U of Oregon or U of Idaho Forum

[A'nold]

I grew up in Oregon and find Eugene extremely ugly. The city and campus look very dated, 70s/80s style, except for the new athletic facilities built by Uncle Nike (which will look dated in 10 years). "Downtown" Eugene is dead, all the businesses having moved outwards to big shiny stripmalls and the big shopping center.

And the section of I-5 from Portland to Eugene is one of the most boring pieces of highway outside of Nebraska. You think rolling hills of corn is boring? Try flat fields of grass seed and sod.

I actually like the drive from about Centrailia to Eugene. Pretty looking fields and marsh land.

[JakeL]

A'nold- I take it you transferred out of UI, or how do you know all of this?

[A'nold]

A'nold- I take it you transferred out of UI, or how do you know all of this?

I would rather not talk about the specifics on this thread if that's o.k.

PM'ed.

[richpepsi]

Thanks for all of the input, everyone. To answer a few of your questions, I am from the Idaho Falls area and I do have a 3 month old daughter. The black hole statement is probably true. Northern Idaho is a long ways from Southeastern Idaho. It is closer to go to University of Utah, to bad I am waitlisted there. Salt Lake 3 hours away, Moscow 9 hours. I also applied to Lewis and Clark, no decision yet they are still holding my app. Willamette, half tuition scholarship there with aprox 31000 tuition. At least at Idaho it is the only school in the state for now. Where as Willamette is the worst of three schools in Oregon.

I went to an event put on by the U of I at the largest law firm in Idaho Falls. The majority of the attorneys there were from U of Idaho, a few from Utah and BYU. They are small enough that they don't recruit every year. They do occasionally hire clerks after your 2L summer, That is more of an extended interview, if they like you they offer you a position at graduation. It seemed the biggest draw for their hiring was ties to the area were more important than what school you went to. I told them I was considering Michigan State where I have a full ride. They seemed to think it was no better or worse than Idaho. "Well its a Big 10 school so we would consider you if you contacted us.

Another big thing was to get the best grades you can. They generally take from the top third of the class.

[ineptimusprime]

Thanks for all of the input, everyone. To answer a few of your questions, I am from the Idaho Falls area and I do have a 3 month old daughter. The black hole statement is probably true. Northern Idaho is a long ways from Southeastern Idaho. It is closer to go to University of Utah, to bad I am waitlisted there. Salt Lake 3 hours away, Moscow 9 hours. I also applied to Lewis and Clark, no decision yet they are still holding my app. Willamette, half tuition scholarship there with aprox 31000 tuition. At least at Idaho it is the only school in the state for now. Where as Willamette is the worst of three schools in Oregon.

I went to an event put on by the U of I at the largest law firm in Idaho Falls. The majority of the attorneys there were from U of Idaho, a few from Utah and BYU. They are small enough that they don't recruit every year. They do occasionally hire clerks after your 2L summer, That is more of an extended interview, if they like you they offer you a position at graduation. It seemed the biggest draw for their hiring was ties to the area were more important than what school you went to. I told them I was considering Michigan State where I have a full ride. They seemed to think it was no better or worse than Idaho. "Well its a Big 10 school so we would consider you if you contacted us.

Another big thing was to get the best grades you can. They generally take from the top third of the class.

I'm also from I.F., and really love it here. I just couldn't do Moscow/Pullman. My wife would literally have NOTHING to do for 3 years. The town appears to just pander to the hippy/granola crowd, and really leaves nothing desirable for anyone of...well any other interests. One of the posters commented that there really isn't much time for fun in law school.. That's probably true, but I see that as all the more reason to attend somewhere enjoyable. With what little free time is available, I think it's important to be in a place you enjoy, with things/people/surroundings that you enjoy.. Otherwise, you're unhappy for all 24 hours of the day rather than just half of them.

I'm really hoping to get in off the WL at Nebraska (where I've already been and know I like) Good luck with your decision!

[bloobook]

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[richpepsi]

bump

[ineptimusprime]

The hippy/granola pandering appeals to me ... perhaps I should think more seriously about UIdaho. /random

You know, for the right kind of person U of I would be great. Maybe you should consider it..

*prime crosses fingers hoping bloobook goes to U of I to free up a spot at Gonzaga*

[Journeybound]

Oregon is an amazing school. I transferred from Oregon to Berkeley, and the culture of the two schools is very similar. They both have a noncompetitive, relaxed, and friendly atmosphere. Most of the first-year professors at Oregon are great. I would have to say that one or two of my professors at Oregon could easily match some of the best professors at Berkeley.

The job prospects at Oregon are probably similar to any other T2 in this economy. A decent amount of my classmates have jobs lined up, but most are still searching. The school is getting a new dean this summer, and I believe that he is focusing on improving the career services. In fact, I recently saw that they are trying to hire a new director of career services.

The student body at Oregon is extremely friendly and that will make a huge difference with your experience there. As 1Ls we went to visit local vineyards on weekends, bowled together, went to lunches together, had parties, Bar Review, and went to Oregon football games almost every Saturday together (This was the absolute best part of being at Oregon). The class size is small enough so that you know all the first years by first name. There are virtually no "douche bag gunners," although there are some very bright and driven students there. A surprising number of students could have gone to much higher ranked schools, but they wanted to go to school and work in Oregon.

The landscape in Oregon is gorgeous. Eugene has about 180,000 people, so it doesn't have a huge downtown. You don't go to Oregon for the night life. But you have the coast that is about 45 minutes away, and the mountains are also about 1 hour away. You can also head up to Portland, which is 1.5 hours away, and Seattle is 5 hours away.

It does rain a lot from October to May (Most of the school year). But it's not a heavy rain. It's mostly just cloudy and drizzly. It keeps everything bright green, which I find very pretty. Also, it helped me to stay inside and study more than I would have if it had been sunny, like here in Cali.

The facilities at Oregon are top notch. The law school itself was built about 10 years ago (I think), and it is very, very nice. The library is also great. There are tons of spots to study in it without being bothered. this last year they outfitted every desk with brand new ergonomic chairs.

Lastly, Oregon has an amazing reputation in the Northwest. Recently, it seems like it's been creeping up on or even passing Lewis and Clark. All of the firms throughout the state are filled with Oregon grads (especially Eugene), and Also, you'll get some name recognition around the country because of it's sports program. But, don't expect to land a job in Portland coming from Oregon. Portland BigLaw is extremely competitive and often hires from T10s. I mean, each firm, there being a total of 5-6 big firms, hires 1-2 summer associates. So going to Oregon will not lead to BigLaw. But you can definitely survive on mid/small law's 50-60k as a recent grad in Oregon. And the salaries after about 6 years usually approach or pass 100k (which is a fortune in Eugene, or most places outside of Portland).

My vote is for Oregon. Good luck!

[bloobook]

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[PinkCow]

Having worked for and known quite a few UI lawyers,

#1 - All of the advice they give you regarding employment and school clout is likely highly outdated - and for the worse. The market was nowhere near as competitive ten, fifteen, or twenty years ago, especially when you are considering a school of UI's caliber.

#2 - At best, a UI degree is going to get you a mid-level job in the North Idaho/Spokane area. Get any further west/south and you're gonna get squashed by Utah, UW, LC, and, of course, Oregon. So, if you're comfortable with those prospects...

My vote is 100% Oregon. It would give you comparable options in the UI area, as well as its own options. And, while 19k is somewhat significant, being 57k in debt with a decent job still beats jobless in the middle of a bunch of ugly fields.

[richpepsi]

Well I visited both schools and decided to go with Oregon. I sent off my seat deposit today.