PRELAW HANDBOOK 
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2012 LAW SCHOOL RANKINGS 

 

 For all 190 ABA-approved law schools,
we give their rank and score
for each of the four years 2009-2012.
Even more data for the Top 25. 

 

RECENT ITEMS OF INTEREST

 

A bleak jobs picture for law graduates is apparently dissuading more would-be lawyers from applying to law school.As of Jan. 13, [2012] the total number of applicants at ABA-approved law schools stood at 31,815, a drop of 16.7 percent from last year. The total number of applications was 233,361, a drop of 15.3 percent. http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/law_school_applications_for_fall_2012_drop_more_than_15_percent/

Law Firm Jobs in 2010 - A Tale of 20 Cities. (NALP Bulletin, September 2011)
The overall number of entry-level law firm jobs eroded in 2010, but the number of jobs lost ? both raw numbers and numbers as a percentage of the law firm jobs in a particular market ? varied greatly in different cities and markets, illustrating the disparate impact of the recession on different legal employment markets. Regardless of the differences, the numbers in most markets ar  
e startling. [Unfortunately not in a goodway.}  SEE THE TABLE.www.nalp.org/law_firm_jobs_in_2010

 

 

ABOUT THIS WEBSITE
 

This website enables college students to decide whether
          THEY WANT TO BECOME LAWYERS
and guides to law school those who do.  

  • TAKE A PRACTICE LSAT SOON. The Law School Admission Test (LSAT) is, for many prelaw students, the biggest obstacle between them and admission to a suitable law school (in fact, between them and graduation from a suitable law school). Taking a practice LSAT today may well put the fear of the LSAT into you. This is a good thing if it encourages you to prepare early and often for the LSAT. Actually we are not urging you to take the whole practice LSAT today; let alone in one day. But on a day that you have some free time, we are just urging you to take one of the four multiple-choice sections of the LSAT. Officially for each of these four sections, you are allowed 35 minutes, but on these early practice sessionns, for each section, take all the time you need.      .  
  • The Official LSAT PrepTest (PDF)
    This practice test is the June 2007 LSAT with answers. 

        
  • THE PATH FROM ENTERING COLLEGE AS A FRESHMAN TO GRADUATING LAW SCHOOL
    This path should, in theory, take seven years: four years to earn a Bachelor's Degree and three years to earn a law degree, the Juris Doctor (JD); in addition to the standard three-year JD, Some law schools also have a four-year part-time program leading to the JD degree. This path to the JD involves PRELAW PREPARATION, which includes doing well on the LAW SCHOOL ADMISSION TEST (LSAT) and OTHER ADMISSION FACTORS (e.g. GPA), and determining WHEN AND WHERE TO APPLY
       
  • ACADEMIC RESTRICTIONS ON A PRELAW STUDENT  CHOICE OF MAJOR
    In theory, a prelaw student faces no restrictions on the
    CHOICE OF MAJOR and no restrictions on the CHOICE OF COURSES, but the choice of major and the choice of courses should be given serious thought and should be discussed with family, prelaw advisors, and academic advisors. The
    proper choice of major and courses should lead to a high UNDERGRADUATE (UGPA)
    , a few strong
    LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION
    , a decent score on the LAW SCHOOL ADMISSION TEST (LSAT), the acquisition of important SKILLS VALUES, AND KNOWLEDGE that will provide a sound foundation for law school, and a Bachelor's degree in four years or less. 
      
  • WHEN AND WHERE TO ATTEND LAW SCHOOL
    At or before the end of the junior year, it is time to think about
    WHEN TO ATTEND LAW SCHOOL and WHERE TO APPLY TO LAW SCHOOL. Later it will be time to focus on WHICH LAW SCHOOL TO ATTEND

  • SPECIAL TOPICS
    In the appendix, we also consider several 
    SPECIAL TOPICS.

 

 

 

Home
2012 Law School Rankings
Career Goal: Lawyer?
Prelaw Enrichment Program
Preparing for Law School
UGPA
LSAT
UGPA and LSAT: Together
Other Admission Factors
Financing Law School
When and Where To Apply
Applying to Law School
Choosing the Law School
APPENDICES
Getting Through Law School
Improving LSDAS and LSAC
Law School Communication
Historical Rankings
MBA Rankings
Best Research Universities
FAQ
2208 Ranking Realtors
For Law School Advisors
Score
2009-2012 Changes
Number of Visitors

 

SELECTING AN
UNDERGRADUATE
MAJOR

ACTUARY (Undergraduate)
ENGLISH (Undergraduate)
HISTORY (Undergraduate)
HISTORY (Graduate)
MATHEMATICS  (Undergraduate)
MATHEMATICS (Graduate)


SOME LINKS TO
TOP-LAW-SCHOOLS
 

 
HOME PAGE
LAW SCHOOL FORUMS
LAW SCHOOL PROFILES
LAW SCHOOL PERSONAL STATEMENTS
LAW SCHOOL ARTICLES
PRELAW ADVICE
INTERVIEWS WITH LAW SCHOOL DEANS
The TLS SITE MAP has links to interesting material

LAW SCHOOL SPECIALITIES

 

See the top ten law schools in each
of NINE SPECIALTIES AREAS: 
     Clinical Trials
     Dispute Resolution
     Environmental Law
     Health Law
     Intellectual Property Law
     International
     Legal Writing
     Tax Law
     Trial Advocacy