Vanderbilt University

I graduated from Vandy Law in May, so I might have a useful perspective...

Historically the law school has an excellent reputation nationwide. They consistently place a large number of graduates at top firms in DC (as well as federal government positions), Atlanta, New York, Houston, etc. Surprisingly few people stay in Nashville. They place clerks pretty much everywhere. The top students get circuit clerkships and V20 offers, even in this crappy economy.

The only weakness I can think of career-wise is their west-coast placement. They just don't have the contacts that UCLA, USC, and Berkley have out there, so they don't do as well. Not to say that people don't get jobs in LA and San Francisco, because I know a number of people who did, but they probably did a lot more of their own networking than the folks who ended up at the ATL firms that show up in droves.

From a more personal standpoint, Nashville is a great town to go to school in. Very manageable size, excellent cost-of-living, more than enough fun things to do, much more cosmopolitan than its honky-tonk image would imply. Pretty much everything you could want is very nearby.

You also will not find a more amiable group of students, anywhere. The admissions staff does a good job of weeding out the d-bags and the school goes out of their way to encourage socializing, etc. The weirdo that doesn't have any friends is the exception, not the rule, and is that way of his own volition.

Seriously, PM me if you have more questions. I'm taking the bar this week, but I'll be happy to talk next week before I head off on a beach weekend with a bunch of my classmates (see the section on amiability).