Opinions on these schools... Forum

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lawgirly

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Opinions on these schools...

Post by lawgirly » Sat May 01, 2010 1:31 am

What do you think of Widener in Harrisburg? I'm interested in health law.

I'd also like to hear any opinions on Valparaiso and Akron. I'm aware of their rankings. Any other insight would be appreciated.

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DerrickRose

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Re: Opinions on these schools...

Post by DerrickRose » Sat May 01, 2010 1:48 am

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Not to be snarky or anything, but any of those schools are going to have extremely limited job prospects with even less mobility and if you must attend them you should do so as cheaply as possible.

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pany1985

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Re: Opinions on these schools...

Post by pany1985 » Sat May 01, 2010 1:54 am

Widener is obviously not a top school, although if you actually want to work in central PA you'll probably be alright. There's not much competition out there. Just don't put yourself too deep in debt.

Hesiod

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Re: Opinions on these schools...

Post by Hesiod » Sat May 01, 2010 3:59 am

My county's (Montgomery County) district attorney is a Widener graduate, and I think you'll be fine if you're OK working in local government or at smaller firms.

On a side note, when I told my mom that I wanted to go to law school, she said, "You can go anywhere but Widener. It's a lawyer mill."

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traehekat

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Re: Opinions on these schools...

Post by traehekat » Sat May 01, 2010 11:23 am

Hesiod wrote:My county's (Montgomery County) district attorney is a Widener graduate
I hear this kind of justification all the time, and I can't figure out why. I mean, c'mon, you all took the LSAT and should know that you cannot conclude that because you know one person who is doing well from a TTT then going to said TTT is a good idea or you will end up in a similar position (but I guess since, by nature, if you are using this justification then you probably didn't score too well on the LSAT and maybe you DON'T understand this logic).

Anyway, my suggestion is if you can't retake the LSAT (and by "can't" I mean that you have already taken it three times, or you have some urgent reason to attend law school ASAP - otherwise you should retake), then go with whichever is cheapest, especially if you don't care where you practice, which it doesn't seem like you do since you didn't mention it.

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Blindmelon

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Re: Opinions on these schools...

Post by Blindmelon » Sat May 01, 2010 11:29 am

Hesiod wrote:My county's (Montgomery County) district attorney is a Widener graduate, and I think you'll be fine if you're OK working in local government or at smaller firms.

On a side note, when I told my mom that I wanted to go to law school, she said, "You can go anywhere but Widener. It's a lawyer mill."
My friend's dad went to Widener and he inherited a ton of money and is now pretty wealthy. Therefore, you can still GET RICH $$$$ coming out of Widener.

lawgirly

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Re: Opinions on these schools...

Post by lawgirly » Sun May 02, 2010 3:30 am

Thanks everyone.

I don't have ties to any particular area. I will also be getting help paying tuition, but it is still a concern. Akron is by far the cheapest of the three.

I know this is a forum for top law schools, but does anyone go to these schools, or know anyone who goes to these schools? I'd love to hear more about these schools. Also, some tier 3 or 4 schools seem to have decent reputations (Cleveland State perhaps?)-- would Akron or Valparaiso fit in this category? (It's late- I hope this makes sense!)

Danteshek

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Re: Opinions on these schools...

Post by Danteshek » Sun May 02, 2010 3:55 am

I don't think anyone on here really knows anything about those schools. You need to actively research those schools by visiting, talking to alums etc.

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traehekat

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Re: Opinions on these schools...

Post by traehekat » Sun May 02, 2010 11:40 am

lawgirly wrote:Thanks everyone.

I don't have ties to any particular area. I will also be getting help paying tuition, but it is still a concern. Akron is by far the cheapest of the three.

I know this is a forum for top law schools, but does anyone go to these schools, or know anyone who goes to these schools? I'd love to hear more about these schools. Also, some tier 3 or 4 schools seem to have decent reputations (Cleveland State perhaps?)-- would Akron or Valparaiso fit in this category? (It's late- I hope this makes sense!)
Well, looking at just the assessment scores, Valparaiso seems has a higher score (2.7) than any other T4 school, and is a little better than the average score of T3 schools. Based on that I guess you can say it has a decent reputation, relative to similarly positioned schools.

Like the above poster mentioned, you are going to need to be more active in your research. Most people on here just aren't going to know much about these schools.

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Fark-o-vision

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Re: Opinions on these schools...

Post by Fark-o-vision » Sun May 02, 2010 12:07 pm

traehekat wrote:
Hesiod wrote:My county's (Montgomery County) district attorney is a Widener graduate
I hear this kind of justification all the time, and I can't figure out why. I mean, c'mon, you all took the LSAT and should know that you cannot conclude that because you know one person who is doing well from a TTT then going to said TTT is a good idea or you will end up in a similar position (but I guess since, by nature, if you are using this justification then you probably didn't score too well on the LSAT and maybe you DON'T understand this logic).

Anyway, my suggestion is if you can't retake the LSAT (and by "can't" I mean that you have already taken it three times, or you have some urgent reason to attend law school ASAP - otherwise you should retake), then go with whichever is cheapest, especially if you don't care where you practice, which it doesn't seem like you do since you didn't mention it.
Seems like reading comp fail, broseph sm1th. He provides the anecdote, but isn't overly optimistic about prospects. Local government or small firms? J33ZUS!! Also indicates that his mother wouldn't allow (that part was weird) him to attend. I think those career prospects are probably about right. Assuming there are any jobs to be had, they will probably be in local government or small firm.

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underachiever

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Re: Opinions on these schools...

Post by underachiever » Sun May 02, 2010 12:22 pm

Akron does fine in Northeastern Ohio (outside of Cleveland)....So basically it dominates the booming Akron/Canton/Youngstown/Steubenville Area....they cover all DUI & Personal Injury Work there....but really all 3 schools have some successful graduates, but they are all region specific and 90% of the students will not get jobs that make good $

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traehekat

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Re: Opinions on these schools...

Post by traehekat » Sun May 02, 2010 12:28 pm

Fark-o-vision wrote:
traehekat wrote:
Hesiod wrote:My county's (Montgomery County) district attorney is a Widener graduate
I hear this kind of justification all the time, and I can't figure out why. I mean, c'mon, you all took the LSAT and should know that you cannot conclude that because you know one person who is doing well from a TTT then going to said TTT is a good idea or you will end up in a similar position (but I guess since, by nature, if you are using this justification then you probably didn't score too well on the LSAT and maybe you DON'T understand this logic).

Anyway, my suggestion is if you can't retake the LSAT (and by "can't" I mean that you have already taken it three times, or you have some urgent reason to attend law school ASAP - otherwise you should retake), then go with whichever is cheapest, especially if you don't care where you practice, which it doesn't seem like you do since you didn't mention it.
Seems like reading comp fail, broseph sm1th. He provides the anecdote, but isn't overly optimistic about prospects. Local government or small firms? J33ZUS!! Also indicates that his mother wouldn't allow (that part was weird) him to attend. I think those career prospects are probably about right. Assuming there are any jobs to be had, they will probably be in local government or small firm.
Well, not to be nitpicky or anything, but he did say "... is a Widener graduate, and I think ..." as opposed to "... is a Widener graduate, therefore/so I think ..." which would insinuate the first statement to be one that stands on its own. So if it stands on its own, it still suggests that because this guy is a Widener graduate and is doing well, so will you. Even IF the second statement was the conclusion of the first statement, I would still say that it is a logical fallacy - just too small of a sample pool to conclude ANYTHING.

But like I said, that is just being nitpicky. Yes, if you go to Widener you will probably have decent prospects regarding small firms and local government (which, as you noted, is not really a big deal). You just can't conclude that from the fact the DA is a Widener graduate.

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