Arizona State vs. Phoenix School of Law Forum

[desertlaw]

For a friend......

Arizona State at sticker OR Phoenix School of Law with near-full scholarship.

Probably doesn't want to work BigLaw, have family connections with a few small litigation firms that he'd love to work at when he graduates. Assuming they'll let him work for them after he passes bar, it seems like graduating with no debt is better than debt at a better school.

Thoughts?

[IAFG]

People are always mentioning their family connections like they're gonna clinch it. I know quite a few well-connected people who end up jobless anyway, and from better schools than that. He needs to bluntly ask the firms he thinks he has a strong connection to: "Would you hire me if I attended school X? What about school Y? What would my grades have to be?"

If he doesn't feel comfortable doing that, he probably doesn't have a job-getting connection.

[studebaker07]

ASU and its not even close. Former PSL student here (transferred to ASU). PSL is an extreme joke of a school. There are many organizational problems, the quality of life at the school is terrible, and OCI/clerking are either non-existent or extremely hard to get (considering there were only a handful of firms that showed up at my OCI and I think maybe 1 or 2 people ended up clerking). Even with family connections, if there is no guarantee that he/she may work there after graduation (I know you said assuming), its better to opt for the name of ASU over PSL.

In regards to the scholarship, the stipulations are probably very strict. I know for my scholarship, I had to maintain a 3.0 GPA after the first year (which is top-25%). Very tough to do at PSL considering how brutal the curve is and how many gunners there are.

I would say to tell your friends to take a pass on the scholarship offer and go with ASU. If he/she is in-state, tuition is still reasonable (even though it is rising). Overall, ASU will give him/her much better prospects if the family connections don't pan out. Granted, even opportunities at ASU are limited if you don't do well, your friend would be much worse off at PSL if she/he lost the scholarship and ended below Median.

[Jah'rakal]

retake or don't go