by Patricia Thorton

Created on: September 05, 2008   Last Updated: September 22, 2008

Are you looking for a lucrative career as an attorney? Then look for the highest ranked school! It is that simple. Some of the best law firms in this country will not even look at the name on your application unless you attended a top 100 law school. A lot of people will tell you that ranking is not everything. Some schools that are ranked low have better bar passing rates than schools that are ranked higher. Great, your going to pass the bar exam, congratulations. But if you cant get a good job, what was the point of passing the bar?

I am not saying go to Harvard or do not go to law school at all. I am simply saying that you should go to the highest ranked school possible according to your Grade Point Average and Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) score (if you do not know what this test is, you seriously need to go to LSAC.org and read everything on that website). If you go to princetonreview.com you can check out the average starting salaries of students who graduate from a given law school. You will notice that the schools that are not ranked will have very low salaries, with most of their graduates going to work for the government.

Check out the rankings of all of the law schools in the United States at usnews.com. Do not listen to people who tell you that a school is "overrated" when it is ranked high. And do not let someone convince you to attend a lower ranked school because of this. I have personally been told that I should pass up the opportunity to go to a top 50 law school and go to a school that isn't even ranked because the top 50 school is 50% more expensive! Well if you get double the salary (which is the case in this situation) I think it is worth it, dont you?

Sadly, you will run into a lot of people who wish that they could be doing what you are doing by going to law school. And rightly so, you are making a big decision, and you will need to work hard. Do not sell yourself short. Reach for the highest law school that you can possibly attend. If you are committed to working harder than you ever have in your entire life, you will succeed. My last peice of advice would be to join Phi Alpha Delta (www.pad.org). They are a pre-law fraternity on most college campusses. It is great to have fellow students going through the tough admissions process with you. And make sure you prepare really well for your LSAT, it is the toughest test I have ever taken in my life (im sure the bar will be worse). I wish you all of the best luck. I hope you are able to attain all of your goals.

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