Top Law Schools

Uh... BC to downtown if taking public transport is like 45 mins. From BU its like 15 mins. Those extra 30 mins do make a difference on random nights when you want to go out - also BU law itself is around a ton of bars and restaurants, I don't think BC is. Also, I don't live in Allston - its kind of a craphole.

BC has its own area. Newton is a suburb that is sort of the Greenwich of Massachusetts. Lots of celebrities and high profile business executives. Mansions galore. Very nice town with picturesque new england character. Few BC students actually live in Newton though. Most BC students live in the Allston/Brighton parts of Boston, as they are closer to the city. These are the same areas that you'll find most BU students living, but the BU students live closer to BU while the BC students live closer to BC (they are only really three miles apart).

I generally recommend having a car in Boston. Public transportation is pretty horrible in Boston compared to other big cities.

BCLS Alum wrote:BC has its own area. Newton is a suburb that is sort of the Greenwich of Massachusetts. Lots of celebrities and high profile business executives. Mansions galore. Very nice town with picturesque new england character. Few BC students actually live in Newton though. Most BC students live in the Allston/Brighton parts of Boston, as they are closer to the city. These are the same areas that you'll find most BU students living, but the BU students live closer to BU while the BC students live closer to BC (they are only really three miles apart).

I generally recommend having a car in Boston. Public transportation is pretty horrible in Boston compared to other big cities.

If you go to BC yes, if BU hell no. BU is more urban and parking isn't easy, but its right smack on the green like across from the T whereas BC is a T ride + shuttle which I hear can be a hassle.
Also, cars cost a shit ton in insurance, gas, etc. T is just 60$/month all inclusive. I would factor that into the cost analysis with BC's higher tuition. I hear a lot of people do BC without a car though and are okay. Most people at BU don't have a car and just use the T, its super easy and cheap.

Blindmelon wrote:

BCLS Alum wrote:BC has its own area. Newton is a suburb that is sort of the Greenwich of Massachusetts. Lots of celebrities and high profile business executives. Mansions galore. Very nice town with picturesque new england character. Few BC students actually live in Newton though. Most BC students live in the Allston/Brighton parts of Boston, as they are closer to the city. These are the same areas that you'll find most BU students living, but the BU students live closer to BU while the BC students live closer to BC (they are only really three miles apart).

I generally recommend having a car in Boston. Public transportation is pretty horrible in Boston compared to other big cities.

If you go to BC yes, if BU hell no.

+1

NOLA Proud wrote: 1. It is stupid to go to law school for this reason, regardless of school. 3 years of hell is not worth it simply for the promise of financial comfort. Get an MBA - they make more money usually anyway.

Lol at the bolded.

174 wrote:

Blindmelon wrote:

BCLS Alum wrote:BC has its own area. Newton is a suburb that is sort of the Greenwich of Massachusetts. Lots of celebrities and high profile business executives. Mansions galore. Very nice town with picturesque new england character. Few BC students actually live in Newton though. Most BC students live in the Allston/Brighton parts of Boston, as they are closer to the city. These are the same areas that you'll find most BU students living, but the BU students live closer to BU while the BC students live closer to BC (they are only really three miles apart).

I generally recommend having a car in Boston. Public transportation is pretty horrible in Boston compared to other big cities.

If you go to BC yes, if BU hell no.

+1

+1, I've never had the slightest desire to have a car here.

Cupidity wrote:

174 wrote:

Blindmelon wrote:

BCLS Alum wrote:BC has its own area. Newton is a suburb that is sort of the Greenwich of Massachusetts. Lots of celebrities and high profile business executives. Mansions galore. Very nice town with picturesque new england character. Few BC students actually live in Newton though. Most BC students live in the Allston/Brighton parts of Boston, as they are closer to the city. These are the same areas that you'll find most BU students living, but the BU students live closer to BU while the BC students live closer to BC (they are only really three miles apart).

I generally recommend having a car in Boston. Public transportation is pretty horrible in Boston compared to other big cities.

If you go to BC yes, if BU hell no.

+1

+1, I've never had the slightest desire to have a car here.

Plus Zipcars are really convenient when you absolutely need one.

If I'm living in Boston (central neighborhoods) post-grad I'll ditch my car...for a few years at least. No need unless you love weekends outside the city.
Also, is BC's tuition really higher than BU's?

sullidop wrote:If I'm living in Boston (central neighborhoods) post-grad I'll ditch my car...for a few years at least. No need unless you love weekends outside the city.
Also, is BC's tuition really higher than BU's?

Son of a bitch, they raised out tuition, I forgot. No wonder why my loans didn't balance. Scratch what I said before, they cost the same.

Yeah, not being able to have a car is one of the drawbacks to BU's location. The T is horrible. You either have to deal with public transportation or pay a lot for parking around the BU campus.

Stringer Bell wrote:

NOLA Proud wrote: 1. It is stupid to go to law school for this reason, regardless of school. 3 years of hell is not worth it simply for the promise of financial comfort. Get an MBA - they make more money usually anyway.

Lol at the bolded.

Technically, it is true. Don't go to law school to get rich. You'll be disappointed.

Slevin Kelevra 2011 wrote:Yeah, not being able to have a car is one of the drawbacks to BU's location. The T is horrible. You either have to deal with public transportation or pay a lot for parking around the BU campus.

Are you serious? You don't need a car at all. The T is cheap and reliable. Also, the bus system is pretty reliable and theres a free BU shuttle that goes 7 days a week from the gym to downtown. How is that not better than car payments, gas, etc? You save some serious $. Given the economy, and interest compounding, you need to save every dollar you can.

I think a lot of people don't get how much stuff costs. Its easy just to say "get a car-bro" but when you have payments and insurance and gas its ridic. expensive. Also, have fun driving to a bar downtown, drinking and driving home. You could drive near a T stop, try to find decent parking for a while, then just on the T downtown only to find you can't drive home and have to take a cab to and from your car. If you live close enough to the T to walk + have a car, then you are just pissing money away.

You definitely do not need a car at BU

Some of us would rather have a car. Just a preference. The T is one of the worst public transportation systems in the country, especially the green line.

But yeah, I'll give you that it is expensive to have a car. Sucks for the majority of americans that enjoy having a car. lol.

It comes down to the question of whether have a car is more important than saving money not having one in the city. While it would be nice to have a car, it is by no means necessary. though the t often sucks, BU is very close to newbury, fenway, the prudential and copley. Plus, the positive of BU is that it is located near the Kenmore T stop which is the station where 4 of the 5 green lines converge, which is benefitial when going inbound because the frequency of trains is higher than on each individual line.

Slevin Kelevra 2011 wrote:Some of us would rather have a car. Just a preference. The T is one of the worst public transportation systems in the country, especially the green line.

Having used public transportation in a few major cities, this is definitely not true. Second, you could have used a much worse example than the Green Line. Green Line is like a limo compared to the Orange Line.

There is absolutely no need for a car at BU, and 99% of the student population would wholeheartedly agree. The green line runs right along BU's campus the entire way down, and that line can take you all the way into the heart of Boston. And if you live just south of campus, you are right by the C line of the green line. You have the bus stop in Kenmore that can take you anywhere, and the BU shuttle goes all along campus and can take you downtown as well. I've been in Boston for many years and couldn't imagine owning a car or what purpose it would serve unless you leave Boston regularly.

Stringer Bell wrote:

NOLA Proud wrote: 1. It is stupid to go to law school for this reason, regardless of school. 3 years of hell is not worth it simply for the promise of financial comfort. Get an MBA - they make more money usually anyway.

Lol at the bolded.

Top MBA schools pump out grads who easily make 200% or 300% more over their lifetime, on average, relative to grads of the top lawl schools. The word "usually" is bothersome here though... outside of the top 20 or 30 schools, an MBA is utterly worthless. Even more worthless than law degrees from schools outside that range.

Attorney wrote:Top MBA schools pump out grads who easily make 200% or 300% more over their lifetime, on average, relative to grads of the top lawl schools. The word "usually" is bothersome here though... outside of the top 20 or 30 schools, an MBA is utterly worthless. Even more worthless than law degrees from schools outside that range.

That was pretty much my point. The assumption of 1. Get an MBA 2.??? 3. Profit is repeated way too often on this site. If someone is debating a T10 MBA program vs. a T10 JD then the MBA is a good call financially and that response makes sense. But that option is probably only available for a very small minority of people that post here.

Attorney wrote:

Stringer Bell wrote:

NOLA Proud wrote: 1. It is stupid to go to law school for this reason, regardless of school. 3 years of hell is not worth it simply for the promise of financial comfort. Get an MBA - they make more money usually anyway.

Lol at the bolded.

Top MBA schools pump out grads who easily make 200% or 300% more over their lifetime, on average, relative to grads of the top lawl schools. The word "usually" is bothersome here though... outside of the top 20 or 30 schools, an MBA is utterly worthless. Even more worthless than law degrees from schools outside that range.

After Gtown (20ish I think), I'd say they are pretty worthless. Also, MBA =/= profit. Many MBA grads do so well because they go back to their old job at a higher salary. The unemployment rate for MBA schools is pretty damn high - its not like LS, where its like harvard = qualified. A lot of buisness wants solid WE.

Cupidity wrote:Yeah this is a kulturkampf. What kind of music do you listen to, what is your ideal party scene, are you afraid of heights?

indie, city bars, no

jpSartre wrote:

Cupidity wrote:Yeah this is a kulturkampf. What kind of music do you listen to, what is your ideal party scene, are you afraid of heights?

indie, city bars, no

I guess that points to BU, lol!

You can't really go wrong with either choice. OP, have you visited both campuses? Do that and choose based on your gut feeling. Despite the disparity in rankings, BC and BU are neck and neck placement-wise (for both gov't/PI and BigLaw), and anyone who says otherwise is a troll.

Personally though, if I were accepted to BU instead of WL, I still would have picked BC without hesitation for the better quality of life (more of a town/country girl here), facilities, and the fact that it isn't housed in a hideous, "brutalist" tower that's more fitting for a correctional institution than an institution of higher education.

mettasutta wrote:

jpSartre wrote:

Cupidity wrote:Yeah this is a kulturkampf. What kind of music do you listen to, what is your ideal party scene, are you afraid of heights?

indie, city bars, no

I guess that points to BU, lol!

You can't really go wrong with either choice. OP, have you visited both campuses? Do that and choose based on your gut feeling. Despite the disparity in rankings, BC and BU are neck and neck placement-wise (for both gov't/PI and BigLaw), and anyone who says otherwise is a troll.

Personally though, if I were accepted to BU instead of WL, I still would have picked BC without hesitation for the better quality of life (more of a town/country girl here), facilities, and the fact that it isn't housed in a hideous, "brutalist" tower that's more fitting for a correctional institution than an institution of higher education.

Part of the beauty of the tower is that, once you are inside it (which a student will be for quite awhile) you don't have to look at it anyway, so its not that big a deal. I would like to think that aesthetics and such are far down the list of dispositive factors in choosing law schools. While BU and BC are very similar in a number of ways, there are far more differences than mere aesthetics, which theoretically are unconnected to your academic experience. I would think that one could make a choice on far more important factors.

mettasutta wrote:

jpSartre wrote:

Cupidity wrote:Yeah this is a kulturkampf. What kind of music do you listen to, what is your ideal party scene, are you afraid of heights?

indie, city bars, no

I guess that points to BU, lol!

You can't really go wrong with either choice. OP, have you visited both campuses? Do that and choose based on your gut feeling. Despite the disparity in rankings, BC and BU are neck and neck placement-wise (for both gov't/PI and BigLaw), and anyone who says otherwise is a troll.

Personally though, if I were accepted to BU instead of WL, I still would have picked BC without hesitation for the better quality of life (more of a town/country girl here), facilities, and the fact that it isn't housed in a hideous, "brutalist" tower that's more fitting for a correctional institution than an institution of higher education.

I havent visited either yet. I sent my deposit to BC, got accepted to BU the next day.

I was thinking about asking BC for the deposit back b/c it hasn't been cashed (i know low probability of getting it back), and committing to BU. But now I'll probably just deposit at both and check out the campuses in mid-may.

dakatz wrote:

mettasutta wrote:

jpSartre wrote:

Cupidity wrote:Yeah this is a kulturkampf. What kind of music do you listen to, what is your ideal party scene, are you afraid of heights?

indie, city bars, no

I guess that points to BU, lol!

You can't really go wrong with either choice. OP, have you visited both campuses? Do that and choose based on your gut feeling. Despite the disparity in rankings, BC and BU are neck and neck placement-wise (for both gov't/PI and BigLaw), and anyone who says otherwise is a troll.

Personally though, if I were accepted to BU instead of WL, I still would have picked BC without hesitation for the better quality of life (more of a town/country girl here), facilities, and the fact that it isn't housed in a hideous, "brutalist" tower that's more fitting for a correctional institution than an institution of higher education.

Part of the beauty of the tower is that, once you are inside it (which a student will be for quite awhile) you don't have to look at it anyway, so its not that big a deal. I would like to think that aesthetics and such are far down the list of dispositive factors in choosing law schools. While BU and BC are very similar in a number of ways, there are far more differences than mere aesthetics, which theoretically are unconnected to your academic experience. I would think that one could make a choice on far more important factors.

I was just knocking BU because they waitlisted me, lol. And I agree, factors unrelated to your academic experience like weather/aesthetics etc. should play a infinitesimal role the the decision process. But when were talking two schools that are similarly ranked, have similar placement stats, are located in the same market, and are at the same price, such factor can be appropriately put under consideration. For example, choosing Stanford over Harvard because the cold makes you miserable would be reasonable.