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Step 1
Choose a geographical location that you like. Almost every law student, even those that don’t intend to, end up living and working in the same city that they went to school in. There are a thousand reasons why. Some just end up liking the area, some find a partner or spouse from the area and some just find it easier to get a job. Whatever the eventual reason, choose an area that you will want to live in.
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Step 2
Figure out what kind of law you would like to practice. While national law school rankings is one way to determine a top law school, knowing what type of law you’d like to practice or what kind of lawyer you’d like to be is more helpful that a national ranking arbitrarily selecting the order of law schools. For example, Stetson School of Law in the Tampa area is the routinely the top ranked school for litigation attorneys, but is routinely not ranked in the top 100 law schools by U.S. News (the torch bearer of rankers). Or, William Mitchell College of Law in Minnesota is known as a school that pumps out lawyers that are years ahead in practical experience of students from “top” law schools, but is never ranked in U.S. News’ top 100. The point is, figure out what kind of law or what kind of lawyer you might want to be. The decision could make your career.
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Step 3
Look at the U.S. News’ rankings. Despite their somewhat arbitrary ranking of schools, they aren’t usually that far off the mark when it comes to judging national reputation. This is especially important for those who aren’t interested in staying in one location. The list can be found by a simple Internet search.
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Step 4
Once you find a city you’d like to live in, check out the reputation of the schools in the area. Many metro areas have several law schools. And, despite the U.S. News rankings, the reputation of the schools can have no correlation locally. For instance, Minneapolis-St. Paul has four law schools, three of which are evenly ranked nationally and one which is ranked very high but is also very hard to get into. If you don’t have the scores to get into the local top school, don't worry. National rankings usually mean very little to the cities in which schools are located. Again, Minneapolis/St. Paul is a good example, in which the University of Minnesota is clearly ranked better nationally but William Mitchell rivals it locally (with the other two schools falling short in the local reputation category). The point is, do some research and figure out the reputation of the schools locally.
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Step 5
Visit the schools. Don’t be fooled, however, but pomp and arrogance into thinking that some schools are great. If school officials and the students representing the school act like snobs during the admitted student’s day, the school is snobbish rather than elite—there is a difference. Instead, pay attention to what the professors and students that are trying to sway you are actually saying. Simply pick the one that resonates with you the best. Your gut reaction is usually the best.
