Northeastern with $$ or UC Davis at sticker? Forum
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jfliegel
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Mon Mar 28, 2011 5:58 pm
Northeastern with $$ or UC Davis at sticker?
I'm choosing between UC Davis at sticker or Northeastern with $60k and living at home. Torn between practicing in Boston or California. Can anyone help? It seems that no one seems to think UC Davis really deserves to be the #23 ranked LS.. also seems strange that people would go to Hastings (#42) over #23 when they are in the same legal market. What are the prospects for BigLaw out of UC Davis? Any advice would be great..
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dpk711
- Posts: 1241
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Re: Northeastern with $$ or UC Davis at sticker?
To be completely honest, you can't expect biglaw from both of these schools.
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Lasers
- Posts: 1579
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Re: Northeastern with $$ or UC Davis at sticker?
it isn't strange people go to hastings over davis. they are peer schools, regardless of their rank.jfliegel wrote:I'm choosing between UC Davis at sticker or Northeastern with $60k and living at home. Torn between practicing in Boston or California. Can anyone help? It seems that no one seems to think UC Davis really deserves to be the #23 ranked LS.. also seems strange that people would go to Hastings (#42) over #23 when they are in the same legal market. What are the prospects for BigLaw out of UC Davis? Any advice would be great..
as for your choice, i guess it comes down to where you want to practice. will you be in debt if you go to davis? northeastern seems a lot cheaper. also, big law out of davis is top 15-ish%.
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cinephile
- Posts: 3461
- Joined: Sun Jul 18, 2010 3:50 pm
Re: Northeastern with $$ or UC Davis at sticker?
I don't think it's strange either that people pick Hastings of Davis -- it's in a nicer city.
However, I would pick UC Davis if I were you, if only because there are so many (higher ranked) schools in Boston.
However, I would pick UC Davis if I were you, if only because there are so many (higher ranked) schools in Boston.
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NothingRlyMattress
- Posts: 12
- Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2011 1:36 pm
Re: Northeastern with $$ or UC Davis at sticker?
Northeastern's scholarship is at most 8.5k, which isn't enough to justify how much worse of a school it is compared to UC Davis.
Go with Davis.
Go with Davis.
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Rule11
- Posts: 160
- Joined: Mon Sep 15, 2008 2:25 pm
Re: Northeastern with $$ or UC Davis at sticker?
If you're even contemplating biglaw, Northeastern is a non-starter. Davis will give you just enough hope for biglaw that you will be completely crushed when you don't get it. Don't go to law school.
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alumniguy
- Posts: 426
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Re: Northeastern with $$ or UC Davis at sticker?
Unless you do REALLY REALLY well at Northeastern, you probably will have a very difficult time getting to CA after graduation. Northeastern (from what I understand), is the essential regional school. It has a relatively good reputation in Boston (and I would imagine most of the NE region), but no one will know about it outside of these areas. My guess is that there is relatively little to no presence of CA firms visiting the school during the interview process, which means you are going to have to do significant legwork to get interviews in CA.
Davis on the other hand, is probably also a regional school - but decidedly less so. The difference in costs of attendance is pretty high (esp. given the scholarship and the OP's ability to live at home) and is probably the most significant drawback (especially if you are debt averse). I would imagine that it is difficult to get to Boston from Davis, but given your ties to Boston it is likely going to be easier to get to Boston from Davis.
Also, as one commenter said, people choose Hastings over Davis because they are peer schools, despite the 20 or so places that separate them in the rankings. No 0L should ever choose one school over another simply because one is ranked 20 v. 40. That isn't a large enough gap to have any merit. If we are talking 20 v. 75, I would say that is a meaningful group. In my opinion, it goes T-14, 15-40/50s, and then the rest. The schools in the 15-40/50 are regional schools that have some national recognition and regularly place their grads in every major market. After 50 or so, I just don't think that is the case. Again, I am not saying that 51 is the cutoff, but you should read these rankings by clusters and general trends (e.g., a particular school that has been a steady decline when viewed over the past 10 or so years - and no, a decline from 18-20 to 25-27 is NOT really important).
Most law firms with established hiring practices (e.g., biglaw firms) recruit at the same schools year in and year out and have a general grade cutoff tied to the schools they recruit that rarely, if ever changes. To think that a firm is going to see that Davis has moved up to number 23 and then hire more students because of that is just NOT the way it works. Legal hiring is a rather dynamic process and while which school you attend is certainly a factor, there are other factors that are involved (e.g., how well you did, a prospective associate's life experiences, how well one interviews, etc...).
Davis on the other hand, is probably also a regional school - but decidedly less so. The difference in costs of attendance is pretty high (esp. given the scholarship and the OP's ability to live at home) and is probably the most significant drawback (especially if you are debt averse). I would imagine that it is difficult to get to Boston from Davis, but given your ties to Boston it is likely going to be easier to get to Boston from Davis.
Also, as one commenter said, people choose Hastings over Davis because they are peer schools, despite the 20 or so places that separate them in the rankings. No 0L should ever choose one school over another simply because one is ranked 20 v. 40. That isn't a large enough gap to have any merit. If we are talking 20 v. 75, I would say that is a meaningful group. In my opinion, it goes T-14, 15-40/50s, and then the rest. The schools in the 15-40/50 are regional schools that have some national recognition and regularly place their grads in every major market. After 50 or so, I just don't think that is the case. Again, I am not saying that 51 is the cutoff, but you should read these rankings by clusters and general trends (e.g., a particular school that has been a steady decline when viewed over the past 10 or so years - and no, a decline from 18-20 to 25-27 is NOT really important).
Most law firms with established hiring practices (e.g., biglaw firms) recruit at the same schools year in and year out and have a general grade cutoff tied to the schools they recruit that rarely, if ever changes. To think that a firm is going to see that Davis has moved up to number 23 and then hire more students because of that is just NOT the way it works. Legal hiring is a rather dynamic process and while which school you attend is certainly a factor, there are other factors that are involved (e.g., how well you did, a prospective associate's life experiences, how well one interviews, etc...).
