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What Are The Law School Tiers 1, 2 and Beyond?
Why law school tiers important for law career? Let’s have law school tiers explained for better understating of career prospects. My personal opinion is that law school rankings are probably the single most important factor for a potential law student. You should look at them closely when choosing law schools in the application process. Cost is the second most important factor.
The other important factor is law school student debt, which I will also discuss in this article.
So, what are the law school tiers? How law school tiers affect attorney’s career? I wish I had someone explain law school tiers to me before I applied for law schools.
Thank you for reading this article. As a reward, I will tell you big important law school and education secret. What matters is not only rank of the school you go to. It is the ratio between law school or college rank and cost of tuition. Hence, the student debt after graduation. This is what really matters.
The higher is the rank of the law school, the more economic sense it makes to pay high tuition cost ticket.
Potential law school newcomer will greatly benefit from researching this topic prior to applying. I want to share this information with you after I learned it the hard way .
Although there are various rankings, most authoritative law school rankings are usually published by U.S. News & World Report. They are based on different criteria, including student-to-faculty ratio, bar passage rate, placement success. Also on graduate employment numbers, salary level, overall career benefits and other criteria’s.
Rankings are not perfect, but the legal industry generally follows law school rankings in their hiring process. Especially it is true for graduates from law schools in the 1st Tier.
What is the law school tier system?
So, what is the law school tier system in USA and what the law school tiers mean? According to the US News website, there are about 194 law schools in the United States that are fully accredited by the American Bar Association, or ABA.
They are grouped in generally accepted four tiers of law school rankings. Law school tiers generally represent school reputation and prestige. That is useful for employment. Let’s discuss what are tiers in law school rankings and what the law school tiers mean.
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What is a Tier 1 law school?
Tier 1 law schools generally take the top 14 spots in overall rankings. So, Tier 1 are law schools that rank in the top 14 in the country. They are also referred to as T14 tier or T14 law schools.
Traditionally, those include such law schools as Yale Law School, Harvard Law School, Stanford Columbia Law School, University of Chicago Law School, University of Pennsylvania School of Law, New York University, University of Virginia, UC Berkley, UM Ann Arbor, Duke, Cornell, Northwestern, Georgetown law schools. For law school rankings list you can check rankings on the internet. I posted a link in the end of this article.
According to alternative ATL law school rankings by AboveTheLaw, they have slightly different law school tiers based on real job offer outcomes. For example, those rankings actually place Harvard and Yale not in the top 10.
But two other law schools are in the alternative tier 1 – in top 10 – University of Washington St. Luis and Vanderbilt University law schools. Based on real job placements. My guess is that St. Luis law school is well known in the Midwest area. So you should attend it if you plan to live and work in the Midwest and work as regular practicing attorney there.
Why are T14 law schools best?
The reason for high rank can be historical. Also it can represent the best faculty, acceptance of best student applicants, large and well-connected alumnae network, resources, research, famous law professors and much more.
Generally, law students who graduated from T14 law schools are almost guaranteed a job after graduation. Which cannot be said about all other law school tiers.
How does law school rankings tier system work?
Let’s have law school tiers explained in brutal truth. Anything outside T14 is a lower-tier ranking. So, the next level of law schools below T14 is Tier 2 law schools.
Generally, graduates from tier 2 will have a noticeably harder time finding an attorney or law jobs than T14 law graduates. Competition in the legal industry is incredibly high because the market is over-saturated.
Said that, a law student in the top 10%-15% of his or her class in tier 2 law school may have a good shot to compete for a legal position against grade average or bottom student from T14.
Law students not in the top 10%-15% most likely will have a harder time finding a legal job. Unless they have some special experience useful for a particular law firm.
Such experience can be a former medical, pharmaceutical, scientific or engineering degree and work. This is true for all tiers – law students can find work in the law industry much easier with such additional qualifications.
When applying for law schools, I recommend trying to prepare very well, pass LSAT with higher score, and apply for a couple of tier 1 law schools in addition to other applications. Strive to get into T14, period.
But even within T14, all schools are not equal. Yale and Harvard beat the rest of the bunch hands down. Graduates from those two elite law schools become elite attorneys or even presidents.
You have your ticket to success If you can get into one of those two law schools. But getting in is unlikely because these are very politically connected schools. They have high requirements and are kind of closed clubs.
Even a “looser” at the bottom of the class graduating from these two schools may get a job at a prestigious firm or company. Simply so that employers could show to potential clients that they have Yale or Harvard law grads working for them. That justifies great billing rates.
The rest of the law schools in tier 1 are trying to play catch up with the two above. They are still good for finding jobs. Feel confident to pay full tuition if you got into tier 1 law school.
How Tier 2 Law Schools Affect Career
Tier 2 is for aspiring non-elite attorneys. We may call it a “you have a shot” law school tier. Generally, these are the top 15-100 law schools in the country. Or, top 26-100 – depending on how different researches look at it.
There are two sub tiers in the Tier 2. Sub tier 1 includes law schools at about 15-50 on US news rankings. And sub tier 2 includes law schools ranked 51-100.
I graduated from tier 2 law school – Rutgers School of Law. These law schools are for those who want to be lawyers and could not or cannot get into T14. Well, this is where the struggle begins.
It is noticeably hard to find a decently paying job after these law schools, if any at all. Still, top 10%-20% law students from all Tier 2 law schools may have a chance of finding a large big law position after graduation.
Employment is not guaranteed. Top 15-25 law school grads may have it easier than grads from top 26-50, for example. And definitely more chances than law grads from tier 2 top 50-100 law schools.
Law students in tier 2 may have to initially start either in small law offices or medium-sized law firms. They may accept low-paying state government positions or get non-legal jobs. Having to try to open their practice with zero law experience is also an option.
But top students from 2L enjoy fair amount of job offers.
What is a Tier 3 Law School? What Are Tier 3 Law Schools? Career Potential Explained.
There is no much difference between tier 3 and tier 4 law schools. They are “hardship” law schools.
Hey, I started in tier 3 law school and then transferred to tier 2 law school. I think I know what I am talking about. Job prospects are hardly existent and heavily dependent on hundreds of different factors including location.
But people do find jobs even after T3. Some of my former T3 classmates are doing pretty good. One of them I know even became a judge. If you really want to be a practicing lawyer then you can succeed after any tier.
Top 10%-15% of law students in Tier 3 and tier 4 law schools may have a shot at some initial good real attorney job right after graduation and passing a bar.
Often state or local government or non-profit, like low-paying public defender’s office is the best option. Even getting a job as a prosecutor is hard. Small law is definitely a good option.
Having said that, a few of my friends from tier 3 law school became pretty good attorneys and are buying houses and nice cars. Some of them simply switched to non-legal jobs to avoid heavy competition.
Some were active volunteer participants in some non-profit legal projects. All this played a role for them later.
A few top students from tier 3 law school transferred to good tier 2 law schools. Several of T3 students I know got jobs at medium to big law firms.
Chances after T3-T4 law school
I do know a few people who quickly got jobs as lawyers after graduation from T3-T4 and after passing the bar exam. Some of them even got good jobs at decently large law firms. But those rather were exceptions.
Many such students went to work for a public defender or other similar organizations. Some people went to law enforcement, having to wear Kevlar helmets, knocking on doors of drug dealers.
Some went to work for their parents who were lawyers. Some opened their law offices and at least several of them more or less succeeded. It may be hard to get a good government job after T3-T4.
They get by fine and after years of career are even pulling decent money by having own clients.
Others went straight to work non-legal jobs after graduating.
Often T3 and T4 lead to self-employment. Yes, it is possible to open a law office after getting an attorney license even without experience.
Eventually, you may gain clientele and reputation and some decent living income. You can even become a successful attorney one day. But it is a multiyear long shot. Lots of hurdles on the way. A lot of expenses. It’s a struggle.
You must be good schmoozer and develop really good marketing skills to go self-employed attorney route. And money is rarely any good in the first several years.
I do know a couple of stories of tier 3 law school graduates now doing millions as lawyers. They are mostly self-employed and run their law business. Some grads joined together and opened their law firms as a group – they are doing ok. But, caveat emptor.
EARN EXTRA MONEY!
T3 and T4 Law School Important Advice.
Here is a law school tip: try to avoid paying more than $10,000-$15,000 in annual tuition for T4 or T3 law schools.
Save on everything, be frugal, work part-time, get a job or free internship at some law office or teach. Live with parents, sleep on bunk beds, eat dirt, cook for yourself, and limit debt to an absolute minimum.
Thank me later for this advice and send me a thank you note when you become a successful attorney.
If I had a choice between full tuition in lower tier 2 law school, and very low or almost no tuition cost at T3 or T4 law school, I would go to T4-T3 for the sake of having almost no student debt. Debt is bad. Avoid debt.
Some T3 and T4 law schools have decent reputation in their local communities. Unless you graduate in the top 5%-15% of the class chances of finding work are not hugely different between T2, T3, and T4.
T2 law school advantage
Having a T2 law school on my resume gave me some advantage because people have heard of my school – Rutgers School of Law. On the West Coast, they still think it is an Ivey League school although it is not anymore.
So, yes, the school name does offer an advantage sometimes. It gives me some level of prestige and reputation – it landed me a position where I made good money. I can put a diploma on the wall.
But, I could be in a similar set up after T4 or T3 law school, except if I could go to those for a low cost. Generally, unless it is T14 law school, or rather Harvard or Yale, it is all kind of similar with similar prospects.
Are Tier 3 and Tier 4 law schools worth it? Explained.
Here is a word of caution about law school tiers. One the one hand, tier of law school where you went defines early jobs search and possibly whole career. There is no doubt that Tier 1 law school will offer significantly more opportunities after graduation than T3 or T4 school.
Said that, not everyone from T1 becomes a lawyer. And many people form T3 an dT4 also do not become lawyers. Of you can make then you face little less competition.
Long time ago there were no law schools at all. And people became lawyers as apprentices. According to some legal scholars, ability to pass LSAT and bar exam does not necessarily correlate with ability to be a lawyers and make money as a lawyer.
I have seen people go to Tier 4 law school and make millions because they treated legal work as a business. They were excellent at making connections and getting clients. They learned their area of law very well.
Law students in tiers 3 and 4 should not get discouraged. You still can make decent legal career. But you are on your own. Your start will be much harder than if you went to T1 law school.
As a counterbalance against law school tiers hierarchy and pedigree. I suggest you balance law school costs and capitalize on local opportunities.
If you got into T3 or T4 then choose one with the lowest tuition possible. You will graduate and even after passing a bar exam the student debt greatly limits your early career options.
Most important for law student at T3 and T4 is to lower student debt as much as you can. Go to law school which charges less tuition. In-state law school tuition is better than out-of-state one.
And be careful with scholarships. Law school scholarships may vanish after your first semester or 1L year when you get inferior grades.
And most law students in T3 and T4 do not get good grades. This is how curve and pedigree works. T1 and T2 schools grade their students easier and grades may be even inflated to keep law school rank. But T3 and T4 grade very hard keeping your grades low.
T3 and T4 law schools give student low grades. Most students at low ranking law schools obtain average GPA of 2.0-2.9. With 2.9 being pretty much the maximum one can get. Only top 10%-15% of class gets GPA higher than 2.9.
You may still have good law practice after low-tiered law school. If boring and tedious law practice is something you really want to do every day.
Based on my observation and research, the number one regret of people who went to lower-ranked law schools is student debt.
On the opposite, I have met and read about many happy lawyers who went to tier 3 or 4 law school but for quite cheap. And they usually never regret going to law school. Because they do not have student debt hanging over them.
There are few very successful and highly paid lawyers who went to bad law schools in low tiers. Although, those are rather exceptions.
Therefore, the verdict for T2, T3, and T4 law schools is as follows:
Choose law school based on:
1. Lower cost, and
2. Location in a better job market.
You may want to read my other law school article about various GPAs and their effect on law school admissions – GPA necessary for law school.
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Unaccredited law schools, unapproved law schools, non-approved law schools or Non-ABA-Approved Law Schools.
I would stay away from unaccredited or unapproved and other such law schools. Avoid them at all costs.
I saw unaccredited law school go bust, leaving students in limbo, with student debt. Unless you are rejected everywhere else, unless you can go for no more than $10,000 in TOTAL student debt for going there, they are not worth it.
Better buy bar review course and try to take bar in those states which allow taking bar exam without going to law school. See my other articles.
The vast majority of states do not allow law students in unaccredited schools to sit for a bar exam after graduation.
Also, are unranked law schools bad? If they fall in the category above, then yes, they are bad.
On the good side, some of those law schools are offering online learning or distance learning options. I mean, who knows, maybe you can finish one of such schools, pass the bar and still become a successful attorney. You can check them here.
Here is the last tip. You want to live and work in city A. You were accepted in T3 in City A with $15,000 annual tuition cost and T2 in City B in another state with an annual tuition of $35,000.
I would go to T3 in my city A over T2 in city B in another state. But if the difference is $15,000 vs. $25,000, then it may be not such a significant difference and I would go to T2 in city B. And that is what I actually did.
On the other hand, if going to T2 in city B will yield you some more connections or opportunities there… I may go there if there is some kind of more decent job market. If not (not a large city nearby) – forget about T2 entirely.
This is just an example of my train of thought. I am not advising but rather sharing my educated opinion. You must balance things.
LSAT Exam Preparation is critically important for law school
Law schools in 1 and 2 tiers require high LSAT score. In fact, even with average GPA you may get into one of the high-ranking law schools if you excel on your LSAT exam. High-ranking school almost always leads to a much better starting job and way better paid career.
If you manage to get into T14 with excellent LSAT scores, and then in the future decide to branch of Big Law and open own law office, the caliber of clientele you may get having graduated from, say, Columbia, vs. T4 varies greatly.
And your ability to bill them good hourly fee also depends on what kind of diploma is hanging on your wall in the office.
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I would take this offer. Best of luck to you.
