I got into Hofstra and Miami law. Location doesn't matter to me. What matters is landing a job in NY. Which school would give me the best chance of landing a job in NY? I know Miami is a better school but Hofstra has better networking due to it being in NY.

Yes.... Simple as that.... Going to a slightly higher ranked school on the other side of the country will not help you get into the NY market..... Hofstra may not be great, but is worlds better than Miami for NY.

Don't go to Miami if you want NYC.

Don't go to Hofstra, period.

From Hofstra: At least 20% of those employed are working part time 9 months after graduation. Only about 70% are working FT. This is not to say those working full time are even lawyers. 22% of those employed are in "business and industry." Since most businesses don't hire new grads, this usually encompasses stuff like retail or jobs you can just get with your undergrad degree. 9.7% are in academia; since law professor hiring is usually done from top schools, academia usually means you couldn't get a job and went to pile on another degree. Of half of the class that works at firms, half of those work at firms of 2-10. This is not usually a good outcome, for a lot of reasons (none of those firms pay what you would need to service big debt), but also because it encompasses recent grads who band together with other recent grads and just set up shop (which is a shitty idea, since law school doesn't teach you how to practice). 20 grads out of 352(!) got jobs in large law firms (100+), which are basically the only employers that pay enough to service hefty debt loads. Also note that Hofstra doesn't say how many people got jobs that required bar passage. This is a bad sign. http://law.hofstra.edu/academics/careerservices/employmentstatistics/index.html

[quote="rad lulz"]Don't go to Miami if you want NYC.

Don't go to Hofstra, period.

Is Hofstra really that poor of a school? Will I have absolutely no chance of landing a job in NY from Miami? What about transfering after my first year from either school?

Do those stats look good to you? Those are from Hofstra's own website.

Miami is NOT good for NYC bro. It has minimal name brand recognition outside South FL. This is coming from a central Floridian.

Go read Arrow's sticky in the transfer forum to see why there's about a 90% chance you won't be able to transfer.

Hofstra is also blindingly expensive. What are your numbers if you don't mind me asking? I almost went to Hofstra (or whatever its called now after that $20 mil donation) but the COL is insane and even after the scholarship they gave me it was more expensive than most places at sticker.

Pretty much everything rad has said is TCR. Miami is a super-expensive mediocre regional school. It is only a good option if you are from the area, want to work in the area, and it won't cost much. On the other hand, Hofstra is super expensive has terrible job prospects. So the answer is clear: going to either one is a terrible idea.

I really think you could do better. What about a retake and then try for Cardozo's spring entering class. You won't lose much and I think their spring admissions are a little easier.

What are my chances of transferring out of Hofstra after my first year? Would it hurt my chances of getting a job in NY if I go for one year and then transfer to a better school?

10%. About the same as you'd need to land a decent paying job.

How much debt will you be taking on? It would be an amazingly bad decision to take on debt to go to Hofstra.

Why are my chances so low?

Because everyone else at Hofstra, other schools ranked around Hofstra, and schools much higher ranked than Hofstra, is looking to transfer and the decent schools only take a few people every year. It really doesn't make sense to transfer up to Cardozo or Brooklyn because the job prospects there are almost as bad. Thus, you are really shooting for the T14, which in NY means CLS, NYU, and Cornell.

I go to Columbia. We take a number of transfers in the top 10% of Fordham's class every year. A few from Brooklyn and Cardozo. We may take 1 from Hofstra. Hell, I met a transfer from Cornell. It's impossibly competitive to transfer.

Okay. And how about transferring to somewhere like Fordham from Hofstra? What are my chances then?

Your chances remain terrible. Too terrible to plan on doing that.

Still about 10%. And the job prospects from Fordham are not super-great either if you miss the biglaw boat- you'll be judged on your first year performance at Hofstra and so a lot of firms may not even consider you.

Why? They aren't a T14. What if I end up in the top 10% of my class after my first year? Shouldn't my chances be decent?

Jesus.

Don't go to a school with the intent on transferring as it likely will not happen. You'll probably end up filling out the middle of the curve at Hofstra. At the end of it, you and your classmates will fight over insurance defense mill jobs or try and hang a shingle doing DUI defense.

Retake or don't go. Seriously. You want NYC? Go to a school that isn't like, the 8th best in NYC. Here's the pecking order your looking at for jobs:

NYU/Columbia > all other T14 bros > Fordham > Cardozo > Brooklyn > Seton Hall > Rutgers > Hofstra/NYLS/other random terrible and expensive schools I'm forgetting about.

I think a more reasonable approach, rather than going to a school anticipating to transfer, would be to take a year off and retake the LSAT. Work experience and a higher LSAT score would do wonders for you job prospects. Also, studying the LSAT for a couple months is much easier than performing exceptionally well in law school for a year.

To respond to your cliche with another cliche, if I had a nickel for every time a law student thought they were going to beat out their classmates and be in the top 10%, I'd be able to pay off my 100K in student loans tomorrow. It will not happen. Everyone at Hofstra is just as smart as you, will be working just as hard, and have the same stories about how they just aren't that great at standardized tests and partied too much in college and have yet to reach their full potential.

Hofstra has been SUED for basically being a crappy law school. Stay away. Stay far away.

Coincidentally, so has Miami.

.

Let's be generous and say they're 20%. Wanna gamble a ton of money for 10-20% odds of "success?" Come on people, I know we're law students, but basic math skills here.

And unless you are really high in your class, a transfer to Fordham might not help you much anyways. Median at Fordham is a rough place, particularly for someone who started off at Hofstra.

Tons of debt, poor job prospects. The choice is clear.

You're not gonna transfer. I'd bet against you.

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=82937

Bosstra regularly places into unemployment.