There are a few law school ranking publishers, although the most cited is US News. US News ranks law schools into three different sections, top 100 law schools, third tier law schools and fourth tier law schools. The law schools are based on many different criterion, but the incoming class median GPA and LSAT score are key. The law schools are given their rankings for a reason and often, but there are exceptions, the law schools in the fourth tier are not the best choice. The law schools in the top 15 or so law schools, within the top 100, are where the students attend who want to work at a large law firm and earn a six figure salary their first year out of law school. Students from the other top 100 law schools also have a good chance to earn a position at a large law firm. Also, students from third and fourth tier law schools can earn positions at large law firms out of law school, but it is much more difficult and less likely. The top 100 law schools tend to have the highest median salary for graduates. The schools with a median salary at and above six figures are usually the schools that have a lot of graduates obtaining associate positions at large law firms. The law schools in the top 100 tend to move around within the top 100 rankings. For example, the 18th ranked school may move to the 15th rank the next year etc. A top 100 ranked law school may also lose its place in the top 100 and move down to a third tier. Often the law school regains a spot at the top 100 by increasing the ranking criterion used by US news. Therefore, after the top 15 law schools (which often does not change) there is much less meaning in the rankings between the rest of the top 100 law schools i.e. there is less of a differentiation between a law school ranked 27 or the school ranked 40 etc.

The Law Schools in the third tier are shown in alphabetical order and tend to be very good law schools. Sometimes, the school may have just opened and it could obtain a position in the top 100. A third tier law school may not be as well known as the schools in the top 100, but many have very good programs with excellent teachers. For instance, Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles is a fine law school located in downtown Los Angeles, whose graduates obtain great positions even at large firms, is well respected in the Los Angeles area, but is not as well known nationally as other law schools. There are other examples, just search this site using US News rankings website to see what school you are interested in. This website has all the information on the law school including entrance statistics such as median undergraduate GPA and LSAT scores of accepted students from last year as well as the median salary of graduates, tuiton costs, etc.

Fourth Tier law schools are often considered the lower end law schools, although there are always exceptions. You may be able to obtain a great law school education at a fourth tier law school. These schools usually grade much more stringently as many create a forced curves because they need to fail a certain percent of the incoming class (i.e. 10-30%) which in turn raises their Bar Pass rate (as the less studious students who probably have a lower bar pass rate cannot take the exam) raising the law schools ranking statistics and creates a steady inflow of tuition. Often the schools in the fourth tier do not raise their rankings, however some have gained positions in the third tier because they were fairly new law schools or they merged with a larger university and significantly improved their programs. Some law school applicants refer to fourth tier law schools as "safety" schools because they know they can get into the law school and they apply just in case they are not accepted at a higher ranked school they applied to. Some law schools, aware of this, purposely do not accept these students knowng they probably will not attend their school thus increasing their selectivity rate (the percentage of applicants who are accepted) and increasing their liklihood of obtaining a better ranking. Therefore, if you are planning on applying to schools in this manner you should check to see if the school you are applying to has such a policy by checking their acceptance rate versus similarly ranked schools. Some students attend a fourth tier law school hoping to transfer to a better ranked law school by obtaining good grades at the fourth tier law school then transferring to a better ranked law school, but is very difficult to do as the fourth tier law school may have a difficult grading system. Therefore, many other law students will also be trying to transfer out of a lower ranked law school as well. Very few students will actually transfer to better schools. Students who want to transfer out of their law school often cite the extremely difficult grading curve, the bad morale of the law school, the difficulty of obtaining a position after graduation, and the good amount of bad professors who also want out of the school or are not very good teachers. At a lower tier law school you will often hear law students making fun of thier own law school, notice them in an overall bad mood because they did not get accepted to their top choice school, and ridicule the professors who are not very good teachers or who push their students to do well or grade very hard. Please note that not all lower ranked law schools fit this description as some have very good programs. Therefore, it is important to visit the law school before you accept admission; the current law students are great resources and will often go out of thier way to answer the questions from visitors.