Top Law Schools

Right now, Im headed to FSU. In fact, I am just days away from finalizing an apartment. Yet I was thrown a curveball a couple days ago. WUSTL offered me a 75K total scholarship. Heres what Im left with:

FSU:
Will have in-state as 2L. With scholarship Ill have about 48K in tution owed.
Set up already. Until 2 days ago I had planned FSU 100% since March. Know some people.
Have contacts in Florida. I used to live there, my family will be living there. We know lawyers there.

WUSTL:
With scholarship Ill have about about 65K in tuition (I believe I have these numbers close to right).
Know a few people who went there as undergrad. Know a current lawyer who went there for law school. Know nothing else about St. Louis.

I have no idea what law I want to do. I have no idea how far behind I am in the process at WUSTL. Generally, Im kinda shocked that in just a few days I went from waitlist to 75K. So help me out. What do I do and why?

If you 100% want to be in FL, this is probably a toss-up. If you don't do well at WashU, then you very well may have a lot of trouble getting to FL. WashU is a much better school, but it's not so good that you can ignore the old go to school where you want to work advice.

dillonjess wrote:Right now, Im headed to FSU. In fact, I am just days away from finalizing an apartment. Yet I was thrown a curveball a couple days ago. WUSTL offered me a 75K total scholarship. Heres what Im left with:

FSU:
Will have in-state as 2L. With scholarship Ill have about 48K in tution owed.
Set up already. Until 2 days ago I had planned FSU 100% since March. Know some people.
Have contacts in Florida. I used to live there, my family will be living there. We know lawyers there.

WUSTL:
With scholarship Ill have about about 65K in tuition (I believe I have these numbers close to right).
Know a few people who went there as undergrad. Know a current lawyer who went there for law school. Know nothing else about St. Louis.

I have no idea what law I want to do. I have no idea how far behind I am in the process at WUSTL. Generally, Im kinda shocked that in just a few days I went from waitlist to 75K. So help me out. What do I do and why?

St. Louis is an okay town. Not bad, not great. Where do you live now? Maybe I can compare it for ya.

I think you should take the best school in this scenario, particularly since it seems like you're not Florida or bust. If you have any geographic flexibility at all go to WUSTL

Where do you want to live? What do you want to do (biglaw, PI, etc)?

FSU because it's lower cost & in your target market.

CanadianWolf wrote:FSU because it's lower cost & in your target market.

How do we know it's his target market? He doesn't say so. He just says he "has some contacts" there.

You're right. But OP has lived in Florida, has contacts in Florida, his/her family lives in Florida & OP applied to FSU as a non-resident which suggests strong interest in the Florida market.

Thanks for your help. To answer some questions:

I suppose my target is Florida though I say that very weakly. Ive moved around a few times and am not exactly tied to one place. Ive lived in South Florida and Colorado with college in Southern California. No strong preferences here.
My goal for type of law is simply not PI-I dont need to be making an ass ton of money but I need to be making something good. Im not very picky overall. FSU has the advantage of being close to government if I wanted to go that direction, but my understanding is that WUSTL dominates the market to the extent that success there will provide opportunity to all types of law. FSU on the other has has to compete with the Florida market which limits options based on what is available. (feel free to correct me if this understanding is wrong...though I suppose TLS doesn't need this invitation.)
Something I would like to have at law school is a football team worth going to games for, though I understanding the big picture this is stupid as a law student. The reason is that I attended a small college with terrible school spirit and a terrible community. I would like to care about the school I go to. FSU definitely has some school pride and that means something to me. However, its stuck in Tallahassee. I already choose FSU over UF because of city, do I take another step to St. Louis. Speaking of...I have never been to the midwest and only have a few days to make this decision. There is little chance I could visit.

What it seems to come down to is this: Does the higher ranking and overall quality of WUSTL allow for better opportunities than FSU (the easy part to answer) to a significant extent (the hard part)?

If you go FSU, you can only really expect to find a job in Florida.

If you go to WUSTL, you could expect Midwest, plus probably Florida. Maybe Colorado, but I don't know that market well.

Optimally, where would you want to work after school?

Doorkeeper wrote:If you go FSU, you can only really expect to find a job in Florida.

If you go to WUSTL, you could expect Midwest, plus probably Florida. Maybe Colorado, but I don't know that market well.

Optimally, where would you want to work after school?

I suppose Florida or possibly the Carolinas. Ive never been to the Midwest and dont want Colorado. Im not set on anything other than law school itself.

For comparison, whats more valuable A) top 25% at WUSTL or B) top 10% at FSU?

by ranking...#23 WUSTL
#51 FSU
I realize ranking isn't everything, but it sure helps. WUSTL will open up the Midwest and penetrate Florida, but FSU will not open up the Midwest. You want options outside of Tallahassee? Go to WUSTL.

For me it seems like an easy choice, if had to choose between my states best law school (Kansas) with a 50% scholarship and WUSTL with a $75k scholarship, it would just be a no brainer...WUSTL without a single doubt in my mind.

When it comes to school spirit ask yourself if you really want to root for FSU...they stink...almost as much as WUSTL does! Neither are great choices for true school spirit. You want school spirit go to Michigan, Ohio State, Nebraska, UCLA, or even Florida. lol.

jared6180 wrote:by ranking...#23 WUSTL
#51 FSU
I realize ranking isn't everything, but it sure helps. WUSTL will open up the Midwest and penetrate Florida, but FSU will not open up the Midwest. You want options outside of Tallahassee? Go to WUSTL.

For me it seems like an easy choice, if had to choose between my states best law school (Kansas) with a 50% scholarship and WUSTL with a $75k scholarship, it would just be a no brainer...WUSTL without a single doubt in my mind.

When it comes to school spirit ask yourself if you really want to root for FSU...they stink...almost as much as WUSTL does! Neither are great choices for true school spirit. You want school spirit go to Michigan, Ohio State, Nebraska, UCLA, or even Florida. lol.

The problem with the Midwest is that Ive never been there. Do I want that opened up?

How does a doing better at a worse school compare to worse at a better but not elite school though? If I could say I'll be rank X at FSU or WUSTL, I'd pick WUSTL but it doesnt work that way. At what point (what class rank) does WUSTL not penetrate Florida and confines me to St Louis? Doing well is no guarantee and this would be a concern.

And yes I do want to root for FSU. They do not stink compared to what Ive been through. REALLY not in the way WUSTL does. I just came from a D3 school and sports are not interesting there. I love football and baseball. Boring as all hell at D3. Plus youve managed to mention 3 teams I hate in just 5 picks. Im not an idiot though, and sports will not be dictating where I go to law school.

dillonjess wrote:How does a doing better at a worse school compare to worse at a better but not elite school though? If I could say I'll be rank X at FSU or WUSTL, I'd pick WUSTL but it doesnt work that way. At what point (what class rank) does WUSTL not penetrate Florida and confines me to St Louis? Doing well is no guarantee and this would be a concern.

You can't assume that you will do worse at a better school or better at a worse school.

bk187 wrote:
You can't assume that you will do worse at a better school or better at a worse school.

I understand I cant assume it 100%- nobody can assume any grade at any school- but I would have to assume odds are in favor of this. I wouldnt expect to do better at Yale than Roger Williams. So, lets hypothetically look at the situation if I were to do worse at WUSTL than FSU.

dillonjess wrote:

Doorkeeper wrote:If you go FSU, you can only really expect to find a job in Florida.

If you go to WUSTL, you could expect Midwest, plus probably Florida. Maybe Colorado, but I don't know that market well.

Optimally, where would you want to work after school?

I suppose Florida or possibly the Carolinas. Ive never been to the Midwest and dont want Colorado. Im not set on anything other than law school itself.

After the T14 or so, all of the law schools are extremely regional in hiring power. You need to decide what region you want to work in before making the decision on where you want to go to law school. You can't be wishy-washy about wanting to work in Florida, and then go to FSU, because FSU can only get you hired in Florida. You'd be locked in.

If FSU is going to be cheaper and you want to work in FL, go with FSU.

Out of curiosity, what are your numbers? I am just wondering what WUSTL is up to this cycle?

This is sort of a tossup. Your openness to different markets makes me lean WUSTL, but the cost and your connection to Florida make me lean FSU. Although my friends from Florida wound up doing well getting back there, and not necessarily with tip top grades, so you can land Florida from WUSTL. If you have questions about WUSTL or St. Louis, PM me.

Doorkeeper wrote:If you go FSU, you can only really expect to find a job in Florida.

If you go to WUSTL, you could expect Midwest, plus probably Florida. Maybe Colorado, but I don't know that market well.

Optimally, where would you want to work after school?

I really think this is a little exaggerated on this forum. I'm from the east coast, I'm headed to WUSTL, and everyone in the legal community has said what a "great" or "highly ranked" or "some other such thing" law schools WUSTL is. I get it when you're talking about FSU or a regional TT or something, but I feel like TLSers sometimes don't do it justice.

This surprised me a bit.

LST: WUSTL wrote:• 59.3% of graduates were known to be employed in long-term, full-time legal jobs, with 17.7% employed in Large Firms.

LST: FSU wrote:• 69.5% of graduates were known to be employed in long-term, full-time legal jobs, with 6.1% employed in Large Firms.

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TheZoid wrote:

Doorkeeper wrote:If you go FSU, you can only really expect to find a job in Florida.

If you go to WUSTL, you could expect Midwest, plus probably Florida. Maybe Colorado, but I don't know that market well.

Optimally, where would you want to work after school?

I really think this is a little exaggerated on this forum. I'm from the east coast, I'm headed to WUSTL, and everyone in the legal community has said what a "great" or "highly ranked" or "some other such thing" law schools WUSTL is. I get it when you're talking about FSU or a regional TT or something, but I feel like TLSers sometimes don't do it justice.

It harder once you're actually in law school. The few WUSTL students I've met or interned with have been depressed/pissed off about their job prospects and debt loads, and apparently things aren't much better for most of the class outside the top 20%.

OP: Why not try negotiating some more? If you can get FSU to throw you a scholly, maybe you can go back to WUSTL and try again. Offering you this much money this late in the game might mean they are struggling. It couldn't hurt.

Seriously OP negotiate. You have nothing to lose. Push both schools as much as you can. This was the year for hanging on to the wait list.