William Mitchell v. Marquette v. Lewis and Clark Forum

[Jhausie]

Hey everyone,

I was hoping to get some insight as to which school I should attend and possibly how to make that decision.

Here is the situation:
I have been accpeted to Marquette, William Mitchell (MN), and Lewis and Clark. I am waiting to hear back on a number of others and have been waitlisted at several others as well. I have recieved a 40% tuition scholarship at William Mitchell and no scholarships at the other two as of right now.

My top choices are the University of Minnesota, which I have been waitlisted at and the University of Wisconsin, which I haven't heard back from yet. I would ideally like to transfer to one of these two institutions, however I realize that I should choose my first year institution so that I will be happy with finishing my law school career there if transferring doesn't happen for whatever reason.

William Mitchell is much more affordable than Marquette or Lewis and Clark. However, Marquette is ranked higher than William Mitchell, while Lewis and Clark is ranked signficantly higher than both. Marquette and Lewis and Clark are about the same in price. Additionally, Lewis and Clark ranks higher in both Public Interest Law and Environmental Law than the other two institutions. This is notable because I am interested in practicing in these areas.

My LSAT is 155 and my GPA is 3.75 if it matters.

Keeping in mind that I would potentially like to transfer, which school do you believe would be best for me to attend?

Thanks for your time and input,

Justin

[ggibelli]

Hey everyone,

I was hoping to get some insight as to which school I should attend and possibly how to make that decision.

Here is the situation:
I have been accpeted to Marquette, William Mitchell (MN), and Lewis and Clark. I am waiting to hear back on a number of others and have been waitlisted at several others as well. I have recieved a 40% tuition scholarship at William Mitchell and no scholarships at the other two as of right now.

My top choices are the University of Minnesota, which I have been waitlisted at and the University of Wisconsin, which I haven't heard back from yet. I would ideally like to transfer to one of these two institutions, however I realize that I should choose my first year institution so that I will be happy with finishing my law school career there if transferring doesn't happen for whatever reason.

William Mitchell is much more affordable than Marquette or Lewis and Clark. However, Marquette is ranked higher than William Mitchell, while Lewis and Clark is ranked signficantly higher than both. Marquette and Lewis and Clark are about the same in price. Additionally, Lewis and Clark ranks higher in both Public Interest Law and Environmental Law than the other two institutions. This is notable because I am interested in practicing in these areas.

My LSAT is 155 and my GPA is 3.75 if it matters.

Keeping in mind that I would potentially like to transfer, which school do you believe would be best for me to attend?

Thanks for your time and input,

Justin

If your ultimate goal is to transfer, why not put all the time and hard work you would put into getting top 10/15% of your class into studying and retaking the LSAT. There's no guarantee of securing a high class rank no matter how hard you work. But if you put the time and energy into studying for a retake you'll be able to get a much better secure and get an acceptance at a school you'd want to transfer to. Seriously, don't waste that GPA. Study hard and retake.

[Jhausie]

Ok thanks for the input. Anybody else have opinions or advice?

[ronthebartender]

Make sure you want to live in the regions these schools are located. The degrees aren't very portable. Also, where do you have ties and what type of lawyering job do you want? If you had to pick one, take the money. Mitchell grads get jobs in the twin cities (but only top 5% or so Can get biglaw, if that's your goal.) Beyond the top 5% its hit or miss depending on the person, but many end up with a decent position. And with the scholly, if it doesn't work out, at least you're not that far in the hole.

[crossarmant]

The correct answer is "Retake". Honestly, a 3.75? If you studying and worked hard for a few months on your LSAT, you'd be able to nab Minn with a scholarship. Do not waste a GPA like that with a 155; it's just foolish. Seriously, do not waste a 3.75.

Out of those 3: I'd say Lewis & Clark. Best school in the state, though Portland has zero job market, and the state is overcrowded with 3 law schools.

And you'll see it echoed forever on here: Do not go to law school expecting to transfer! For every person in the top 10% there are 9 people who are not. Odds are better that you'll be one of the 9. Do not go somewhere you do not want to graduate from.

Just retake the LSAT, with a high enough score you can go anywhere you want with a GPA like yours. So just do it, please, for me?

[dex8425]

If you don't mind getting an education from conservative professors, throw in an app to St. Thomas. They might give you way more money than WM, and it's definitely an up and coming school, stealing profs from Notre Dame, and even though UST is young, there are "Tommies" who went to UST for undergrad all over the twin cities that love to hire UST grads. I heard back from bucky yesterday. Somehow I got in with a 154/3.62, and somehow I got waitlisted at UMN. If you're a MN resident North Dakota is 17k/year I believe and the economy there is flying.

With your present choices I'd go to Billy Mitchell.

[trollhunter2]

The correct answer is "Retake". Honestly, a 3.75? If you studying and worked hard for a few months on your LSAT, you'd be able to nab Minn with a scholarship. Do not waste a GPA like that with a 155; it's just foolish. Seriously, do not waste a 3.75.

Out of those 3: I'd say Lewis & Clark. Best school in the state, though Portland has zero job market, and the state is overcrowded with 3 law schools.

And you'll see it echoed forever on here: Do not go to law school expecting to transfer! For every person in the top 10% there are 9 people who are not. Odds are better that you'll be one of the 9. Do not go somewhere you do not want to graduate from.

Just retake the LSAT, with a high enough score you can go anywhere you want with a GPA like yours. So just do it, please, for me?

For every 90th percentile scorer on the LSAT, there are 89 percent who did not score so high. LSAT is no guarantee either...it's graded on a curve too. Just saying there are two sides to this.

[llachans]

Did you get scholarship money from any? If not, retake.

[trollhunter2]

Did you get scholarship money from any? If not, retake.

With above said, I second that: retake if you can. Anybody care to comment on L&C at sticker?

[flem]

With above said, I second that: retake if you can. Anybody care to comment on L&C at sticker?

32% with no long term employment of any sort at 9 months after graduation. I wouldn't go absent a giant scholarship.

[rinkrat19]

Did you get scholarship money from any? If not, retake.

With above said, I second that: retake if you can. Anybody care to comment on L&C at sticker?

Seven L&C students got SA positions in Portland this year.

SEVEN.

http://034aac7.netsolhost.com/WordPress/law-students/

I turned down a 75% ride at L&C because the employment numbers are so scary.

[trollhunter2]

Did you get scholarship money from any? If not, retake.

With above said, I second that: retake if you can. Anybody care to comment on L&C at sticker?

Seven L&C students got SA positions in Portland this year.

SEVEN.

http://034aac7.netsolhost.com/WordPress/law-students/

I turned down a 75% ride at L&C because the employment numbers are so scary.

What are SA positions?

That sound horrendous. I love the disparity between the TLS profiles and a school's perception on the forums. Granted, the TLS profile was published in 2008, another world as far as the economy is concerned, but it still makes you ask, who writes these things? The profile said that 97% of graduates land jobs 9 months out but that statistic doesn't mean much to many of the critical minds on the forums.

[rinkrat19]

Did you get scholarship money from any? If not, retake.

With above said, I second that: retake if you can. Anybody care to comment on L&C at sticker?

Seven L&C students got SA positions in Portland this year.

SEVEN.

http://034aac7.netsolhost.com/WordPress/law-students/

I turned down a 75% ride at L&C because the employment numbers are so scary.

What are SA positions?

That sound horrendous. I love the disparity between the TLS profiles and a school's perception on the forums. Granted, the TLS profile was published in 2008, another world as far as the economy is concerned, but it still makes you ask, who writes these things? The profile said that 97% of graduates land jobs 9 months out but that statistic doesn't mean much to many of the critical minds on the forums.

Summer Associate positions, usually 2L summer. They are the summer jobs that (hopefully) lead to "biglaw" jobs after graduation.

The TLS profiles are an okay description of the school itself, but for employment data, the closest thing we have to reality is lawschooltransparency.com.