Top Law Schools

Are lower cali schools (Davis, Hastings, Loyola, Pepperdine) worth it with substantial $$$? I want to be a public defender in CA, so I'm looking for my best way to minimize debt and still be able to get a job.
Btw, 3.5/166

Watch out for the stips on those schollys. Loyola will give you 87K but you have to stay in the top third to keep it. Same with USD.

Tiago Splitter wrote:Watch out for the stips on those schollys. Loyola will give you 87K but you have to stay in the top third to keep it. Same with USD.

TBF if you're not top 1/3 at Loyola or USD it might be wiser to drop out anyway...

Davis and Hastings won't give you very much..

I worked for the LA DA's office and they said that if you want to go into the DA's office (I know you said PD but I assume they work in similar ways), it doesn't matter where you go or what grades you have, it's all about whether you've interned there and if they know you or not. Some of the Dep DA's there were from Southwestern, Loyola, etc. I think Loyola in particular has a good relationship with crim law in LA. Don't know anything about Norcal though.

You're not retaking? ):

crumpetsandtea wrote:I worked for the LA DA's office and they said that if you want to go into the DA's office (I know you said PD but I assume they work in similar ways), it doesn't matter where you go or what grades you have, it's all about whether you've interned there and if they know you or not.

I believe that this is true of the vast majority of PD offices in the country. It is almost as possible to get PD work coming from a lower ranked school as it is from a higher, but you have to be extremely sharp and diligent about building connections with PD offices and working there over your summers.

crumpetsandtea wrote:I worked for the LA DA's office and they said that if you want to go into the DA's office (I know you said PD but I assume they work in similar ways), it doesn't matter where you go or what grades you have, it's all about whether you've interned there and if they know you or not. Some of the Dep DA's there were from Southwestern, Loyola, etc. I think Loyola in particular has a good relationship with crim law in LA. Don't know anything about Norcal though.

You're not retaking? ):

Unfortunately I can't re-take, my first score is an *Absent.* I found out about this site and more about the LSAT two days before the test, and realized that my plan of not studying and taking it blind like other standardized tests would be suicide. So I have to rely on my 166/164, and my best best is regional in CA, UT, or WA.

That's great to hear about the DA/PD offices, I had read similar things. I'm planning to network my ass off, and might be able to get an internship in the Salt Lake City Attorney's office this next summer before law school. Judging from how well I get along with my coworkers here and at other jobs, I think I'll be able to continue to be likable and definitely have the drive to be sharp and focused to impress.

Curious1 wrote:

Tiago Splitter wrote:Watch out for the stips on those schollys. Loyola will give you 87K but you have to stay in the top third to keep it. Same with USD.

TBF if you're not top 1/3 at Loyola or USD it might be wiser to drop out anyway...

As far as stips, I'm definitely aware of it. However, if offered a full scholly with a 1/3 stip to Loyola or Pepperdine, I'd probably take it and work my ass off.

coldshoulder wrote:

Curious1 wrote:

Tiago Splitter wrote:Watch out for the stips on those schollys. Loyola will give you 87K but you have to stay in the top third to keep it. Same with USD.

TBF if you're not top 1/3 at Loyola or USD it might be wiser to drop out anyway...

As far as stips, I'm definitely aware of it. However, if offered a full scholly with a 1/3 stip to Loyola or Pepperdine, I'd probably take it and work my ass off.

Fair warning: working your ass off in no way guarantees anything in law school, except maybe you won't be in the bottom 15% or so.

Law exams are maybe 20% work ethic, 15% cognitive ability, 35% typing speed, and 30% being able to manufacture superfluous analysis to score points. And the last two factors are stuff that you really can't do much about via studying or work ethic. Once you go in and actually take an exam, have it graded by a professor, and get feedback, you'll be floored at what actually gets you points.

It's impossible to predict how well you will do. Your LSAT/GPA scores only have a very rough correlation with grades. If you pitted the #1 student at Cooley with someone in the bottom third at Harvard, I'd bet on the #1 student from Cooley getting higher grades if they both took the same exam with the same professor -- even though the Cooley student had probably a terrible LSAT/GPA. Either you intuitively "get" law exam analysis or you don't. Intelligence and work don't mean much.

And don't think that Getting to Maybe or LEEWS would really help all that much. First of all, everyone does them, and second of all, they only teach you very basic stuff.

JCougar wrote:And don't think that Getting to Maybe or LEEWS would really help all that much. First of all, everyone does them, and second of all, they only teach you very basic stuff.

...am I the only one who had no idea what that shit was?

johnnyutah wrote:

JCougar wrote:And don't think that Getting to Maybe or LEEWS would really help all that much. First of all, everyone does them, and second of all, they only teach you very basic stuff.

...am I the only one who had no idea what that shit was?

You didn't miss much.

[quote="JCougar"][/quote]

Yeah, I understand that there's absolutely no way to predict my performance in law school right now. However, I'd rather go to Pepperdine with a 1/3 chance at a full scholly than Hastings or Davis with certainty of sticker, especially with my future career preferences. Is this faulty logic?