The University of Chicago Law School, which celebrated its centennial in 2002, has long had a reputation for being a bookish, conservative-leaning institution. In some ways that reputation is well deserved--academics at Chicago are notoriously rigorous, heavy on the Socratic method and legal theory. The school also boasts an all-star faculty, with such heavy hitters as Frank H. Easterbrook, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and renowned legal mind Richard Posner. Given such famous faculty members, it is notable that students rave about the accessibility of professors and small class sizes in our Buzz Book surveys.

Using the resources of Chicago's prominent economics department, Chicago Law incorporates economic analysis into many law courses. Chicago has a unique grading system, giving out point values for work on a scale of 155 to 186. The median grade, 177, translates roughly to a B. In addition to the JD, Chicago offers joint degrees in business, public policy or international relations.

A high percentage of Chicago graduates go into judicial clerkships--15 percent in the class of 2007--and many alumni achieve Supreme Court clerkships. The school forbids potential employers from screening for interviews by rank, which gives every student a chance to interview for top firms. The university's neighborhood, Hyde Park, has a bad reputation, though some of our surveyed students argue that it is undeserved.