TITCR

Doesn't matter, it is not the same. You could say the same thing from MD and VA.

lol @ American

Go to GW or GULC unless you're going to WCL for free.

Oh shit it is the presitge police.

What a bright young critical thinker you must be.

Not that critical. UNC and American are basically peer schools.

Lol at American not being in DC. It's only in one of the nicest neighborhoods in the whole city. The money up there is insane. If you are gonna knock it, knock it for being so far off the Metro.

Whoever said DC is a 'small city' is on point; after all, the city ends immediately at its arbitrary political boundaries. It's especially small when you compare to the other cities on this list. Hint-it probably felt small while you were there because you were afraid to go anywhere besides the Mall or the neighborhoods west of 18th Street.

Absolutely.Slaughtered.

.

Overt racial prejudice--impressive.

Enjoy your week off.

nice burn... The force is strong in this one.

Even if OP is just interested in ppl's opinions of what is the nicest city, more personal preference info. could be useful. But since this is in the context of choosing a law school (as the thread and forum titles indicate), more specific numbers and preference info could actually transform this thread so that it has a semblance of usefulness.

Please don't attempt to turn this thread into a useful discussion of what professional school would be most appropriate for the OP's career goals.

Thanks.

The point about personal preference information is partially correct. I'll try to elaborate: Some cities are absolute garbage dumps that no one from outside of them would ever want to go to. Examples of these cities are maybe... Gary Indiana, Detroit Michigan, and the like. Some cities are impossible to get around easily in--this is usually mostly because they are commuter cities but I guess there are a variety of reasons. Atlanta, GA comes to mind when thinking of places like that. Some cities have almost no distinct culture or identity--For some reason I think of places like Topeka and Omaha, though I've never been to either one. Places like Miami and Los Angeles are too rich and silly for my blood.

I definitely took some liberties in these descriptions but I think some of you will know what I'm talking about and will be able to help some. It is very important to me that I like where I live and can partially involve myself in the life of the community that I will be a part of. It is also very important for my girlfriend's sake. University of Iowa was on my short list of schools, but it is easy for me to understand that she wouldn't want to pack up and leave her family to move to Iowa City. I get that.

PS to Lawquacious: Useful to who?

HURP DURP I IZ NOT CRITICAL THINKER U GOT ME!!!!!!!!!11

FYI I had the same choice and I picked UNC over American for so many reasons. One reason included not being seriously in debt for the rest of my life, since tuition is lower even without a scholarship. In fact, American was my #1 for a time this cycle because of the PIPS program, but I didn't get the full ride and American doesn't have a great rep compared to GW/GULC. That school is not worth full price and they are seriously stringy with money (the highest scholarship they give besides the PIPS is 10k, which is not enough). Their students, unless they are near the top of the class, get last dibs on jobs in D.C. and often fall behind UVa, GW, GULC, and even George Mason for jobs. If you want to have so-so prospects in D.C. and outside of D.C., go to American.

Personally, as an N.C. resident I'd take UNC any day of the week for the 17k tuition and lower COL. Also, UNC is highly respected in NC and gets more respect in it's region than American does in D.C. Like I said before ITT, if you're a resident or can get residency it is a fantastic deal. And one more point-- I also chose UNC over GW (sticker) and American (10k scholarship) since I have connections in NC and it was waayyyy cheaper. American, and even GW at full price are just not worth it unless you are not debt-averse.

Obviously these were my personal situations, but you can ask just about any regular on this site about American and they'd tell you something similar. Go to GW with scholly, maybe GULC at sticker, or don't go to D.C.

Athens or Chapel Hill would be my choice, although I have a friend who went to American for a year in undergrad before transferring and he said DC was great.

sorry, didn't mean to disturb the focus of any aimless wanderers

Useful to a certain subsection of TLSers who may gain admissions enlightenment through the esoteric practice of relevancy awareness. Or useful to the OP, if actually interested in meaningful feedback related to prospective law school choices.

I'd add Emory onto this list. For a hot minute they were my dream school, and if you could get into UGA, Emory is possible. Atlanta is awesome - cheap as hell, nice weather and the #1 ranked cheeseburger in the world:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyMo4KFrlyw

Says the troll.

I grew up in the mountains as well and can empathize with the desire to stay in a smaller city and stay in mountains. The Research Triangle in NC is a nice area (a little too hot for me), but I have a stigma against the whole state anyways, so my opinion there is tainted. Minneapolis is a cool city a but the winters get damn near arctic, so if you can handle it, all the power to you. DC proper is a really neat area, tons to do, but high CoL and if you live outside of the actual District, you fall into the issues of the Capitol Wasteland. Overpriced real estate, stop-go traffic on highways for 40 miles every direction, boring no character strip malls everywhere, etc.

I chose Pittsburgh. Great city, cost of living is reasonable, still in Appalachia, Pitt dominates the market there, and you get all 4 seasons.

I've been to half the cities on the list and know people in half the schools on the list. Here are my top three:

PGH is nice. Been here a few times. Realize you may be insular to Western PA (though aren't we supposed to avoid talking jobs and focus on city) and it's not a bad deal. The city can get a bit boring after a while, my friend hated it and he's from another boring rust-belt town. Visiting for a few weeks I was entertained.

A friend at UMN Law keeps us updated on when he sees the last bit of snow melt each year. There was still a pile of it in his parking lot on May 12th. But, that aside, the city is beautiful. It feels like a big city even though it may be statistically only the 20th biggest metro or something. And, "Minnesota Nice" is real.

DC is an awesome city in the mold of a smaller, less fashionable Paris, as Jefferson intended. Open spaces, low buildings, tons of free touristy stuff to do, lots of young people, tons of bars (think Cleveland Park area).

Thank you very much. Pittsburgh is becoming a much more attractive place to me, recently. It is good to hear from someone with similar ideas.

I know everyone on here will yell "T14 or GTFO" but if you have the credentials to get into a really highly ranked school but really like Pittsburgh, you should be able to nab a full-ride at Pitt. If you're not into BigLaw and want to do some mid-sized legal work in a nice little city, then you can't go wrong with a free education from Pitt. Personally, I'd rather be a bigger fish in a little pond than a guppy in the ocean, but I grew up in SW Va.

I'm not all that concerned with the (unbelievable amount of) people on this site whose terminal values are money and power. I'm pretty certain that Pitt will throw some money at me, but I have read a lot of horror stories about their career services department and poor facilities in the last few days.

I grew up in ETN and just don't see myself living in a big city for the rest of my life. I'm not sure that I will feel that way after having the experience in law school.