Try to look beyond the rankings and choose the right school for you, which may not necessarily be the highest ranking one. If the school has pathways to help you achieve your career goals, that’s all that really matters. It’s not worth a lifetime of debt for a little prestige which may or may not even benefit you, anyway. The rankings fluctuate substantially from year to year, so it’s critically important to compare schools on Law School Transparency and look at the data directly rather than judging them solely based on the U.S. News rankings. Consider choosing a school where you’ll be the top dog rather than a school where you’ll barely be able to keep your head above water. Ultimately, it’s not that deep. Most people can become very successful lawyers at many different schools.

When you apply, write the extra essays. Choose schools to apply to that you’re legitimately interested in attending. If you do, it’ll be much easier to make a convincing argument about why they should accept you (and entice you to attend with scholarship money). Also, be prepared to receive some confusing results. For example, I was accepted to Georgetown despite having some typos in my essays that I caught later and not having written a particularly convincing supplemental essay, yet I was waitlisted by Duke, my top choice, despite submitting a flawless application and having written all of the supplemental essays in which I presented what I thought were compelling reasons for wanting to attend. Ultimately, your results will probably be a little confusing, so it’s worth it to apply to many schools so that you end up with at least one great offer.

Lastly, think long and hard about the financials. We live in a culture where student loan debt is not only commonplace, but accepted by many people as a necessity. While it’s certainly difficult to get through seven years or more of higher education debt-free, it is possible. Also, debt is a matter of degrees (no pun intended). It’s completely different borrowing $50,000 versus $300,000. But tuition is only half of the battle. Some schools in high cost of living areas like New York and California could cost you $40,000 a year just in living expenses. Hopefully you’d be able to get biglaw internships paying $43,000 a summer that could help you defray the costs, but attending schools in those locations could put you in six-figure debt even with a full-tuition scholarship. Think about the fact that you may have the chance to do the same internships while attending a school in a lower cost of living area that pays you a yearly stipend to attend. In the end, there are many ways to attend law school with minimal debt or no debt at all and still end up in the same jobs as those who borrow $300,000.