BC or W&L

[mlam425]

It's down to BC or W&L. About the same cost for both. I would be fine living in Boston or DC, but it seems like BC is the safer option, with good placement into Boston and even decent placement into NY, while W&L doesn't do as well relatively in DC. Is there any reason to choose Washington and Lee here? A couple people have told me that there isn't much going on in Boston, while a lot of power is shifting to DC. Others have told me that DC is a saturated market and you have very bad odds coming from W&L. What do you think?

[CanadianWolf]

BC.

[sdhall01]

W&L

[Doorkeeper]

DC is a saturated legal market. You won't have an easy time getting there from W&L.

BC is the safer option here, assuming equal costs.

Do you have scholarship money from BC or W&L?

[jackattack17]

The schools are in very different environments, which I think should factor into your decision as well. W&L is in the South, in a tiny town, and in the mountains. BC is in the North, and in Boston. I think class size is significantly smaller at W&L too.

If school atmosphere truly doesn't matter to you, and cost and preferred grad location are a wash too, I think BC is the right choice here, for the reasons the other posters mentioned.

[Pate]

I will always think of W&L with fondness. They were the first school to send me an admittance and I was excited to attend. Turns out I ED to an Ivy school and was accepted, but I would have been very happy at W&L. Also delighted to see that W&L jumped from 34 to 24 in the rankings. . . probably in the top 20 sometime soon. On the other hand BC keeps falling in the rankings . . .that cannot be good.

[abc12345675]

BC. you're right, much better chance at a good job. And Boston is a cool town

[theintern]

BC if you want to work in Boston, for sure. But DC? I'd pick W&L. Here's why: W&L alumni base in DC is incredibly strong. This applies to both the undergrad and law school. If I happen to be wearing a W&L shirt, belt, croakies, etc. people always recognize the logo in and around DC. It's actually a great conversation starter. But I digress. Just because many W&L law grads do not apply for DC area jobs (many head back down South/closer to home), doesn't mean the alums aren't willing to lend a hand. I've noticed that people tend to pan W&L because big-city representation is low. Keep in mind that there is a huge self-selection bias when it comes to where graduates wind up working. If you want to work in DC, coming out of W&L, you will work in DC.

[top30man]

What is the cost at each school? With a decent scholarship id say BC. I would vote neither at sticker.

[Slevin Kelevra 2011]

BC. These schools aren't comparable. Have you looked at their biglaw placement or placement stats at all?