What a Law School Aspirant Must Know About Top Law Schools in North America!

Students have regained a great deal of interest for studying at law schools in the recent years. A lot of students are actually allured by the six figure salaries that are paid by the major law firms. Although, it must be understood that while the right school sets you on the right path to a reasonably competitive public sector or corporate job, the wrong selection might lead to a waste of three or more years and a significant amount of money.

Importance of International Law in Coming Years

Law school students that are going to graduate in 2013 and the next few years will most likely see much more job prospects at the highest paying law firms. Given that the economy keeps recovering, corporations are going to be less mindful money wise than they were at the time of the recession, and so the demand for legal professionals to handle mergers and acquisitions, for instance, will likely raise significantly; a substantial rise in such activity was observed in the second half of the year 2012.

In 2013, the law school students who concentrate on laws associated with treaties and trade, free trade, workers’ protections, and global financial relationships are almost certainly going to appeal to the employers.

At several law schools, there’s an option to choose from a selection of international law courses and activities. The law school ranked best in the field of international law by the U.S. News, New York University Law School, provides a range of programs focused on international law, including the HGLSP (Hauser Global Law School Program) and IILJ (Institute for International Law and Justice).

The Best Law Schools of America

Columbia Law School
The most notable school on the employment prospects list is the Columbia Law School located in New York City. Based on data provided by the school, almost 99% of graduates ended up being employed 9 months after their graduation, and their median starting-salary was close to $160,000.

Total cost for tuition, board, room, books and fees is $74,970 annually. The average debt bared by Columbia graduates is a whopping $129,400. But, it must be noted that employers comprise of world-wide corporate law firms, many federal government agencies and judges, along with public interest groups and NGOs.

University of Chicago
University of Chicago is placed second in that list, again with 99% of graduates getting employed 9 months after completion and similar to Columbia, beginning with an average salary of about $160,000.

The annual cost for tuition, board, room, books and fees at U of C totals to $63,699 and the average debt load on grads is around $125,284. It reports that the grads join leading law firms like Latham & Watkins, Cravath and Swain & Moore.

U.C. Berkeley School of Law
The law school that ranks 3rd in terms of career prospects is the U.C. Berkeley School of Law, having 96% of graduates employed 9 months after passing out and the median starting salary is again, $160,000. The annual fees for out-of-state students is $67,730 and they bear an average debt of $91,277. Around 69%, get into private practice, 11% are employed at public interest groups, 11% undertake judicial clerkship’s and 7% work in government.

Stanford Law School
The very best school if you would like to get paid well is the Stanford Law School, that tops the list with a median mid-career pay of a whopping $236,000.

The annual cost for education is $49,179.

The law school was set up in 1908 and over the century, Stanford Law evolved into one of the leading law schools in the nation, has accumulated a library that has above 500,000 books.

Alumni includes renowned leaders in government, the courts and business.

University of Toronto – Faculty of Law

Faculty of Law is actually among the oldest of professional faculties setup at University of Toronto. Not just that, it’s also probably the most selective among the law schools in the country.

Every year, Maclean’s magazine ranks it at number one. Even though college rankings in Canada aren’t as pertinent as they are in the US, the University of Toronto is usually been considered as the finest law school in the nation, and also as among the top ones in the North America.

When most law schools in Canada have annual fees close to $15,000, education at this university costs above $25,000 (not including incidental fees). Grads include present justices of Supreme Court of Canada, current and former prime ministers and parliamentarians, elected officials and even professors at these sort of leading institutions like Harvard.

Yale Law School
Numerous top rated U.S. law schools have got deans that attended their education at YLS.

Smaller, esteemed, and very picky, YLS bestows the LL.M., J.D., J.S.D., and the M.S.L. degrees. The U.S. News’ high-ranked law school is actually the third most steeply-priced in the country and costs around $52,525 annually.

The school has as many as 700 students, yet boasts the average class-size of less than 20 students. The present day’s crop of Yale comprises of Senator Joseph Lieberman, Hillary and Bill Clinton and many Supreme Court Justices.

Harvard Law School
HLS was established in the year 1817 and carries the recognition of being the most ancient continually functioning law school in the U.S. Its brand has grown to be identifiable with both quality and legance, although its countless detractors (probably declined applicants?) have criticized for its size, along with some other things.

Despite of all this noise, HLS is the real gold standard. The tuition fees is around $49,950 and living expenses estimation of nearly $25,850. The institution has got a student body of around 1900 in addition to above 100 professors working full-time. Notable alumni include U.S. President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. HLS, by these along with every other measure, is definitely one of the best five law schools throughout the world.

Admission Requirements You Should Know About

Although every law school has got its own requirements, there are some crucial things that every single school demands; and these are layed out below.

1) Undergraduate Degree and GPA
A higher GPA means that you most likely perform better in school and you’ll possibly be in a position to manage the academic challenges of a law school. Once you apply, the LSAC(Law School Admission Council) is able to combine your LSAT score along with undergraduate GPA to generate a LSAT-GPA Index that’s school-specific and is utilized to primarily benchmark you versus other candidates to the school.

2) LSAT Score
The desired range of LSAT score vary with law schools. Based on the time of the year you are going to apply, school might recommend a specific LSAT administration, and so you might want to verify that. Additionally, if you’re not certain about how your target school deals with multiple scores, make sure to inquire the admissions office for further clarification.

3) Personal Statement
Most law schools that are ABA-accredited will want you to submit some sort of a personal statement along with the application. Use this opportunity to “communicate” with admissions committee with regards to your personality and characteristics which could influence them that you are really a competent candidate.

4) Recommendations
Once again, most of the ABA-accredited schools demand at least a single professional recommendation, however there are a few schools who do not need any. Having said that, recommendations typically help instead of a hurting an application, and so in case you can obtain a good one from a person you admire, go for it perhaps even if it isn’t officially required.