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books on a table at one of the best law schools for a juris doctor degree

5 Best Schools for a Juris Doctor Degree

Being admitted into a competitive top law school can open doors for the rest of your lifetime. Graduating with your juris doctor degree can give a graduate the shot at being placed in a high-salaried position with a law firm or even becoming a Supreme Court justice.

Gaining admission to a top-rated law school is often extremely difficult, but the process can be worth the temporary sacrifice in the future. From mastering the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) to maintaining a high GPA during college, students must be adept at putting together a strong application if they wish to gain admission to the following law schools.

  1. Yale Law School
    Yale Law School has consistently been rated as the No. 1 top law school in the U.S. News and World Report law school rankings ever since the publication made its first debut. Yale Law School has an admissions rate of 6%, and the school boasts the lowest faculty-to-studio ratio in the country. Students will find that faculty members are genuinely invested and accessible. Students also have access to the Lillian Goldman Law Library, which houses more than 800,000 publications.
  2. Harvard Law School
    Harvard Law School is another consistently top-rated law school in the U.S. There is a noticeably sharper competitive edge for courses at Harvard than at Yale. The median LSAT score of students entering Harvard is a 175. Students interested in corporate law and practicing at a big law firm will feel supported in the environment at HLS.
  3. New York University School of Law
    NYU School of Law maintains an ultra-competitive admissions process. NYU Law is known for its excellent clinical programs that provide students with experience in the practice of law. Graduates enjoy a strong employment rate of about 92%. Over 60% of NYU law school graduates decide to pursue employment at large law firms. This school also has a strong bar admissions passage rate, with more than 96% of NYU law students passing the bar exam on their first attempt.
  4. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor School of Law
    The University of Michigan-Ann Arbor School of Law is an excellent option for public-interest minded law students. This top law school has a strong public-interest-law community. The Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse provides students with extensive research opportunities during law school and the opportunity to make a positive contribution to legal scholarship. The diverse culture of the law school community is a major draw for students considering UM Law.
  5. Stanford University School of Law
    Stanford Law is another exceedingly competitive top law school, and students should be prepared to have top stats if they intend on applying for admission. The law school is located in sunny California and provides students with numerous opportunities to become involved in legal research with faculty members during their time in school. Stanford recently partnered with NYU to create a drone study that has become a leading piece of legal scholarship.
Last Updated: June 16, 2017