Which Law school should I pick? So many factors... Forum

[bk1]

Some of the very top people in my law school class were genuinely worried about doing well as a 1L.

I think the thing is that being realistic doesn't mean you lack confidence. Knowing that I have a roughly 50% chance of ending up below median doesn't affect the kind of answer I write, it's just my acknowledgement of reality.

I think conversely that the cocky ones are more likely to be fucked since the fact that they are ignorant of reality means they are more likely to have other negatives that make them perform poorly on exams.

[thecactus]

Yeah, I don't know why people are dismissing thelawschoolproject so readily. She said she's had experience with a biochem program...have any of y'all actually taken a serious hard science class? Forced curve, and everyone in your class is smart...just like law school. She's defined "confidence" pretty narrowly, and under her definition, I think what's she's saying makes a lot of sense. I also have 2 years of teaching experience, and I get where she's coming from. Not saying she's right -- but we could at least consider the possibility she is.

But back on topic: to the OP, I know you've pretty much made up your mind about this, but I can't help but think you're putting an unfair amount of pressure on your girlfriend. I don't see that much harm in waiting another year. You seem to be fairly certain that your girlfriend will want to go to a good medical school in the Northeast, but what if that changes in the next few months? What if she gets into Stanford? Or any other amazing school outside of the Northeast? By choosing Rutgers or what have you, you are boxing in your girlfriend to a very limited geographical area and therefore limiting her talent. Why not wait another year when both of you are applying to schools to make the decision together?

Also, rushing into such an unsound financial decision puts more pressure on her. If your plan fails and you drop out of law school, it will give her added stress during medical school. And she'll be in medical school longer than you'll be in law school -- what if you do graduate and can't find a decent job because you went to a subpar school? Are you gonna mooch off her student loans or her shitty residency pay? It just doesn't seem like you're making this decision with your girlfriend in mind.

I'm in a similar boat -- I'll be moving in with my SO when I go to law school. If my BF did to me what you're doing to your girlfriend now, I'd be a little miffed.

[sunynp]

Probably people are dismissing law school project because she is wrong. She has no clue what they are talking about. Law school is very different from a program based on facts. (also I'm not sure why her profile says she was an English and History major and neglects to mention her specialty in Biochem. Hopefully she is going to Georgetown or another school to do IP with her science background.)

Law school exams aren't factually objective as are science exams- even masters or doctoral level oral or written exams. You can know every single word of black letter law, the cases, the holdings and still end up at median. Law schools forced curve can be brutal. There was a thread here by someone who got a b+ because of missing one minor issue and a grammatical error. (Note - b+ in law school is a bad grade.)

There is no certain correlation between working hard and doing well. There are a number of threads here from 1Ls who post in despair after working very hard and end up at or below median after first semester. Also, you get one exam - there is generally no feedback before finals as to how you will do. You don't have a chance to adjust until the next semester.

So OP you need to keep in mind that you might be graduating below median at these schools. You probably won't get a job if you are below median (more realistically if you are below top 20%) at these schools. You will be in massive debt for the rest of your life. The huge amount of money involved should make you cautious.

If you choose to listen to 0Ls who have no experience, go ahead. You can't say people didn't try to warn you. You won't be the first person who didn't listen. All we can do is give you the facts.

As for law school transparency , they are working with incomplete data because schools lie. You may not understand this, but LST is a huge step forward from the information that was available before they started.

[dingbat]

NYC is indeed expensive, but 70k really seems too high for three years, especially in Queens. Take some time to find a cheap place ($600/mo) or live with your girlfriend, get rid of your car, buy groceries once or twice a week, and pregame with cheap liquor before going out. You can bring that down to 50k. I wouldn't rule out St. John's with a full scholarship just yet.

I live in a cheap ass city in the Midwest and I am somewhat modest in how I spend my money (or at least I was 1L year). I can't even keep my COL under 50k here for three full years. No way OP is gonna do it in NYC. Unless you basically have no life, never shop, eat Ramen noodles, etc. But that's just not a kind of lifestyle choice most (any?) law students are willing to make.

Don't listen to anyone who hasn't lived in NY regarding cost of living.
I lived in the middle of Manhattan (between times square and the empire state building) off of about $18k per year and know for a fact that I could have found a room for $200/month less, if I really tried.
Note that on that budget, I actually ate out more often than not, but had to keep shopping to a minimum and had to make clear choices regarding entertainment.

Outside of Manhattan (and some areas in Manhattan, like Dykman), it is possible to live off $50k over 3 years. If you insist on residing in Manhattan, it's possible to keep your COL under $60k

[Tom Joad]

NYC is indeed expensive, but 70k really seems too high for three years, especially in Queens. Take some time to find a cheap place ($600/mo) or live with your girlfriend, get rid of your car, buy groceries once or twice a week, and pregame with cheap liquor before going out. You can bring that down to 50k. I wouldn't rule out St. John's with a full scholarship just yet.

I live in a cheap ass city in the Midwest and I am somewhat modest in how I spend my money (or at least I was 1L year). I can't even keep my COL under 50k here for three full years. No way OP is gonna do it in NYC. Unless you basically have no life, never shop, eat Ramen noodles, etc. But that's just not a kind of lifestyle choice most (any?) law students are willing to make.

Don't listen to anyone who hasn't lived in NY regarding cost of living.
I lived in the middle of Manhattan (between times square and the empire state building) off of about $18k per year and know for a fact that I could have found a room for $200/month less, if I really tried.
Note that on that budget, I actually ate out more often than not, but had to keep shopping to a minimum and had to make clear choices regarding entertainment.

Outside of Manhattan (and some areas in Manhattan, like Dykman), it is possible to live off $50k over 3 years. If you insist on residing in Manhattan, it's possible to keep your COL under $60k

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[Blessedassurance]

Get married before she changes her mind.

[curiousnole]

the cactus: yeah... you don't know what you are talking about and I don't think you read from the beginning. As previously stated, she is choosing the location and I'm picking law schools based on her decision. She wants to go to a med school in the northeast based on her own preferences. "what if she gets into stanford?" She would, but she isn't applying to stanford, because she was born and raised in the northeast and loves it there. You have the chronology of the decisions completely wrong and are simply making assumptions based upon literally nothing. If you ask someone where they want to live and then attend a law school there, you then can't blame the original person for boxing themselves in, that's just ridiculous. "I'd like to live in my home town the rest of my life or in the general area if possible, I like the florida med schools too though." "Okay sounds great I'll try to attend a school around there." "Alright, 8 of the top 20 med schools are within 200 miles and I'd get into all of them, so it's not a big deal, I'd just prefer the northeast if possible." You are just literally basing this on nothing haha. We talk about it at least an hour a day and I don't make a single decision regarding law school without her input and okay. So, if your bf moved where you wanted, attended a law school in that area, discussed it with you every step of the way, you'd be miffed? No, you just made a lot of incorrect assumptions and directly ignored prior posts.

sunynp: I'm not going to graduate below the median. not a possibility because I will have dropped by then as discussed earlier. I know you may find that hard to believe, but it's true.

I didn't say lawschooltransparency was maliciously deceiving, just that their information is deceptive because such a small percent are responding at all. Thank you very much for your input though.

[romothesavior]

Don't listen to anyone who hasn't lived in NY regarding cost of living.
I lived in the middle of Manhattan (between times square and the empire state building) off of about $18k per year and know for a fact that I could have found a room for $200/month less, if I really tried.
Note that on that budget, I actually ate out more often than not, but had to keep shopping to a minimum and had to make clear choices regarding entertainment.

Outside of Manhattan (and some areas in Manhattan, like Dykman), it is possible to live off $50k over 3 years. If you insist on residing in Manhattan, it's possible to keep your COL under $60k

That's awesome. I think I should reconsider NYC. Sounds like it has lower COL than St. Louis.

[20130312]

Curious as to which brand of cardboard box dingbat lives in.

[beachbum]

Don't listen to anyone who hasn't lived in NY regarding cost of living.
I lived in the middle of Manhattan (between times square and the empire state building) off of about $18k per year and know for a fact that I could have found a room for $200/month less, if I really tried.
Note that on that budget, I actually ate out more often than not, but had to keep shopping to a minimum and had to make clear choices regarding entertainment.

Outside of Manhattan (and some areas in Manhattan, like Dykman), it is possible to live off $50k over 3 years. If you insist on residing in Manhattan, it's possible to keep your COL under $60k

That's awesome. I think I should reconsider NYC. Sounds like it has lower COL than St. Louis.

No way, bro. I could've found an apartment in St. Louis for, like, $20/month if I really tried. You just gotta know where to look.

[rad lulz]

No way, bro. I could've found an apartment in St. Louis for, like, $20/month if I really tried. You just gotta know where to look.

East St. Louis

[mattviphky]

No way, bro. I could've found an apartment in St. Louis for, like, $20/month if I really tried. You just gotta know where to look.

East St. Louis

I hate that city. Someone needs to go Nero on it

edit: by "that city", I mean East StL, specifically. I love St. Louis, but there is quite a bit they could do. One thing is to make the river front look presentable. The heart of city on west is pretty nice...but the river front looks like dog shit. Raze that, clean it up. East St. Louis' side of the river should get the same treatment. I know they need to preserve the functionality of the river front as a port, but there are just so many dilapidated buildings.

[murray18]

While its true that you could have good employment prospects from the top of the class from a top regional school, only one school you mentioned is a top regional school (and its really not a "top" regional school). You have the right idea about dropping out of a crappy law school if you aren't top 20%, but if you're willing to waste a year, why not waste a year trying to get into a real top school so you dont have to drop out if you aren't 20%. I wouldn't think you would want to drop out if you're genuinely interested in the law.

ALSO, let your girlfriend (who, admittedly, has better prospects than you right now) make her decision about med school without having to follow you around the country. If I were her, I'd be pissed if I had to follow my SO to Miami when any med school in the country is in reach.

[RodneyBoonfield]

100k debt at FSU is a terrible idea. Why don't you just get a job and live off your MD wife? Become a personal trainer and get real jacked so nobody can question your manhood.