ways to achieve your goals, especially in the legal world.
There's no one right path to take.
But I know you. And I know that you like to do the homework to be prepared and put yourself in the best possible position going forward.
With that in mind, here are the factors to consider when choosing a law school:
The job. Consider the law school that will open you up to the job opportunities that are most aligned with your future goals.
The cost. Think through the cost of tuition, the dollar amount of the scholarships you’re being offered, and the cost of living in the city to determine the student loan debt that you would have to take out to attend that law school.
The law school. The law school, the city, and the buying power all go into whether that particular law school is most aligned with your current and future personal and professional goals.
If you want to know more about getting the law school grades to start a legal career on your own terms, then make sure to grab my free “Need to Know Guide to Law School” that will break down the 7 most important things to know before you start law school.
P.S. If you want more, check out this two-part video where I nerded out with a very special guest over whether to choose to go to a T14 law school (which he did) or a non-T14 law school (which I did) how we chose, and what happened in our legal careers after.
