| Does it matter where you attend law school?

Does it matter where you attend law school?

Jay asked:


If I want to be a successful lawyer, meaning earning a lot of money, do I need to Harvard Degree?

I live in New Jersey and plan on attending a local Community College, Transferring to Rutgers-NB and applying to both rutgers law campuses. My uncle has a degree from there and he is not in a lucrative position at ALL and he still does very well. Is there some type of a trade off here, because I doubt I would graduate at the top of my law class.

Or do I just need to work hard?

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Comments

3 Responses to “Does it matter where you attend law school?”

  1. august0707 on April 29th, 2009 6:01 am

    No it does not matter. You just have to work hard.

  2. Adam C on April 29th, 2009 6:59 am

    It does matter, to an extent. If you go to Rutgers, I can’t imagine you having too much trouble. The real issue is going to be the local job market. If it’s flooded with Harvard grads, you may have some stiff competition for a job.

    I’m currently at the University of Memphis. In Tennessee, it’s degrees are very competitive with degrees from other Tennessee schools. Outside of Tennessee, however, we simply don’t have the prestige to get into the big New York, etc., firms.

    As a general rule, if you want a big job in a big city, go to a local school with a local reputation, or go to Harvard, Yale, etc. Otherwise, you should be okay with any degree.

    And you’re right, there is some kind of trade off. If you finish at the bottom of your class at a great school, you probably can’t compete with a top graduate from a slightly less reputable school.

  3. allfoamnobeer on April 30th, 2009 1:45 pm

    I went to a local CC and transferred to Rutgers - NB myself. It appears that the further west you go, the better reputation Rutgers has. If you can ace the LSATs and do well as an undergrad, you may be in a better position to pick & choose your law school. That said, there’s nothing wrong with Rutgers’ law schools. I would pick the Newark campus given the choice, but then I didn’t go to Rutgers for law school. Although I was at the top of my class, I didn’t ace the LSATs. I went to law school in MN and got an excellent legal education.

    You can be successful at law no matter where you go to school. You absolutely have to work your butt off. When I went, my education became my sole focus and I was anal about my studying. Just remember that once you’re in law school, look for summer clerk positions with good named law firms. Many, in fact most, of the bigger firms hire first year associates from their former summer clerks.

    Good Luck.