For those who have a law degree on the horizon, the US News’s best law school list is of high significance. Where you earn your degree matters considerably and can lay out the path for career progression. Graduation from a top school could guarantee employment, a lucrative one at that.
Since 2018, the US News releases the latest law school rankings every year based on expert opinions on the quality of each program. They take into account statistical indicators to measure the quality, as well as quantify a school’s faculty, students, and research prospects.
If you have your eyes set on a law school, then this article offers an interesting read.
Highlights of 2021 Law School Rankings
Yale Law continues to be ranked no.1 by the US News, with an acceptance rate of 9.7%. The prestigious law program offers numerous specializations from administrative law, criminal, corporate, history, teaching, and more. Almost 100% of Yale graduates go on to pass the bar in the local jurisdiction.
For the third time in the row, Stanford and Harvard Law Schools maintained the second and third places on the list. Columbia Law has moved up a position to tie for fourth place with the University of Chicago this year.
Other universities who kept their ranks are the New York University School of Law at six, Penn Law, and University of Virginia school of law at positions seven and eight. In the top 14, the big victory goes for Fordham, Florida, Illinois, and UNC, who have jumped their ranking significantly higher from the previous years.
This year, for the first time, specialties of criminal law, constitutional law, corporate law, and commercial law were also ranked.
The US News methodology includes peer assessment scores and the overall quality to rank the schools that can offer you the most incredible learning experiences. Here are the top 20 universities that made into the list this year.
- Yale University, New Haven, CT
- Stanford University, Stanford, CA
- Harvard University, Cambridge MA
- Columbia University, New York, NY
- University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
- New York University, New York NY
- University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
- University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
- Northwestern University, Chicago, IL
- University of California, Berkeley, CA
- University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
- Duke University, Durham. NC
- Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
- Georgetown University. DC
- University of California, Los Angeles, CA
- University of Texas, Austin, Texas
- Washington University, St. Louis. Missouri
- University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
- Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
- Boston University, Boston, MA
Getting into a Top Law School
Top tier programs such as Yale and Columbia Law has some of the highest standards of admission. Among the ten best rated-law schools, the median LSAT score for students is a minimum of 170 out of 180. This stellar score is almost always accompanied by an outstanding GPA of a mean 3.9 on a four-point grade system.
One of the driving factors behind the seemingly unmountable challenge is a large number of students eager to get accepted. The law school admission data reveals that competition is not limited to US applicants alone, students from all over the world compete for the coveted seats of 1op ranking law schools.
The job market is also exceedingly welcoming for graduates of top law schools. Regardless of the rest of the market, access to the best education and training in the field make them highly-qualified candidates. And if academia is your forte, the prestige of the school could open doors to highly prestigious parts of the legal profession open for you.
With a limited number of spots, aspiring lawyers have to strive hard and persistently to land one of the most desired seats in one of the best law schools in the country.
