how "regional" is UT Austin? Forum

[idratherbetraveling]

Trying to decide whether I want go to school there - I have a feeling I'd love law school there for 3 years but then hate my life if I lived in TX long term. How easy is it to get a job outside of Texas? I'm not necessarily looking for a biglaw job, and at this point in my life, I'd actually rather end up in public interest law. I would like to work on the East Coast (specifically DC) or Chicago. Can someone give me an idea of how easy it is to get out of Texas after going to school there?

(Note: right now, GWU is out of my price range, unless they agree to give me more money and I didn't get apply to/get in to UChicago/NW)

[alexonfyre]

Trying to decide whether I want go to school there - I have a feeling I'd love law school there for 3 years but then hate my life if I lived in TX long term. How easy is it to get a job outside of Texas? I'm not necessarily looking for a biglaw job, and at this point in my life, I'd actually rather end up in public interest law. I would like to work on the East Coast (specifically DC) or Chicago. Can someone give me an idea of how easy it is to get out of Texas after going to school there?

(Note: right now, GWU is out of my price range, unless they agree to give me more money and I didn't get apply to/get in to UChicago/NW)

UT employed 31% of students out-of-state two years ago, 17% of them were on the East Coast.
I would definitely say that UT is more of a regional school, but more accurately a regional super-power. Going to UT you are in anywhere in Texas, OK, NM and some parts of Louisiana. As I have mentioned before, because not many UT grads aim out of state, it is hard to tell how much reach they actually have, however by the same token, schools build rep on the backs of successful alums, and if UT doesn't produce many biglaw alums out of state, it will be hard for it to grow that reputation.

That said, if you have any sort of connections, then you should be fine where ever you go with a UT degree, and if you do well, top ~20% I would imagine you could probably get back to the East Coast, simply based on the numbers.

If anyone knows from personal experience, please correct me.

[Grizz]

Have any ties to Chicago? If not, gonna be difficult. DC is a crapshoot even with awesome grades.

[MrPapagiorgio]

Have any ties to Chicago? If not, gonna be difficult. DC is a crapshoot even with awesome grades.

I thought Texas was officially national now after, well you know...

[flcath]

Trying to decide whether I want go to school there - I have a feeling I'd love law school there for 3 years but then hate my life if I lived in TX long term. How easy is it to get a job outside of Texas? I'm not necessarily looking for a biglaw job, and at this point in my life, I'd actually rather end up in public interest law. I would like to work on the East Coast (specifically DC) or Chicago. Can someone give me an idea of how easy it is to get out of Texas after going to school there?

(Note: right now, GWU is out of my price range, unless they agree to give me more money and I didn't get apply to/get in to UChicago/NW)

You apply to ND? If they give you $$$, it's a worthwhile consideration (for Chi at least, and it leaves you some safety valve flexibility w/r/t region).

I didn't apply to UT, and it was my single greatest regret in the admissions process. I didn't apply purely b/c so many of their grads stay in Texas, but I'm really convinced now it's self-selection driven.

One of my buds from UG is a 3L (not on LR that I know of; SBA kid) who has a pretty sweet midlaw gig lined up in FL (if this anecdote encourages you at all).

[BeachandRun23]

Its tough to tell because around 66% of the class are in staters. So obviously a large portion of the class probably doesnt want to leave texas. Id say that the amount of texas residents who want to leave texas roughly equals the number of out of staters who want to start a career in texas so about 33% of the class or so wants to work out of state while the rest probably arent that interested. That is just my hunch though. Texas does have alot of out of state firms come to OCI, but I would suspect you may need to do a little more networking/legwork when trying to secure a job out of state.

[Coolgrnmen]

Its tough to tell because around 66% of the class are in staters. So obviously a large portion of the class probably doesnt want to leave texas. Id say that the amount of texas residents who want to leave texas roughly equals the number of out of staters who want to start a career in texas so about 33% of the class or so wants to work out of state while the rest probably arent that interested. That is just my hunch though. Texas does have alot of out of state firms come to OCI, but I would suspect you may need to do a little more networking/legwork when trying to secure a job out of state.

UTexas has an entire day dedicated to NYC hiring where all the biglaw firms go down just for UT students. Similarly they have other big market days. People stay in Texas because they want to - but they certainly don't have to.

Take Texas in a heartbeat

[de5igual]

Have any ties to Chicago? If not, gonna be difficult. DC is a crapshoot even with awesome grades.

I thought Texas was officially national now after, well you know...

while you meant that to be tongue-in-cheek, you'd need ties to Chicago even if you went to a "true T13"

[Veyron]

Regional? UT is a NATIONAL school, it places all throughout Texas.

[SoupIsGoodFood]

I'm going to be the stereotypical parochial Texan and ask why you would ever want to leave our fine state after attending UT?

I think the main reason a UT degree is less portable than some of its peer schools is the feedback effect from that sort of behavior. People who go to UT want to stay in Texas --> Fewer alumni living out of state to network/hire other alumni who leave the state. It's kind of like the opposite of what happens at Duke.

[Moral_Midgetry]

Subtle GeorgeTTTown trolling.

For reals, you can get out of Texas with a UT law degree.

[patrickd139]

Regional? UT is a NATIONAL school, it places all throughout Texas.

I approve of this post.

[Leira7905]

Oh lord. Here's this argument again....

[jhw123]

UTexas has an entire day dedicated to NYC hiring where all the biglaw firms go down just for UT students. Similarly they have other big market days. People stay in Texas because they want to - but they certainly don't have to.

Take Texas in a heartbeat[/quote]

I like it! One of the things that sold me on Texas over other options was the sheer number of recruiters that come to campus. Big school + big name = lots of recruiters from across the country. Admitted students should have received a list of last year's recruiters in the mail.

[imbored25]

Regional? UT is a NATIONAL school, it places all throughout Texas.

[Rory1987]

I'm interested in this, too. I have some T14 acceptances (and even a little money) and a lot of money at some T25s. Texas is like a compromise -- not as much money as say WUSTL, but better placement, and not as good as Michigan's placement, but more money. Penn is my dream school and I'll pay an arm and a leg to go there but I haven't heard from them yet. Thus, right now Texas is very intriguing to me. Plus, unlike Cornell or Michigan, they are located in an awesome city and not some small ass town. As an urbanite this is a big deal to me. However, I fear being stuck in Texas (and not working in Austin) after graduation; I really want to be working in Philly, DC, NYC, Boston, or even Pittsburgh or Baltimore after graduation. Someone qualm my fears or get me into Penn.

[DoubleChecks]

Regional? UT is a NATIONAL school, it places all throughout Texas.

lmfao +1, solid post

and besides OP, this is relative right? what are your other options?

[haus]

UT as a whole has a very large and aggressive alumni network. It would surprise me if the law school were somehow an exception to this.

[flcath]

UT as a whole has a very large and aggressive alumni network. It would surprise me if the law school were somehow an exception to this.

Well I only know 1 UT Law grad: Joe Jamail.

He is both large and aggressive.

[idratherbetraveling]

Thanks for the advice everyone! Going to head out to UT's ASD and see how I feel after that...

[Rory1987]

bump

[fatduck]

UT as a whole has a very large and aggressive alumni network. It would surprise me if the law school were somehow an exception to this.

[formerbiglawpartner]

At the risk of stating the obvious, most of the major Texas firms have DC and NYC offices. Whether you interview directly for those offices or transfer at some point, there are plenty of UT grads in both cases. Indeed, the head of the NYC office of one of the big three Houston firms is a UT grad. Good luck

[Alex-Trof]

At the risk of stating the obvious, most of the major Texas firms have DC and NYC offices. Whether you interview directly for those offices or transfer at some point, there are plenty of UT grads in both cases. Indeed, the head of the NYC office of one of the big three Houston firms is a UT grad. Good luck

I don't think it works like this. You can't just transfer. It is very difficult to do and you have to have very compelling reasons to do so. Also, I think there is a Villanova law graduate in the senate, it still doesn't make it a good option for a political career.

[formerbiglawpartner]

In my experience, the firms are pretty accommodating. I personally know attorneys who have transferred to both my firm's New York and DC offices. Obviously, if you know you want to start out in those cities, you are better off interviewing initially with their branch offices. They would definitely be interviewing UT students.