Is this plan foolish? Forum

[dex8425]

People who are going to a non tier one school.....that's me. Is this a logical plan?
I'm from the Minneapolis area, and my Dad is a U of Mn law graduate who practices there. He owns his own building and employs 8 other lawyers. My uncle graduated from The U of North Dakota school of law and is a partner at a large firm in Fargo. With my numbers (3.62/155) I am likely not getting into Minnesota, but will get into North Dakota and probably get a scholarship. Since sticker at North Dakota is only 18/yr for Mn residents anyway, a scholarship would mean I would graduate with little debt, considering I could live with my uncle in Fargo for basically nothing.
If I graduate from the U of North Dakota law school, I would be perfectly content with practicing in Fargo, Grand Forks, etc. but I could also work for my dad in the Twin Cities. Correct me if I'm wrong, but is there a reason for me to pay sticker at a tier one school (Minnesota, Wisconsin, William Mitchell) even if I could get in, which I probably won't, when I could go to North Dakota and get a similar job (working for my dad or with my Uncle)
I'm also applying to other t2 and t3 schools to see if I could graduate with less debt than if I went to North Dakota.

Feel free to critique all you want. FYI the 155 is a retake, from a 154, even though my diagnostics were high 150's, so these two test scores were incredibly frustrating. I'm a horrible standardized test taker. I'd rather have a three foot downhill right to left breaking putt for my life than have to answer a logical reasoning question correctly...don't really want to go through the lsat grind again.

[bk1]

Depends on how likely your father or uncle would be to hire you.

[dex8425]

Dad-very likely. I've worked in his office before, so he can attest to my work ethic; I don't think anyone in the office would be opposed to him hiring me either.
Uncle-not sure, but he would definitely help for networking/connections.

Basically, tier three schools are limited because you have to have great connections, good grades, and have to be willing to work in the immediate region in which the school resides, right? I don't think these will be too much of an issue for me.

[bk1]

If you have connections for a guaranteed job then all you really need to do is graduate with a JD and pass the bar. School location and grades aren't important if the connection gets you a job.

[TheWatch]

Usually if you have to ask . . .

but I really think North Dakota is your best bet in this situation if you really want to be a lawyer.

[romothesavior]

Sounds fine.

[JoeFish]

If you've got good chances at family employment as long as you get a JD, and are going to the only school in the state in which you're very happy to practice in, then go for it. When everyone's constantly telling people not to go to T2s or T3s (which is generally credited), they mean "don't go to the 7th school in the market expecting to get top 2% and biglawl and make back your $150k in debt overnight".

[tarp]

Your plan seems level-headed to me. North Dakota, incidentally, has one of the best economies in the U.S. right now (though that isn't saying much).

[zander4404]

.

[dex8425]

Yeah, North Dakota's economy is flying, because of oil and an efficient state bank--lowest unemployment rate of any state. I've heard stories of many people who actually moved their businesses to Fargo and Sioux Falls, SD from the Twin Cities.
Thanks for the advice.