What's Special About...?

A few years ago, one of my interview questions was, "Where else do your applicants tend to apply, and how are you different from them?"  I've reported the results for all interviewed schools below, and added my own thoughts where possible.  Please note that I don't endorse what the admissions officer said; I haven't been to many of these schools, and I certainly don't know them well enough to judge comments about programs or administration.  Also note that neither "not interviewed" nor "not visited" is a comment about the schools.  Some schools don't attend forums, or I missed them for some reason, and I visit schools  within driving distance of my home or when I happen to be in an area; I've just never happened to be in Wyoming or Hawaii.

The list of comparable schools is helpful for two reasons:  right now it shows you whom the person quoted was comparing their school to; In June, it will show you which wait lists are connected to the one you're interested in.

School	Comparable Schools	A School Representative Said:	Loretta's Thoughts
Akron	Capital, Cleveland State, Toledo, Dayton	Trial Advocacy, Low Tuition	very suburban
Alabama	Cumberland	Higher Standards, Low Cost	major college town
Albany	Syracuse SUNY	In state capital, student/faculty ratios, bar passage	Beautiful law school, but no campus
American	George Mason GW Maryland Boston U.	Friendly and feminist	New building, nice campus
Arizona	Arizona St. New Mexico	Small, friendly, high diversity, emotional support	not visited.  Great admissions staff.
Arizona State	Arizona Cal & NY schools	Quality of life, solid and affordable. Suburban.	not visited. Great admissions staff.
Ark.-Fayetteville	Ark.-Little Rock	not interviewed	not visited
Ark.-Little Rock	Ark.-Fayetteville	not interviewed	not visited
Baltimore	Catholic Widener Nova	not interviewed	Urban Campus
Baylor	Texas SMU Vanderbilt	not interviewed	Trial Advocacy
Boston College	Boston U. Northeastern UNC Notre Dame Hastings Fordham GW Georgetown William & Mary	Quiet atmosphere, isolated, supportive community	emphasize "isolated"
Boston U.	Boston College Northeastern Fordham American Maryland Tulane	Job placement, trial advocacy	excellent Boston location
Brigham Young	Utah Arizona	not interviewed	Mormon
Brooklyn	Cardozo Fordham Hofstra Pace Rutgers	Strong clinical programs & minority recruiting	trial advocacy; nice building
Cal-Berkeley	Stanford Chicago Harvard	Low cost, high diversity, emphasize social policy	Prop 209 problems
Cal-Davis	Hastings McGeorge UCLA USC	Civil Rights	Suburban/Rural, Prop 209 problems
Cal-Hastings	Berkeley Davis UCLA USC	Strong public sector law dealing with real life problems	LEOP Program
Cal-UCLA	Berkley Davis Hastings USC Cornell GW Penn	Accessible faculty, diversity, public interest law	Prop 209 problems
California Western	Whittier Pepperdine Golden Gate Chapman Thomas Jefferson Western State	Accessible faculty and staff user friendly environment	high attrition rate
Campbell	Central South Carolina UNC Wake Forest	Good practitioner reputation	Southern Baptist, Rural Isolated
Capital	Akron Dayton Toledo Cleveland State	In state capital, International Law, Dispute Resolution	not visited
Cardozo	Brooklyn Fordham Hofstra Pace NYLS	Entertainment and immigration	5th Avenue location
Case Western Reserve	Ohio State Wash U. Tulane BC BU	Commitment to teaching the skills needed now, not 30 years ago	A best buy -- good everything!
Catholic	American Maryland Syracuse DCLS	Small, personalized, community spirit, ethics	Communications Law
Chapman	Western State Thomas Jefferson Cal Western Whittier	Smaller Classes, Full Campus	not visited
Chicago	Columbia Stanford Berkley Michigan	Economic analysis of law	Conservative
Chicago-Kent	John Marshall Loyola DePaul	Innovative technology in school, lots of writing	busy urban campus
Cincinnati	Case Western Ohio State Kentucky Louisville St. Louis W. Virginia	not interviewed	good campus, solid reputation
Cleveland State	Akron Case Western Toledo Capital	Russian Law, academic support, active student body	gorgeous law school!
Colorado	Denver New Mexico Arizona Oregon	not interviewed	not visited
Columbia	NYU Chicago Stanford Harvard Yale	"Applicants should discover this for themselves."	Location, location, location!
Connecticut	Albany Northeastern Boston U. Syracuse	not interviewed	Northeast Compact
Cornell	Penn NYU George Washington Georgetown UCLA	Small size, quality of university, Paris program	liberal small town
Creighton	Nebraska S. Dakota Drake Washburn Kansas Kansas City	not interviewed	Jesuit, urban
Dayton	Akron Toledo Capital Cleveland State N. Kentucky	25/75 Error In Official Guide; ABA Reports 2.98-3.47, 146-153	Catholic; more than 50% non-resident
Denver	Colorado New Mexico Arizona State	Supportive staff, urban environment	Private
DePaul	John Marshall Chicago-Kent Loyola Valparaiso Marquette Wayne State Wash U	Trial Practice, International Human Rights, Church State Studies	Not a full campus; not ostentatiously Catholic.
Detroit College	Detroit Wayne State Hamline William Mitchell Valparaiso	not interviewed	Large state university, increasing reputation
Detroit Mercy	Detroit College Wayne State	Jesuit, Canadian Law	not visited
DC Law School	Baltimore Catholic Howard CUNY	Public Interest Law, DC Residence	provisionally accredited
Drake	Creighton Iowa Nebraska Washburn Kansas	Smaller school, more attention	In state capital, agricultural law
Duke	Penn UNC Vanderbilt Virginia	Less competitive than Ivies	Less urban, Dennis is there :-)
Duquesne	Pitt Dickinson W. Virginia Temple	Good practitioner reputation	Catholic
Emory	Vanderbilt Georgia Duke Georgetown UVA	Atlanta; Theology programs,	A best buy -- good everything!
Florida	Florida State Emory Alabama Tulane	Publishing faculty, good library	90% resident, affirmative action problems
Florida State	Florida Stetson Mercer	Young energetic faculty, small personable school	Affirmative action problems. In the panhandle.
Fordham	NYU Cardozo Boston College George Washington	Conservative Jesuit institution. Perillo for Contracts	Midtown Manhattan location, with dorms.
Franklin Pierce	W. New England New England Suffolk Quinnipiac	Computer tutorials, good environment, technology law	No campus
George Mason	American Catholic William & Mary	not interviewed	State tuition, specialty tracks
G W	Georgetown American	Public interest programs	Elderly, prisoners, and elderly prisoners
Georgetown	GW NYU Penn Columbia Northwestern	Curriculum b, practitioner reputation, more liberal	International diplomacy, human rights
Georgia	Georgia State Emory	Traditional program, college town	Athens is not Atlanta; this is the old south.
Georgia State	Georgia Emory Mercer Florida	Older student body, diversity, part-time programs, atlanta	Urban Atlanta pros and cons.
Golden Gate	San Francisco Santa Clara McGeorge Pepperdine San Diego	Strong clinical programs, diversity, urban setting	No campus.
Gonzaga	Seattle	not interviewed	Jesuit, urban setting, foothills of the rockies
Hamline	William Mitchell Marquette Valparaiso	Very young and flexible, religion and law, dispute resolution	not visited; friendly staff.
Harvard	Yale Stanford Columbia Michigan	Big city, big name, large class, sink or swim	The new library isn't so hot.
Hawaii	none?!	30% non-residents, Pacific/Asian legal studies	not visited
Hofstra	Pace Brooklyn St. John’s	Accessible faculty, diversity, support for minority students	little overlap with city schools; not visited
Houston	S. Texas St. Mary's SMU Tulane	Small population, accessible faculty	Generic modern city, generic state school.
Howard	Catholic, Maryland, Loyola-New Orleans, NC Central	not interviewed	Premier HBC, Civil Rights Law
Idaho	Gonzaga Montana Utah	not interviewed	Shares facilities with Washington State University
Illinois	Bloomington Iowa Minnesota	not interviewed	2 1/2 Hours From Chicago, Top Reputation, Good Diversity
Ind-Bloomington	Indianapolis Illinois	Rural environment, full-time teachers	Beautiful campus and law school.
Ind-Indianapolis	Bloomington	Urban environment, health law	not visited (yet; I'll be there in March.
Iowa	Minnesota Illinois Bloomington Michigan UNC Drake Chicago Schools	Diversity of students and faculty, large library, quality teaching	not visited
John Marshall	Chicago-Kent Loyola DePaul Cardozo Brooklyn	Small classes, intellectual property	Conservative; no campus.
Kansas	Nebraska Washburn Mo-KC Mo.-Columbia Creighton	not interviewed	College town, low tuition, state school
Kentucky	Louisville W. Virginia Case Western	Better alumni reputation, environment law journal (mining)	Mineral rights favors corporations.
Lewis & Clark	Oregon Seattle Colorado	Urban environment, environment law program	No campus; modern city.
Louisiana State	Tulane Loyola-New Orleans S. Texas	not interviewed	State residents only
Louisville	N. Kentucky Kentucky Dayton	not interviewed	Nice campus, nice city
Loyola-Chicago	Chicago-Kent DePaul American Boston College	Safe city, child advocacy law	Urban campus; new library is cramped.
Loyola-L.A.	USC American Boston U. Hastings Tulane UCLA Santa Clara	Higher diversity, internships, scholarships	Entertainment law; funky urban campus.
Loyola-New Orleans	Tulane Southern St. Mary's	Small, cheap, more congenial	Old buildings, great location.
Maine	Vermont Franklin Pierce Massachusetts Schools	Generalist approach	not visited
Marquette	Wisconsin DePaul Hamline	Cooperative accessible faculty, good job placement, "Milwaukee is a big small town."	not visited
Maryland	Baltimore American George Mason Boston U. Fordham	Diversity of opportunity and electives, clinicals, personable	Urban campus; near the Inner Harbor.
McGeorge	Davis Pepperdine San Francisco Golden Gate San Diego	not interviewed	State capital, legislative internships
Memphis	Mercer Mississippi Tennessee	Urban environment; more legal opportunities.	Bad modern city; sprawl without a cultural center.
Mercer	Memphis S. Carolina Samford	Small size	Quaint old town.
Miami	Nova Temple Syracuse Florida St. Stetson	Scholarships, location	not visited; good rep in the north.
Michigan	NYU Chicago Columbia Berkeley Stanford Minnesota Georgetown Duke UVA	College town, full-time faculty, inter-disciplinary programs	The only cosmopolitan college town i've seen
Minnesota	Iowa Illinois Michigan Notre Dame	Low tuition, great faculty and library	not visited.  Library is reportedly beautiful
Mississippi	Mississippi Coll. Loyola-N.O. Memphis Samford	Low tuition, 80% state resident	This is the Deep South -- get me outta here!
Miss.College	Loyola-New Orleans Tulane Memphis Samford	Smaller & cheaper than other private schools	Nice small town, friendly staff.
Mo-Columbia	Mo-KC St. Louis Washington U. Kansas	College town, domestic violence clinic.	not visited.
Mo-Kansas City	Mo.-Columbia St. Louis Wash.U. Washburn	not interviewed	not visited. Major city, urban campus
Montana	Idaho Gonzaga	Tiny school, practice oriented	not visited.
Nebraska	Kansas Creighton Washburn Drake S. Dakota	not interviewed	not visited.
New England	Suffolk	part-time day program for mothers, low tuition for private school	Good location on Boston Common.
New Mexico	Arizona St. Denver Texas Tech.	not interviewed	Native American Programs
New York - CUNY	DC NYLS NC Central	Public interest law, diversity of student body	Very liberal, practice-oriented.
New York - SUNY	Syracuse Fordham American Albany	Innovative curriculum, emphasis on writing	Good law school and campus. Very liberal.
New York Law School	Cardozo Hofstra Pace Brooklyn	More local than national, liberal, good faculty	Very urban -- no campus.
New York University	Penn Columbia Duke Cornell	Public interest and poverty interest	Urban campus, but with a park!
UNC - Chapel Hill	Wake Forest Duke Emory Vanderbilt	Low cost, friendly, corporate and tax programs	Good law school and campus.
NC Central	Campbell Southern Howard UNC	High public service placement	Low-budget state school.
North Dakota		not interviewed	not visited.
Northeastern	Suffolk Boston U. American Maryland Connecticut	co-op program, less competitive-pass/fail grades	Not a full campus; great Boston location
Northern Ill.	S. Illinois Valparaiso Drake Chicago-Kent	Small, public interest, closer to chicago	not visited.
Northern Kentucky	Cincinnati Kentucky Capital Louisville	not interviewed	Low-budget campus, but liberal.
Northwestern	Chicago Michigan Boston U UCLA	Non-competitive and comfortable	Not a full campus; nice law library.
Notre Dame	BC Fordham	Community Service	Very Catholic
Nova	St. Thomas Miami	All small classes, hands on experience	not visited.
Ohio Northern	Capital Dayton Toledo Cleveland State	Small school, we really care	More non-residents
Ohio State	Case Western Notre Dame Michigan Cincinnati Illinois	Well rounded education-corporate, labor, tax	not visited.
Oklahoma	Oklahoma City Tulsa SMU Mississippi S. Texas	not interviewed	not visited.
Oklahoma City	Oklahoma Tulsa	Less expensive, good city	Teach the fundamentals
Oregon	Lewis & Clark UC-Davis Tulane American Fordham	not interviewed	Friendly town, friendly school
Pace	Hofstra NYLS Brooklyn Cardozo St. John's	not interviewed	Out of the city--slower pace
Penn	NYU Duke Cornell Columbia UCLA Georgetown	Less competitive grading	Best urban campus! Beautiful law school.
Penn State	Villanova Pitt West Va Duquesne Maryland Temple American Catholic	Open door policy, not cut-throat, practical training	Carlisle looks just like Mayberry!
Pepperdine	San Diego San Fran Santa Clara Golden Gate McGeorge Whittier	not interviewed	Conservative Christian school with a great view!
Pittsburgh	Duquesne Dickinson Temple Villanova Case W. Virginia	Quiet city, strong clinical programs, commitment of faculty & staff	Good urban campus, good city.
Quinnipiac	Franklin Pierce Nova Mercer New England Whittier Valparaiso	not interviewed	not visited.
Regent	Campbell Stetson Pepperdine Richmond	not interviewed	not visited. Religious mission
Richmond	Emory Wake Forest Cumberland Maryland Washington & Lee William & Mary	Friendly, personalized education	Suburban campus in an urban setting
Roger Williams		not interviewed	not visited.
Rutgers-Camden	Rutgers-Newark Temple Widener Seton Hall	Accessible faculty	South Jersey job market
Rutgers-Newark	Fordham NYU Temple Villanova	not interviewed	New York jobs at New Jersey tuition
Saint John's	Hofstra Pace Cardozo NYLS	Better reputation	not visited. very Catholic
Saint Louis	Wash. U. Mo.-Columbia DePaul	Professional skills, health and employment law	not visited.
Saint Mary's	Loyola-New Orleans Tulsa S. Texas SMU Texas Tech	Commitment to diversity; Mexican Immigrant Law	not visited. enthusiastic admissions staff!
Saint Thomas	Miami Nova Loyola-New Orleans Mercer	Location, small size, immigration clinic	not visited.
Samford	Alabama Mercer Emory Florida State Georgia State Tennessee	"We're Better"	Deep South, not very friendly.
San Diego	San Francisco Santa Clara Golden Gate McGeorge	not interviewed	Good campus, imposing buildings
San Francisco	Santa Clara Golden Gate John Marshall McGeorge Pepperdine	Faculty commitment to student	Urban campus, good location.
Santa Clara	UC-Hastings UC-Davis Loyola-La	Academic support program, very friendly environment, high tech law	Lovely Spanish-style buildings, nice law school.
Seattle	Lewis & Clark	Cosmopolitan city, flexible schedules, broad based education	not visited. brand new building, great city.
Seton Hall	Rutgers-Camden Rutgers-Newark Quinnipiac	Relaxed, open and supportive, gun control law, immigration	not visited.
South Carolina	Mercer Campbell Emory Cumberland Mississippi	Pro bono program, good law review	Small town, okay campus.
South Dakota	Creighton Drake Nebraska	not interviewed	not visited.
South Texas	Texas Southern Houston St. Mary's	part-time program, trial advocacy	generic campus
Southern Cal.	UCLA Hastings Penn Northwestern Georgetown	S/f ratio 13 to 1; "We try to make students happy."	Nice campus, nice law school; California cool.
Southern Illinois	N. Illinois Louisville	not interviewed	not visited.
Southern Methodist	Texas Emory Vanderbilt Houston Baylor Tulane Pepperdine Wash U	Metropolitan, less competitive, public service requirement	Suburban campus in an urban environment
Southern U.	Central Texas Southern LSU Tulane	not interviewed	Best HBC campus, 80 miles from New Orleans
Southwestern	Whittier San Diego Cal. Western Pepperdine	Two Year Program	Downtown L.A. location
Stanford	Berkeley Chicago Harvard Michigan Columbia	not interviewed	Oxford Meets California -- magnificent building!
Stetson	Miami Nova	Small size	Religious reputation stronger than actual effect
Suffolk	New England Northeastern BU John Marshall Cardozo	not interviewed	Focus on state legislature, conservative commuter schools
Syracuse	SUNY Temple Albany Franklin Pierce	Summer Program in Zimbabwe	Strong alumni reputation
Temple	Suffolk Miami Pitt Dickinson Villanova Rutgers-Camden	Diversity, semester in Japan	Trial Advocacy.  Good administration. Good urban campus
Tennessee	Vanderbilt Memphis St.	Location and atmosphere	new building; generic modern city.
Texas	Vanderbilt Virginia Duke	State School, 80% Resident	not visited.
Texas Southern	Southern Central S. Texas St. Mary's	not interviewed	Takes more risks in admissions, higher attrition rate
Texas Tech.	SMU Tulsa Oklahoma Houston	not interviewed	not visited.
Texas Wesleyan	South Texas, Texas Tech, Tulsa, St. Mary's	not interviewed	Cute school, cute city, great administration
Thomas Jefferson	Whittier, Chapman, Western State	not interviewed	Commuter school with an ocean view
Thomas M. Cooley	Widener	Two year program, flexible schedules	not visited.
Toledo	Dayton Akron	Faculty accessibility and support	not visited.
Touro	Cardozo Hofstra Pace Brooklyn	not interviewed	Jewish calendar, Long Island location
Tulane	SMU Emory Texas Vanderbilt	Diversity	Beautiful campus, beautiful city
Tulsa	Oklahoma Oklahoma City Arkansas Houston Kansas	Modern facilities, low crime city, not too competitive	Helpful faculty and admin.not visited.
Utah	Brigham Young Idaho Colorado Arizona	not interviewed	not visited.
Valparaiso	Capital Bloomington Chicago-Kent N. Ill.	S/f ratio, size, public interest law	Religious affiliation not visited.
Vanderbilt	Virginia Duke	Student life	Country capital of the U.S.
Vermont	Lewis & Clark Colorado Franklin Pierce Boston U Pace Syracuse	Clinical programs, good community	Idyllic rural beauty and isolation
Villanova	Temple Rutgers BC Pitt Duquesne	Solid regional reputation	Philly's Main Line, is the ultimate college town/city blend.
Virginia	Vanderbilt Duke	Reputation	new building, old Virginia.
Wake Forest	Duke UNC Washington Lee William-Mary	Non-competitive, good location	Suburban Christian environment
Washburn	Kansas Creighton Drake Mo-KC Nebraska	not interviewed	not visited.
Washington	UCLA Colorado USC	not interviewed	Real sense of community; diversity in all its meanings
Washington U.	St. Louis BC BU Emory Tulane	Faculty commitment to teaching and students	not visited. Anheuser-Busch Hall?
Washington & Lee	Wake William & Mary Virginia Duke	S/f ratio 11 to 1, racially mixed, strong honor code	Nice campus, but isolated.
Wayne State	Detroit Detroit College	Better study environment, high bar passage rate	not visited.
West Virginia	Pitt Duquesne Dickinson Case	not interviewed	Rural Mountain Location
Western N. Eng.	Franklin Pierce Vermont Suffolk New England Connecticut	not interviewed	Typical middle American town and institution
Western State	Whittier, Cal Western, Chapman, Thomas Jefferson Golden Gate	not interviewed	Newly accredited, trying hard.
Whittier	Pepperdine McGeorge San Diego Cal. Western	Good faculty credentials, open door policy, safe location	Orange County safety and conservativeness.
Widener	Temple Rutgers-Camden Baltimore Penn State	not interviewed	Large classes, two campuses
Willamette	Oregon Lewis & Clark Seattle	Small city, small classes	Legislative programs, cute campus
William & Mary	Wake Washington And Lee Virginia (Most)	Legal Skills Curriculum	high-tech Moot Court room.
William Mitchell	Hamline Drake Creighton	Many clinicals, 90% employed by graduation	not visited.
Wisconsin	Minnesota Iowa	Public Interest Law, Clinicals	not visited. but a fabulous new admissions officer.
Wyoming	Colorado Denver	not interviewed	not visited.
Yale	Stanford Harvard Chicago	Small size, cosmopolitan student body	The student always comes first