Now that many of us have already sent (or are going to send soon) our applications to the top American programs (Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Chicago, Columbia, NYU etc.), let's play - just for fun - the truth game.
For those of you that applied to more than one school: suppose you are accepted everywhere: Is there any chance that you are gonna let down an offer by a school ranked higher in U.S. News bible in favor of some worse ranked one ? And, in case your answer is yes: Why ?
Be honest

For the avoidance of doubt, here is the 2007 USNews Ranking:

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/law/brief/lawrank_brief.php

I would refuse the offer of a higher ranked school for a lower ranked one only in one case: If I believe that the location of that lower ranked school fits me better than the higher one. I don't think that rankings are everything. You don't only choose a school. You also choose a lifestyle and a city. And I don't think that there are major educational differences between top 15 schools. I recommend all of us that just listen to your heart and choose your school. LLM is not only a legal education. It is also an experience in which you have to enjoy yourself. Good luck for everyone (including me:)

The game asks for more direct answers, e.g.: if I were accepted at Berkeley, since I love San Francisco, I would turn down Harvard or Yale.

Hi!

It would be a tough dilemma for me if I am (God, please!!) accepted both to HLS and CLS. NYC is a very strong point in favour of CLS. That's it.

If the low rank school gives me high/full scholarship......y not......i will gladly turn down the high ranking ones

I agree with you, Amrita.
Actually, I think that the only chance a lower-ranked program has in order to lure outstanding applicants who are likely to be accepted at higher-ranked schools is to offer them substantial scholarships.

All comes down to money then? Yes yes I know you'll both scream no, but in reality that's what you're saying. And please don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with that per se, and as someone who might be in a similar position, I appreciate the dilemma. But I'm just saying it's a bit sad.

Money is important, but I think it's not absolutely everything, even in USnews rankings and the way lawyers perceive them.
For instance, one chooses Yale over a third-tier law school not just because when they graduate they earn disproportionately more.
This is a very important reason, indeed, but there's more.
One chooses a top school because they will have the chance to study with more selected peers (Yale is reported to accept students with GPAs around 3.80-3.92 whereas in most other schools one sits with people that had more ordinary results in college).
This is a factor that many people tend to value and is not related with money - at least not directly.

All comes down to money then? Yes yes I know you'll both scream no, but in reality that's what you're saying. And please don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with that per se, and as someone who might be in a similar position, I appreciate the dilemma. But I'm just saying it's a bit sad.

From what I've seen, there are serious differences in how the market perceives the first two "tiers" (Harvard, Yale, Stanford / Columbia, NYU, etc.) as far as LLMs are concerned.

As counterintuitive as it sounds, if you're thinking of getting a job abroad, a scholarship in a "lower-ranked" school is not a factor. Loans are generally available, and one year is easier to repay if you get a good job, and "ranking" unfortunately matters given the number of resumes people get.

One good reason might be that you want to go to a "lower-ranked" institution that is stronger in the fields you're interested in and has a smaller, more intimate LLM program. Of course, I'm biased towards the idea that most legal careers are better jumpstarted by learning to socialize in a large, extremely diverse environment.

I would say: Chicago > Columbia and NYU

But this is a personal choice, since I don't like studying in NY and considering the size of their program.

If the low rank school gives me high/full scholarship......y not......i will gladly turn down the high ranking ones