Gunning for BigLaw? You'd Better Attend One of These Law Schools
Increasingly, students are motivated to pursue BigLaw simply as a way to eliminate their monumental debt-load as quickly as possible. It's the price one must pay to be educated as an attorney these days.
Of course, getting into BigLaw is easier said that done -- and one of the most tried and true methods is going to the right school. We've been looking at some of the more popular lists released by the National Law Journal and the eponymous U.S. New & World Report rankings. Looking at both lists under a "totality of the circumstances" kind of angle, we've put together a list of schools that will boost your chances of getting into BigLaw.
Schools for BigLaw: The Big Three
No one is going to be surprised to know that the T20 of law schools in this nation did very well in sending their happy grads to the top 100 biggest law firms in the United States. Columbia, UPenn, and Chicago topped the list by managing to send just over half of their grads to BigLaw firms. That's an astounding number.
Weird Blips in the Data?
The lists between the two media publications reveal things that most would have regarded as counter-intuitive. For example, Boston University managed to send 25 percent of its grads to BigLaw while Yale did not even show up on the list of schools that send a quarter or above of its class to BigLaw. Vivia Chen at The American Lawyer theorized that the students at Yale are more inclined towards esoteric academic pursuits while BU grads are just much more down to earth, perhaps with actual bills to pay.
Don't be discouraged if your school didn't make the list. It's not a death sentence or noose on your paycheck. You might not have the prestige of T20, but nothing is written in the stars that you'll be a starving practitioner for life.
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