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[thewarflamingo]

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[Barbie]

I was going to visit UF for ASD on February 25th which is the same weekend as UIUC's ASD, but now y'all are making me feel like I should change plans and go visit Illinois instead. I'm so conflicted.

Oh jeez do NOT go to FL for that amt. of money.

So do you suggest Illinois then or what instead?

Retaking the LSAT. I don't think any of those schools are worth it for the cost.

My only advice is to not take rads

You pretty much have the same general option as me: UF with family connections to FL, or UIUC with no connections, not really where you want to practice, and in the midwest (a place we are both unfamiliar). FWIW, you'll EASILY get instate tuition @ FL. Why is the debt so high? Are you including your masters debt?

[Barbie]

Oh, and people who are voting for Wake, would you care to explain why?

I almost voted for Wake. Thats a pretty awesome deal and I would likely take it I favor North Carolina greatly though, and you really have no tie there or reason to go there so... thats why I ended up not voting for it.

[thewarflamingo]

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[thewarflamingo]

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[Barbie]

My only advice is to not take rads

You pretty much have the same general option as me: UF with family connections to FL, or UIUC with no connections, not really where you want to practice, and in the midwest (a place we are both unfamiliar). FWIW, you'll EASILY get instate tuition @ FL. Why is the debt so high? Are you including your masters debt?

No, my calculations don't include my debt from my masters. For UF and Colorado I calculated one year of out-of-state tuition plus two years of in-state tuition. All my calculations include cost of living, obviously.

Yeah, I'm really having a tough decision with this and I was really banking on SMU coming through so I hadn't even considered what I would do if I didn't get into SMU. I think I'm leaning towards Illinois though right now.

Hmm... Thats a LOT for cost of living. My husband will be paying for mine but I know you can get rent in GVille for like $300 a month if you want in a decent house and probs like $550 in Illinois. I guess I've never really added it all up?

FWIW, Illinois is awesome. If I could stomach moving that far away from everything I know and live in that weather I would BE there already haha. Maybe you should visit sooner than later and see what you are really getting yourself into and how well you adapt, though?

[thewarflamingo]

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[alexb]

I'd say Wake or UIUC. I'm not sure which would have a greater reputation in TX. Hmm, maybe Wake because it's fairly well known throughout the south, but I doubt UIUC is unknown. Know any lawyers/judges in TX? Ask them what they think of the two schools, maybe.

[General Tso]

This may seem odd, but if CU comes through with a decent scholly, I am considering them over my T14 acceptances. I am curious why everyone is voting for UIUC. Is it's placement that much better? I personally rather be "stuck" in the mountain west then the midwest.

I actually love Colorado so I would not mind living/practicing there either. I would definitely reconsider CU if they offered me a nice scholarship, but I doubt they will which is why I have not given them much consideration. Does anyone know how open CU is to scholarship negotiations?

the Colorado market is purportedly so tight that CU's placement is not much better than DU's at present. So what's the advantage in paying 2x to attend CU when you can get a large scholarship at DU?

message Pufer for details...I believe he stated that something like 50-60% of this year's 3Ls are still unemployed, where in the past that would have been more like 25-30%.

[Malcolm8X]

Florida shouldn't cost you no more than $70K. I'm pretty sure if you can get $$ at Wake, you can get at least $ at UF too. You can live there for $12K/yr also (I think I lived off of $10K when I was in Gainesville).

This is not an easy decision man. I voted Florida just because you said you wanted tax law. You might be able to pull off $100K after the LLM. They have a good tax law program BUT I doubt getting into their LLM is as easy as getting into their law school.

[General Tso]

Florida shouldn't cost you no more than $70K. I'm pretty sure if you can get $$ at Wake, you can get at least $ at UF too. You can live there for $12K/yr also (I think I lived off of $10K when I was in Gainesville).

This is not an easy decision man. I voted Florida just because you said you wanted tax law. You might be able to pull off $100K after the LLM. They have a good tax law program BUT I doubt getting into their LLM is as easy as getting into their law school.

I don't. LLM's are cash cows...they are not subject to the LSAT/GPA constraints of JD admissions. I would guess that most top 1/3 students with B+/A- grades in tax courses could get in to most Tax LLMs, even the supposedly prestigious ones like UF.

Two things about tax law -- 1.) check out the forums at taxtalent.com. according to them, legal tax jobs are harder to land right now than just regular attorney positions. 2.) take a class in taxation (if you havent already) and make sure it is something you really enjoy. I thought I wanted to do tax law until I took a course in it.

[thewarflamingo]

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[Plan2008]

IMHO the key metric is OCI/1L enrollment. for example: Univ of Houston is 93/315, from LSN. Who gives a shit where you want to live. If that is your metric, go rent jet skiis on the beach in Mexico.

FWIW, I have a friend who is a partner in a Biglaw firm. He says you need to be top 25% in T14, or Top 10% in great state schools below that. By great state schools he means IU, UMN, Iowa, Illinois, etc. Beyond that you could get there with great industry experience. For example, if you worked in automotive for 10 years, there might be some firms that would hire that experience and contact list. If your not in one of those three categories, your odds fall off the table.

[Firework11]

IMHO the key metric is OCI/1L enrollment. for example: Univ of Houston is 93/315, from LSN. Who gives a shit where you want to live. If that is your metric, go rent jet skiis on the beach in Mexico.

FWIW, I have a friend who is a partner in a Biglaw firm. He says you need to be top 25% in T14, or Top 10% in great state schools below that. By great state schools he means IU, UMN, Iowa, Illinois, etc. Beyond that you could get there with great industry experience. For example, if you worked in automotive for 10 years, there might be some firms that would hire that experience and contact list. If your not in one of those three categories, your odds fall off the table.

Would Ohio State Uni. Law be considered a "a great state school?"

[thewarflamingo]

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[Barbie]

I think the problem for me is that I had never heard of UIUC or Wake (except in regards to Tim Duncan since I live in spurs central) before I started researching law schools, so it's hard for me to judge them because they have no lay prestige where I'm from. Whereas UF is all I ever heard of growing up and I have a ton of gators shit. So I have a pretty skewed perception of schools from living in FL and TX.

I'm going to try to talk to some lawyers here, but honestly they'll be even more skewed since there are mostly St. Marys grads here. Hell, I always get asked if I applied to SM because "it's a great school."

lol this is soo credited. I've heard of Wake (I'm from GA) but I hadn't heard of UIUC. Being IN Florida, everyone thinks UF = harvard. Srsly. haha. When I told people I was considering Illinois over Florida (even at a nlj250 firm I worked for) a lot of people were like "really... really?? Go to UF, or Stetson!!" haha

[thewarflamingo]

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[Firework11]

I think the problem for me is that I had never heard of UIUC or Wake (except in regards to Tim Duncan since I live in spurs central) before I started researching law schools, so it's hard for me to judge them because they have no lay prestige where I'm from. Whereas UF is all I ever heard of growing up and I have a ton of gators shit. So I have a pretty skewed perception of schools from living in FL and TX.

I'm going to try to talk to some lawyers here, but honestly they'll be even more skewed since there are mostly St. Marys grads here. Hell, I always get asked if I applied to SM because "it's a great school."

lol this is soo credited. I've heard of Wake (I'm from GA) but I hadn't heard of UIUC. Being IN Florida, everyone thinks UF = harvard. Srsly. haha. When I told people I was considering Illinois over Florida (even at a nlj250 firm I worked for) a lot of people were like "really... really?? Go to UF, or Stetson!!" haha

What is REALLY dumb is when I get asked "oh law school!? Did you apply to Texas A&M!?" I give them a look and they're like "whattttt??" and then I have to explain to them that A&M doesn't have a law school. In TX, Texas A&M is like the Princeton of law schools.

LOl, I'm in College Station. People ask me the same thing, lol. Sorry, the Aggies do not have a law school--I tell them.
And, I get the Princeton Law School stuff as well.

[thewarflamingo]

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[Firework11]

haha 2 years ago back in undergrad we had a law school fair with a bunch of Texas schools and I heard a prospective ask, "how come A&M didn't come?" Facepalms ensued.[/quote]

LMBO!

[SoupIsGoodFood]

Because of all the negative things I hear about Baylor, I'd only consider it if I wanted to be a litigator which I don't. Plus, I'd prefer to go to a school that feeds into a specific market. I was hoping to get a scholarship at Baylor to use for negotiations though.

I didn't consider Baylor for similar reasons (that and I went there for UG so I've had just about all I can take of living in Waco). However, I've heard from people who go there that they're stingy with money so you're probably not going to get anything from them that you wouldn't get from someplace comparable.

[thewarflamingo]

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[thewarflamingo]

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[General Tso]

Update: UF offered me 6K/yr, first year is guaranteed, the following years are contingent on maintaining a 3.2 GPA. So that brings UF to about $110K if I lose my scholarship after 1L, or about $100K if I keep it.

Also, if I update the number in the UF option on the poll will all the votes be cleared?

yeah it probably will clear them. I don't think this is a decision altering scholarship though. I'd still choose the school in the region you want to practice. If you like Illinois and would be happy living there, that's where I'd go.

[thewarflamingo]

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