Top AA Law Schools | Asian American University

TOP AA LAW SCHOOLS
(Updated Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:48:12 PM to reflect the 100 most recent valid responses.)

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WHAT YOU SAY

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Im an asian living in oz. I came across this site during a bit of quiet time at work.

Over here, law course are taught at an undergrad level just like every other course. A reasonabley diligent person could finish highschool, complete a 4 year university course (or "college" course as u guys call them) and be admitted within 6 months after graduating and taking up a job in a firm. ie 4.5 yrs all up.

Dam you guys have it tough.

But is it true that ur graduates start on $100k US???

We average $50k at best - and that is in Australian pesos. ie about $27k US.
Smarty smarty@aemail4u.com Tuesday, November 19, 2002 at 20:32:31 (PST) [203.185.246.193]

Almost nobody knows UVA.

UVA may be a top law school, but do all people go to law schools? What programs at UVA are better than Berkeley? Engineering? Chemistry? Biology? English? Computer science? Political science? History? Look at US news ranking. Most of Berkeley's programs are ranked top 1, 2, 3. Does UVA have any programs ranked top 3 by US news or other ranking magazines? I guess not.

I think that school name recognition or top school name is made by not only law school, but also all other programs. UVA is a regionl school, but Berkekey is a top national school.
In all asian countries... Wednesday, November 13, 2002 at 11:03:44 (PST) [172.136.129.158]

Oh, I thought the poll was asking "which of the following law schools is most highly regarded among Asian Americans?" Which to me is really just "which of the following schools...?" And my opinion is that a lot of Asian Americans regard UCLA and Berkeley very highly, in addition to Harvard Yale and Stanford.
I think if the poll had been phrased "Which law school do YOU regard most highly?" the results would have been a lot different.

As for the Virginia vs. Berkeley GPA thing, I have some trouble accepting CAgentility's claims. For one thing, an admissions officer at NYU lists Berkeley as one of their top 10 feeder schools in a chat transcript. Virginia is not included in the list (although I don't think it's all-inclusive). This transcript can be viewed at: http://www.law.nyu.edu/depts/admissions/chat/100600.html

What I have heard from numerous sources is that law schools in the Northeast want students from the South, to add to their geographic diversity (apparently students in the South tend to stay at schools in the South), whereas there is not really any advantage to students coming from the West Coast or the Northeast in admissions, except to schools in the Midwest, and to a lesser extent, the South. I think it is more likely that the schools CAgentility listed lowered the bar for UVA students, because they want students from the South. For example, the 3 pt difference in avg. LSAT is at Penn and Cornell. At Duke there is only a 2 pt difference.
Another consideration, and I am not sure how valid this is: I was struck by the very low matriculation rates at Columbia listed by biaknabato -- 1 out of 13.
I do agree that a lot of students at Berkeley (as well as UCLA) have unrealistic ideas about how national the reputation of the school is. Berkeley, and to a lesser extent UCLA, is such a big deal in California, and when people see this confirmed by US News rankings (20 and 26 respectively this year), they just automatically assume that people in other regions of the country think just as highly of the school. Of course schools almost always have better regional reputations than national, simply because a higher percentage of people in that region apply there and a lot people who live there will personally know someone who is "really smart" but didn't get in. But if you ask the average Berkeley student to name another well-regarded public school, or to name the flagship campus of another state school system, they'll say "uh...." "University of Michigan at where?" "Umass? What state is that in?" And they don't make the connection that in other parts of the US, the reaction to "Berkeley" is very similar:
The look people get when you say you are from Berkeley: Spark of recognition ("I've heard that name before"), then the thoughtful, perhaps confused, look ("What have I heard about that school? Hmm....potsmokers? Oh, but this person seems nice...")
Okay, that makes it sound worse than it is, but I do think that a lot of Berkeley students (and UCLA students) really think the regional rep and the national rep of Berkeley are the same, when they are definitely not.
But I do not think Boalt Hall is much more respected than UVA.
Wellington Monday, November 11, 2002 at 18:06:51 (PST) [169.232.230.215]

I am an Asian. Harvard is the most well known school and UC berkeley is next.
J. Cho; 3 year student Wednesday, October 23, 2002 at 14:42:23 (PDT) [172.167.38.131]

If you are thinking of going to law school, you should consider the University of Wisconsin. Its a good school academically and has a great reputation. There are also lots of international students, most of whom are from countries in Asia. In fact, the MLI program here is made up of almost entirely Asian students from Korea, Japan, China, Vietnam, Thailand, and Taiwan, to name a few.

I would also encourage those who have science or technical degrees to go to law school. You have an advantage over law students with liberal arts degrees. I did my undergrad in computer science, and I plan on going into patent law, which requires a degree in science or engineering. Regarding grades: My undergrad grades were pretty bad, but I believe the law school admissions officers recognize that science and engineering courses can be more difficult, and take that into account.
ryan lt141@hotmail.com Tuesday, October 01, 2002 at 08:08:15 (PDT) [144.92.164.199]

Maybe because I watched Legally Blonde...
IP law kicks ass Friday, September 27, 2002 at 08:38:07 (PDT) [128.200.104.107]

I just think that Berkeley offers a KICK ASS LAW SCHOOL!!! Well, don't ask me where I'm applying to because it'll have to be Stanford since I heard it's better for environmental law. Berkeley still ROCKS!
Future Environmental Lawyer Friday, August 30, 2002 at 08:21:00 (PDT)

bruins rule
Stagasaurus Monday, August 26, 2002 at 16:59:57 (PDT)

Law School Is a Joke,

I think you're being unfair. Law schools admit applicants that they believe will be successful lawyers -- a career that requires logic, speaking and writing skills. Law school is not a reward for students who major in subjects that would be "useful" in the "outside world." An individual who has a 4.0 in art history may have a harder time finding a job using that major straight out of college than an engineering major, but he or she may have demonstrated logic, speaking, and writing skills that would make her a good lawyer. An engineering major with, say, a 3.0 might get a lucrative position right out of college but might not have shown that he has the skills that would make him a good lawyer.

I also think your treatment of the liberal arts and social sciences is unfair. It's a common perception -- perhaps especially among modern Asians
-- that these are "fluff" majors. But they are important and often rigorous disciplines, not only in Western society but in traditional Asian culture as well. Therefore, why shouldn't a woman -- or a man, for that matter -- be proud of getting a 4.0 in art history? Or philosophy? Or economics? Why shouldn't any student be proud of writing a literature thesis that sheds new light on old texts? And even putting the inherent value of the liberal arts and social sciences aside, it's not necessarily true that an engineering student with a mediocre GPA would shine if he switched to art history. Can you say that for sure about yourself? And if you can, why DIDN'T you switch majors, as JJP asks?
By the way, I absolutely agree with JJP that most of the men I knew in law school majored in the liberal arts or social sciences. And I know a number of women who did well as engineering majors, went on to law school, and are now highly respected attorneys. Some use their engineering expertise regularly in the course of an intellectual property practice.
TexAsian Tuesday, August 20, 2002 at 17:07:51 (PDT)

"Joke"--

Don't you think the same logic applies to men?

Most of the men I knew in law school also majored in the liberal arts. (Apparently, you're not one who appreciates the value of learning for learning's sake). It was hardly as if every guy in law school is an engineer and every woman majored in basket-weaving.

If you were silly enough to major in engineering knowing that you wanted to go to law school, that's your problem. You chose to put yourself at a competitive disadvantage. You just didn't plan right in picking your major.

Besides, law is not merely an academic discipline. It is a practical trade, which requires as much social skill and common-sense intuition as it does academic ability. It's not a joke. Part of the trick of getting is being clever enough to know how to play the game. That's the implicit admissions standard, beyond your grades and LSAT. And maybe some of those "dumb blondes" were just better at that game than you were.
JJP Monday, August 19, 2002 at 10:48:39 (PDT)

I want to change the topic a little. It has been a recent trend that women are making up half of the law school students in almost all universities. Here's my philosophy of it all. Many women who went to college as undergrads have major in the so called "Mickey Mouse" degrees. These liberal arts degrees have little meaning and are worthless in the outside world. These degrees are easy to come by and are useless, unless these women achieved high grades. How can a woman be proud of getting a 4.0 in art history? Anyways, that 4.0 can get them in a top law school if they do a decent job on the LSAT. However, a guy with an engineering undergraduate who had to struggle with difficult courses that resulted in him getting a lesser GPA, will not get into law school. The point is, law school admissions is a joke. Even a dumb blonde can go to law school if she knows which undergrad degree is the easiest on grades.
Law School is a Joke Saturday, August 17, 2002 at 15:26:41 (PDT)

I feel that the best law schools in the country for Asian Americans would probably be Yale and Harvard simply because they are considered the best law schools in the country for just about anyone.
Then again if Asian Americans, like other minority groups, want to congregate with one another and band together, which can be good as well as bad, then I feel that public schools (Cal, UCLA, Michigan, Virginia) are a better fit.
Pro Publicis Friday, August 02, 2002 at 18:53:38 (PDT)

Annapolis-Harvard Law Grad --

Your remark on math majors was unduly offensive. I graduated with an engineering degree in computer science and algorithmic theory.

Stooping to the base level of personal attacks on public forums is a measure of last resort, that deviates from the original intent of these message boards to hash out pertinent issues, and serves little purpose aside from putting a poor sense of propriety on display.
firesnake Monday, July 15, 2002 at 13:44:36 (PDT)

Annapolis-Harvard Law Grad,

I doubt many engineer care of the mathematical groups or fields that their functions operate in. Theoretical math is not a field for everyone. Do engineer really care if a donut and a coffee cup share the same topology. Much less want to prove that fact.

In academics I enjoyed fields which questions underlying assuptions we take for granted in life. Like prove the identities 0, 1 is absolutely necessary in our math? What are the assumption neccessary to prove there exist 0 in real space? What assumptions are necessary to prove that the value of 1 trillion actually exist? Prove the properties of a n-dimesional polygon?

I think your constant fixation on my handle is pathalogical and detrimental to your mental health. But at least you're forced to read current events to keep up with me, you mental midget.
AC Dropout Friday, July 12, 2002 at 12:23:38 (PDT)

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