Is USC a good choice for a student who wants to pursue bigla Forum

[Veyron]

ITE only schools that give you a 50% chance (that is, above median) of BIGLAW are HYS, Columbia, NYU, and Northwestern.

Lol, no. Odd NU trolling?

I think LST has enough data on Penn to disprove this as well.

Edit: If you make the assumption that those who got an Art III clerkship could have gotten Biglaw.

[Patriot1208]

i really wish there were more SC kids on the boards so we could get a better idea of a school that must do pretty well in LA if loyola kids are still getting biglaw. Obviously california is kinda lagging though. As far as BC goes http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 4&t=141651 paints a much rosier picture than the above posters.

two things

1) that poster went through biglaw hiring at least 5 years ago, when schools like columbia got almost everyone into biglaw.

2) we have hard data that proves his assumption of 50% of BC kids getting biglaw is false.

definitely get that but he's also claiming that his firms summer classes are going back up to their 2007 levels. definitely anecdotal but still worth paying some attention to. definitely not trying to argue with you and would be really happy if you could point me to the hard data (does it have figures from OCI a few months ago or is it recent grads who are unemployed type stuff)

I was just referring to the most recent NLJ numbers which is class of 09 which shows something like 25% of BC getting biglaw. I'd expect things to be similar now as it was for the class of 08, maybe 09. But when '10 data comes out it will look even worst.

[Patriot1208]

ITE only schools that give you a 50% chance (that is, above median) of BIGLAW are HYS, Columbia, NYU, and Northwestern.

Lol, no. Odd NU trolling?

I think LST has enough data on Penn to disprove this as well.

Edit: If you make the assumption that those who got an Art III clerkship could have gotten Biglaw.

Ya, MVPD are all around or above that number when taking into account a few who may have wanted something like DOJ and Art III clerkships. Cornell is also right on the bubble or right below 50%. Now, when 2010 data comes out everyone will freak out on TLS, but the hiring now seems, anecdotally, around the 08 data, maybe even slightly better.

[Veyron]

ITE only schools that give you a 50% chance (that is, above median) of BIGLAW are HYS, Columbia, NYU, and Northwestern.

Lol, no. Odd NU trolling?

I think LST has enough data on Penn to disprove this as well.

Edit: If you make the assumption that those who got an Art III clerkship could have gotten Biglaw.

Ya, MVPD are all around or above that number when taking into account a few who may have wanted something like DOJ and Art III clerkships. Cornell is also right on the bubble or right below 50%. Now, when 2010 data comes out everyone will freak out on TLS, but the hiring now seems, anecdotally, around the 08 data, maybe even slightly better.

Its not that good. The numbers that you are talking about don't seem to be the LST ones. And 2011 will not be as good as OCI 2008, no fucking way. Better than last year maybe.

[paulinaporizkova]

ITE only schools that give you a 50% chance (that is, above median) of BIGLAW are HYS, Columbia, NYU, and Northwestern.

Lol, no. Odd NU trolling?

I think LST has enough data on Penn to disprove this as well.

Edit: If you make the assumption that those who got an Art III clerkship could have gotten Biglaw.

Ya, MVPD are all around or above that number when taking into account a few who may have wanted something like DOJ and Art III clerkships. Cornell is also right on the bubble or right below 50%. Now, when 2010 data comes out everyone will freak out on TLS, but the hiring now seems, anecdotally, around the 08 data, maybe even slightly better.

Its not that good. The numbers that you are talking about don't seem to be the LST ones. And 2011 will not be as good as OCI 2008, no fucking way. Better than last year maybe.

*crosses fingers*

[Veyron]

[/quote]

Lol, no. Odd NU trolling?

I think LST has enough data on Penn to disprove this as well.

Edit: If you make the assumption that those who got an Art III clerkship could have gotten Biglaw.[/quote]

Ya, MVPD are all around or above that number when taking into account a few who may have wanted something like DOJ and Art III clerkships. Cornell is also right on the bubble or right below 50%. Now, when 2010 data comes out everyone will freak out on TLS, but the hiring now seems, anecdotally, around the 08 data, maybe even slightly better.[/quote]


Its not that good. The numbers that you are talking about don't seem to be the LST ones. And 2011 will not be as good as OCI 2008, no fucking way. Better than last year maybe.[/quote]

*crosses fingers*[/quote]


Amen brother.

[Rory1987]

I heard that Boston College places it's median in biglaw, but is this correct?[/quote]

lolwut?

And no, USC is terrible for biglaw. Go T-14 or go home.[/quote]

Or Vandy

[Veyron]

I heard that Boston College places it's median in biglaw, but is this correct?

lolwut?

And no, USC is terrible for biglaw. Go T-14 or go home.[/quote]

Or Vandy[/quote]

For BIGSOUTH maybe. Or Tex for BIGTEX.

[Arelikefoxes]

Though I am only a 1L here at USC, I can say that if you want SoCal biglaw, USC has strong placement. Things are changing very quickly in law employment, but you look at recent NLJ figures and USC is placing 41%, which really does not seem to be significantly worse than other, higher-ranked schools. You have to do well to get the best job offers, but really, in this economy, you have to do that at (almost) any school.

My evidence is anecdotal, but there seem to be many great opportunities here at USC for biglaw, and the administration seems to work hard to help its students out -- there are alums in every major firm/office here in LA and OC, and the "trojan network" is a pretty legendary presence in SoCal . (I'm going to be a V40 SA for my 1L summer.)

[bk1]

Though I am only a 1L here at USC, I can say that if you want SoCal biglaw, USC has strong placement. Things are changing very quickly in law employment, but you look at recent NLJ figures and USC is placing 41%, which really does not seem to be significantly worse than other, higher-ranked schools. You have to do well to get the best job offers, but really, in this economy, you have to do that at (almost) any school.

My evidence is anecdotal, but there seem to be many great opportunities here at USC for biglaw, and the administration seems to work hard to help its students out -- there are alums in every major firm/office here in LA and OC, and the "trojan network" is a pretty legendary presence in SoCal . (I'm going to be a V40 SA for my 1L summer.)

Not to discount any of your anecdotal evidence, but, fwiw, the NLJ numbers are pre-ITE.

[Arelikefoxes]

Not to discount any of your anecdotal evidence, but, fwiw, the NLJ numbers are pre-ITE.

That's true, but I imagine that downturns are roughly proportional in most schools...

[bk1]

Not to discount any of your anecdotal evidence, but, fwiw, the NLJ numbers are pre-ITE.

That's true, but I imagine that downturns are roughly proportional in most schools...

Not necessarily.

That would imply that all the legal markets that the schools place into were hit with equal intensity and are rebounding at the same speed, which is not true.

Plus, that USC is still better than the schools below it and worse than the schools above it on the NLJ list, because they all suffered proportionally, doesn't mean that USC is still a good idea for biglaw. Whether USC is good for biglaw or it isn't has nothing to do with the performance of other schools.

[ndirish2010]

By the time the C/O 2014 does their OCI, the numbers might be back up close to the 2009 numbers.

[Arelikefoxes]

Not necessarily.

That would imply that all the legal markets that the schools place into were hit with equal intensity and are rebounding at the same speed, which is not true.

Fair point -- though I wonder how significant that difference is...

Plus, that USC is still better than the schools below it and worse than the schools above it on the NLJ list, because they all suffered proportionally, doesn't mean that USC is still a good idea for biglaw. Whether USC is good for biglaw or it isn't has nothing to do with the performance of other schools.

I was assuming OP intended to go to law school. In a general sense, it is worse to go to law school to get into BigLaw now than pre-ITE...but I was addressing the relative merits vs. other schools.

[bk1]

By the time the C/O 2014 does their OCI, the numbers might be back up close to the 2009 numbers.

I highly doubt that.

[Arelikefoxes]

By the time the C/O 2014 does their OCI, the numbers might be back up close to the 2009 numbers.

Probably not, but they are improving.

[bk1]

Fair point -- though I wonder how significant that difference is...

I was assuming OP intended to go to law school. In a general sense, it is worse to go to law school to get into BigLaw now than pre-ITE...but I was addressing the relative merits vs. other schools.

It is pretty big when you compare NYC to LA.

Relatively the schools are probably in similar positions to where they were pre-ITE (with NYC-centric schools probably jumping up a bit). If one absolutely wants biglaw and USC is the best school one gets into, then I guess go to USC. But is that a good choice? Eh, I'm not so sure it is a financially good choice.

[Arelikefoxes]

It is pretty big when you compare NYC to LA.

Relatively the schools are probably in similar positions to where they were pre-ITE (with NYC-centric schools probably jumping up a bit). If one absolutely wants biglaw and USC is the best school one gets into, then I guess go to USC. But is that a good choice? Eh, I'm not so sure it is a financially good choice.

Or get a good scholly

I think USC is a fine choice for BigLaw today, but I'm sort of a TLS blasphemer -- USC was the "lowest" school I got into (passed on some T10s/t14s w/scholly), on the belief that it would be easier to place higher in my class, and knowing I wanted to place in SoCal.

[ArchRoark]

lolwut?

And no, USC is terrible for biglaw. Go T-14 or go home.

TINTCR

Go to a top 2 school or go home, i.e. Cooley or Harvard.

[Drake014]

Is USC a good choice for a student who wants to pursue biglaw?

Is your preference the California market? Is it the top school you can get into? Do you have any work experience? Are you a URM?

ITE only schools that give you a 50% chance (that is, above median) of BIGLAW are HYS, Columbia, NYU, and Northwestern.

A lot of people make the mistake of looking at how many students got into BigLaw and then equating that with the average students chances. I go to Berkeley where I believe about 1/3 of students get placed at OCI or manage to get into Biglaw otherwise. That doesn't mean 2/3 of students fail to get into Biglaw. At berk, probably about 1/3 of students don't try to get into Biglaw. Additional students decide to go into clerkships and might pursue it in the future.

[bk1]

Or get a good scholly

I think USC is a fine choice for BigLaw today, but I'm sort of a TLS blasphemer -- USC was the "lowest" school I got into (passed on some T10s/t14s w/scholly), on the belief that it would be easier to place higher in my class, and knowing I wanted to place in SoCal.

Well of course a scholly changes things. If given enough $ and one wants LA, I think USC is fine. At sticker though, I would definitely question that decision.

Though it is definitely foolish to assume you will place better in your class at USC than you would at a lower T14.