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I am a 3L at a t50 law school in the northeast. My boyfriend lives in Charleston, SC. I have moved here permanently, and have a summer internship here. For my final year I have applied and been accepted as a visiting student at both University of South Carolina School of Law, and Charleston School of Law. I am now trying to decide between the two, and would really appreciate any insight anyone has into either.

Based on emotions alone I really want to be at CSOL. Charleston is my home now, I don't want to leave my boyfriend (and his child), I don't want to leave my community here, I believe there is the possibility of my (paid) internship continuing into the fall semester, etc. From a practical standpoint, I also expect that networking for a post-graduation position will go more smoothly if I am in the city I intend to practice in.

On the flipside though, CSOL just informed me that I won't be allowed to register until the first day of classes, and I still need Professional Responsibility and two writing courses to graduate. And, to go ahead and address the elephant in the living room, I'm a bit nervous about CSOL's accreditation. I of course have the option of going back to my home school of my final semester if I need to for required courses or accreditation reasons, but I am not sure if I'm better off being in Columbia for the entire final year, or in Charleston for the fall semester and potentially back north for the spring.

As someone from South Carolina, CSOL is not really respected by lawyers in SC. On the other hand, you are just going to be a visiting student. My suggestion to you would be to go to South Carolina instead of CSOL. You can easily go to Charleston on weekends. It's only 2 hrs away. I'd only stay at CSOL if you are confident your paid internship will get you a job.
The legal market in South Carolina is very insular, and what a lot of outsiders do not understand is that it is not just insular in that they want people from the state. It is is not that they want to hire people who went to law school in south carolina, either. Going to CSOL won't help you in that regard. They want to hire people who went to South Carolina law like them with ties to SC.

USC no question. CSOL has been around for something like 10 years and has yet to be accredited; so it has been eligible for accreditation for some time now, but ABA hasn't given them the nod. take into account all the horrible law schools that are actually accredited and that should tell you something.

CSOL is just for-profit, they don't care about their students getting a job.

As an update on CSOL's accreditation; the Board announced today that they have been granted full accreditation.

The lack of being accredited is worrying, but just having accreditation isn't something to be proud of in itself.

CSOL is an excellent school and living there is no comparison between living in Charleston and Columbia. The main issue really is going to be the cost and also it costs more to live in Charleston but you are already aware of those facts. You should not have any problem getting the classes you need to graduate. Stay in Charleston.

morris248 wrote:CSOL is an excellent school

No. If Charleston School of Law is excellent, what kind of school would you consider to be not excellent?

berkeleykel06 wrote:

morris248 wrote:CSOL is an excellent school

No. If Charleston School of Law is excellent, what kind of school would you consider to be not excellent?

Florida Coastal and Cooley. Oh wait, those schools are probably on par with CSOL.

morris248 wrote:CSOL is an excellent school and living there is no comparison between living in Charleston and Columbia. The main issue really is going to be the cost and also it costs more to live in Charleston but you are already aware of those facts. You should not have any problem getting the classes you need to graduate. Stay in Charleston.

I lolled

Grizz wrote:The lack of being accredited is worrying, but just having accreditation isn't something to be proud of in itself.

Actually, for a new school such as CSOL, it is. While the school was eligible to apply for full accreditation as early as December 2009, even if it had been fully accredited at that time it would at best be ranked a 2nd tier law school at this point simply because of its newness. Accreditation and ranking is a process, CSOL is going through that process as all new schools must.

audrebecca wrote:

Grizz wrote:The lack of being accredited is worrying, but just having accreditation isn't something to be proud of in itself.

Actually, for a new school such as CSOL, it is. While the school was eligible to apply for full accreditation as early as December 2009, even if it had been fully accredited at that time it would at best be ranked a 2nd tier law school at this point simply because of its newness. Accreditation and ranking is a process, CSOL is going through that process as all new schools must.

The point is that just being accredited doesn't tell you anything about whether you can get a job afterward, which is the whole reason to go to law school. Then again OPs situation is somewhat different being a visiting student.

I doubt your law school will accept credits from an unaccredited law school.

Charleston School of Law received full ABA accreditation yesterday, Friday, August 5, 2011.

OP: I have little insight about either law school, but Columbia is not as nice as Charleston & University of South Carolina's law school facilities are outdated.

Since you have an ongoing paid internship in Charleston & since you plan to live & work in Charleston after law school and since your SO is in Charleston, then Charleston Law is a reasonable choice for you.

Charleston, South Carolina & Savannah, Georgia are both exceptional places to live, in my opinion.

I doubt the OP will have the same issues as a CSOL student since her degree will be from a T50. I don't know too much about visiting students, but I doubt employers will treat her negatively just because she "visited" CSOL her last year. I would never recommend someone attends CSOL, but to visit the school might not be that bad.

If you "need" some classes to graduate, then going to CSOL, especially since they won't let you register till the first day of class might be a bad idea. This is especially true since most schools recommend you take professional responsibility (or its equivalent) before your last semester of law school.