How to Create Your Law School List

This blog was co-authored by Paula Gluzman and Anna Hicks-Jaco. You can read Paula’s full bio at the end of this post.

When it comes to assessing your list of schools and where you ultimately decide to apply, each person goes about it differently, and that’s okay! Your application process is unique, because everyone has different priorities and factors to consider when creating their reach, target, and “safety” school list. In this post, we hope to help you think through the mountain of information and choices out there so that you can set yourself up for a successful application cycle by having good options to decide from once decisions start coming in. 

Getting Started

First, it's important to stay organized as you dive into this rabbit hole of research. We recommend that you create a spreadsheet to collect standardized, comparable information about the various law schools you are considering. You can use this spreadsheet to keep track of law schools’ LSAT and GPA medians, their application requirements (what is their page limit for the personal statement? Do they have any other required essays? What about optional essays?), and any information that’s personally important to you in choosing a law school (e.g. employment stats, bar passage rates, location, clinics, journals). This will allow you to organize your research and compare and contrast law schools in a simple, easily-reviewable format.

Two Steps to Assess Law Schools

1. Estimate Your Chances: Reach, Target, & “Safety” Schools

Before you start researching the details of law schools’ programs, offerings, and outcomes, it’s useful to get a handle on which types of schools are realistically in your range for applying, i.e., what are your chances of getting in? This is mostly assessed based on the two most important aspects of your applicant profile: your (highest) LSAT score and your LSAC-calculated cumulative GPA—specifically, how they compare to law schools' median LSATs and GPAs. If you do not yet have an LSAT score, this can still be a helpful exercise in determining what range of LSAT score you’ll need to target various schools.

You may have heard about reach, target, and “safety” schools. This is generally a helpful way to create a school list that is both realistic and ambitious. While the calculation of which schools fall into each of these categories is, to some extent, individual to each applicant and the “soft” factors that they bring to the table, here is a guide to serve as a general rule of thumb for categorizing your list based on your chances of admission according to your numbers. 

• Reach schools have medians that are higher than your numbers, which means they are more competitive and will be harder for you to get in… hence, you are “reaching” for them. 
• Target schools have medians that closely resemble your numbers—maybe you’re slightly over one median but slightly under another, maybe you’re slightly above both, maybe your GPA is well below median but your LSAT is well above. With these schools, you’re likely somewhere within the target of their middle ground.
• “Safety” schools have medians that are lower than your numbers, meaning you are very desirable to these schools and you have a strong chance of getting in, hence they are a safety net for you. If you are a “splitter” with a high LSAT but a low GPA, these schools are trickier to identify, but generally, you should be looking for schools where you are at least a few points above their LSAT median. If you are a “reverse splitter” with a high GPA but a lower LSAT, you’ll still need to look for schools where you are at or above their LSAT median to truly consider them a “safety school.” Important note: these schools should still be ones you are interested in attending—if there are no schools that genuinely appeal to you in this range, you may want to consider another backup plan (or an LSAT retake).

Note: If you have exceptional circumstances, such as coming from a group that is significantly underrepresented in law schools and the legal field, or significant C&F issues (think academic dishonesty, not underage drinking), this calculation may shift one way or the other, and you may want to apply more broadly generally.

So how do you research law schools’ medians?

You can look at a law school’s website for their admitted student profile, or Google Spivey’s median tracker spreadsheet to see schools’ numbers and compare yours for a quick assessment (we start a new spreadsheet each year in August as law schools begin unofficially releasing their medians). You can also use LSAC’s Official Guide to ABA-Approved Law Schools to see more granular information about who law schools are admitting at various intersections of uGPA/LSAT (not all law schools release this info here, but for those that do, click the “Explore admissions data” link at the bottom of the school’s profile). For less official data, you can also check out who schools are admitting/denying with various empirical profiles on sites like Law School Data. Though this data is all self-reported and doesn’t provide a complete picture of any school’s admissions practices, looking at the results of applicants with similar numbers to yours can be a helpful starting point. 

2. Determine Which Schools Appeal to YOU

With 197 ABA-accredited law schools in the United States, many people begin their assessment process by looking at law schools’ rankings. While deeply flawed, rankings can give a general approximation of law schools’ reputations. But don’t stop there! So many other factors go into finding the right school for you and your goals. Beyond getting into the "best ranked" school you can get into (a common strategy for applicants), you will want to look closely at law schools’ outcome metrics (employment and bar passage) in addition to an array of more subjective factors. The idea here is to make sure you actually want to go the law school and that it will give you an experience that fits your goals and needs. It is a balance of finding schools where you can get in, but also where you’ll be happy. So, give yourself the chance to evaluate what else is important for your law school experience. 

Where to research law school information and offerings:

• You can view all ABA-accredited law schools’ employment outcomes and bar passage rates on the centralized ABA-Required Disclosures website. This is an easy way to see where, generally, a law school’s graduates are obtaining employment after graduation and how well they are doing at passing the bar. 
• NALP (the National Association for Law Placement) also has a great deal of employment information in their NALP Directory of Law Schools.
• LSAC provides an Official Guide to all ABA-approved law schools that includes both the required disclosures and additional information about admissions, curricula, and other offerings. You can also search for law schools by state or region here.
• Our website My Rank is a free tool you can use to create your own customized law school rankings according to which metrics you care about most. You may see law schools appear on your list that you hadn’t considered before. This is also a great way to determine which safety schools you may want to apply to as opposed to others.
• This may be obvious, but each law school has a website you can easily find, and the admissions page should lead you to a great deal of information you may want to know. 
• A lot can be learned from directly interacting with law school admissions offices as well—at recruiting events, emails or calls, and campus visits.
• Finally, you can learn a great deal from current or recent students. If you (like most applicants) don’t know anyone personally who could help you here, try reaching out to an alumnus of your undergraduate institution who attended the law school via LinkedIn.

Common factors to consider:

The following is a list of factors for you to consider when researching law schools for your needs and goals. You can create a checklist for yourself based on your preferences for these factors as you research each school.

• Location (Where do you prefer to live? Do you want to live here during law school or after as you begin your career? Is the location advantageous for your career goals?)
• Cost and Financial Aid (How important is cost/scholarship aid to you? Can you afford this school if you do not get a scholarship?) 
• Job Placements and Career Advising (What type(s) of jobs are you aiming for after graduation, and how do this law school’s employment outcomes compare? What is the size and structure of the career office, and how does it work with students?)
• Academic Curriculum, Programs, and Specializations (Do you know what kind of law you want to practice? Do you know what practice areas you want to focus on during law school? Does this school have a specific program related to your interests? How important is that to you?) 
• Experiential Learning (What clinic would you join? Are there many chances for you to get hands-on training while at this school?)
• Faculty (Is a low student/professor ratio important to you? Do you want professors who engage in student life?)
• Class Size and Length of Program (Do you prefer a smaller student body? Full time/part time?) 
• Extracurriculars (Do you want to join trial teams, journals, research centers? What types of opportunities does the school offer?)
• Culture and Diversity (Which affinity student groups would you join at this school? Is a diverse staff/faculty important to you? What kind of an ideal atmosphere do you want? Is a feeling of genuine belonging important to you, and what would contribute to you feeling this sense of belonging?)
• Student Organizations and Activities (Which interest-related student groups would you join? Are there unique campus events you would want to join/participate in?) 
• Alumni Involvement and Network (Is the alumni network important to you?) 
• Support Services (Will you have access to good support, accommodations, etc.?)
• Law School Building and Facilities (Is a newer building important to you? Do you care if you attend a stand-alone law school or one affiliated with a main university/campus?) 
• Bar Passage (What is this law school’s bar passage rate? How important is this to you? What type of bar support does this law school offer?)
• Other Personal Preferences/Requirements (Are there other circumstances in your life that relate to where you live and go to school? Do you want or need any particular attributes based on these individual circumstances?)

For some applicants, the priority of these factors could look like one or more of these:

• Rankings-Driven: The highest ranking is the only factor, and they can afford to pay full tuition if they have to. 
• Finances-Driven: Cost and scholarship will play a big role, so safety schools may win out here.
• Life Circumstances-Driven: Family situation or commitments necessitate attending law school in a certain geographical location. 
• Specialization-Driven: An applicants' dream school may be a lower ranked school that is top-ranked in their desired legal practice specialization. 
• Opportunity-Driven: Statistically speaking, students who come in above a law school’s 75th percentile LSAT tend to stay in the top quartile of their class, which then makes them more competitive for employment opportunities. This can be a key consideration for applicants who choose to attend one of their “safety” schools. 

Putting It All Together

We encourage applicants to consider a combination of all of these factors: your chances of getting in based on the numbers, AND the many subjectively-valued factors that make a law school the best fit for you and your needs/goals. 

So, first, assess your probability of admission, and add into your spreadsheet the schools from each category of reach, target, and safety schools that interest you and meet one or more of your personal criteria. Search by state if location matters to you. Search within your median range for schools with particular programs in your practice areas of interest. We recommend color-coding these for easier reference. Make sure you add in your dream schools, regardless of their ranking or your chances of getting in. Everyone has dream schools in mind, and you’ll feel good having them in your spreadsheet. When adding in safety schools, be more discerning so that if this school ends up being your best/only option, it has a lot of excellent factors that would make it a good fit. If your numbers are split (meaning one of your numbers is above the school’s median, and the other number is below), then know that your chances are harder to predict and you may want to add more schools to your list to be on the safe side. 

As you fine-tune your research, the goal is to end up with a broad range of safety, target, and reach schools that offer the factors that you know will make your legal education enriching and right for your goals. The number of schools you apply to will differ from applicant to applicant, but as long as you have several options within the range of safety, target, and reach schools, you should be covered.

One final note we will make about creating your law school list: what may be important to you now may (and likely will!) evolve once you know where you've been admitted and have to make a choice of where to actually attend. In this light, be open minded when making your list.

Paula Gluzman has over a decade of experience in legal practice and law school administration. Her true passion for working with students throughout their entire law school journey is demonstrated through her diverse professional positions. As the Assistant Director of Admissions & Financial Aid at the University of Washington School of Law and later at UCLA School of Law, Paula has read and evaluated hundreds of admissions files, interviewed applicants, and worked directly with candidates all over the country and abroad to advise them on the law school admissions process. In addition to mentoring and advising pre-law students and traveling the country to present on law school admissions topics, Paula also worked in law school career services, employer outreach and recruiting, and professional development training. She has reviewed and edited hundreds of resumes, cover letters, and other application materials, as well as graded California Bar exam practice tests. Additionally, Paula’s work as a law school career advisor allows her to bring the full-circle perspective to the admissions process, helping applicants make informed and strategic law school decisions from a career and professional development perspective.

Paula has served in elected leadership and board positions during law school (including a journal comments editor), and professionally in NALP (National Association for Law Placement), SDLRA (San Diego Legal Recruiting Association), and LEAP (Legal Education Access Pipeline). As an immigrant and the first in her family to attend law school, Paula is proactive in promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in legal education and hiring. In the years that she has studied and engaged in DE&I work, she understands the challenges involved in getting to law school and the value of knowledgeable mentorship through the admissions process. As Spivey Consulting Group’s Director of Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives, Paula also spearheads the firm’s annual Pro-Bono Program and other efforts to provide equal access to law school admissions information.

Lastly, to complement her advising and counseling experience, Paula prides herself on helping her clients bring their stories to life through their statements. Through her personal passion for written expression, as well as her academic and professional writing and editing experience, Paula provides each client with the guidance to showcase their best attributes and highlight how they add distinguishing value to their future law school.