Top Law Schools

[redacted after seeing a horror story of another person revealing too much info on another thread]

Any stips on the scholarships? What are the total costs of attendance (tuition + cost of living - scholarships)?

176k to attend Emory with no BigLaw aspirations is pretty insane.

What state are you from?

Trout et al wrote:What state are you from?

Yeah if he has residency in VA, W&M is the clear choice.

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Well apart from residency, what sort of ties do you have to any of these southern states?

Pumpkin_Pie wrote:Any stips on the scholarships? What are the total costs of attendance (tuition + cost of living - scholarships)?

redacted

Trout et al wrote:Well apart from residency, what sort of ties do you have to any of these southern states?

[redacted]

hopingtogetin wrote:

Trout et al wrote:Well apart from residency, what sort of ties do you have to any of these southern states?

Huge family connection in SC--my entire family is from there and I'm directly related to I think around 10 lawyers practicing in SC right now.

There's your answer.

If you want SC, and you have connections to lawyers in the state, AND it is your cheapest option, then SCAR seems like a good option. Are the practice areas and locations they work in of interest to you?

Trout et al wrote:If you want SC, and you have connections to lawyers in the state, AND it is your cheapest option, then SCAR seems like a good option. Are the practice areas and locations they work in of interest to you?

[redacted]

hopingtogetin wrote:

Trout et al wrote:If you want SC, and you have connections to lawyers in the state, AND it is your cheapest option, then SCAR seems like a good option. Are the practice areas and locations they work in of interest to you?

Thanks for your advice!

Well it's a mix, but I do have a couple relatives in the field I'm interested in. I also love SC, so I would be completely willing to work really wherever in the state.

My only concern is the extremely low ranking of the school. I worry that while I love SC, there may be a time in my life when I would want to practice outside that state, and that going to SCAR wouldn't allow me to do that, whereas Emory would. What do you think?

I think you're going to have trouble balancing "I don't want biglaw" with "I don't want to be tied down to one state." There's pretty much no way to repay that Emory debt on a non-biglaw salary (and it's not that great of a school either, you wouldn't be THAT mobile with it).

Don't worry about SCAR's ranking. It's the best school in the state, you have ties and it's free. It's a great deal for you.

South Carolina and don't look back. Forget the rankings. They don't matter at this level, especially since you're looking to get into non-prestigious PI in which local connections and low debt are crucial. At South Carolina, in addition to working in the summers, you should extern or intern during the school years (not 1L but after that) to make the connections that will hopefully lead to a job.

The other schools are way too expensive. If UNC comes back with a package close to South Carolina's (and you could negotiate with them using Emory's and W&M's offers), you could consider that, but do you have any ties to UNC? I'm not sure whether ties to South Carolina will help you in hiring in North Carolina, but my gut feeling is no. I also believe that SC lawyers would rather hire someone who went to South Carolina than someone who went to UNC regardless of the fact that UNC is ranked much higher.

ETA: before you commit, see if you can squeeze a COL stipend out of South Carolina. It sounds like you are a very desirable admit for them, an you have substantial offers from much better schools that you could negotiate with. I know it is a little hard since you don't want to sound ungrateful since they already gave you a full-ride, but there is no harm in trying with tactful language (so excited to receive your generous offer but I'm concerned over COL debt and a COL stipend would seal the deal). Also, can you live with any of these relatives while you're in school to further reduce debt?

When you're talking about regional schools, you have to try to forget rankings and focus on regional reputation.

USC is the oldest and best school in SC, it's free and you have connections. This is a pretty easy answer.

Pumpkin_Pie wrote:When you're talking about regional schools, you have to try to forget rankings and focus on regional reputation.

USC is the oldest and best school in SC, it's free and you have connections. This is a pretty easy answer.

This is why people call TLS an echo chamber.

HBBJohnStamos wrote:

Pumpkin_Pie wrote:When you're talking about regional schools, you have to try to forget rankings and focus on regional reputation.

USC is the oldest and best school in SC, it's free and you have connections. This is a pretty easy answer.

This is why people call TLS an echo chamber.

I call it an echo chamber because the people who answer questions do it based on stuff they learned on TLS.

laxbrah420 wrote:

HBBJohnStamos wrote:

Pumpkin_Pie wrote:When you're talking about regional schools, you have to try to forget rankings and focus on regional reputation.

USC is the oldest and best school in SC, it's free and you have connections. This is a pretty easy answer.

This is why people call TLS an echo chamber.

I call it an echo chamber because the people who answer questions do it based on stuff they learned on TLS.

Doesn't mean we're wrong.

About anything?

USC for free, but don't say anyone didn't tell you it only gives you a coin flip shot at being a lawyer. Hope your connections are good.

http://www.lstscorereports.com/?school=southcarolina

rad lulz wrote:USC for free, but don't say anyone didn't tell you it only gives you a coin flip shot at being a lawyer. Hope your connections are good.

http://www.lstscorereports.com/?school=southcarolina

Yeah, that's exactly what I was concerned about! I have some financial support so I want to make sure I attend the place that is best for my future. Cost is sort of a secondary issue, so that's why I asked. As in, yes it would be great to save as much money as possible, but I do not want to sacrifice my education to do so.

But thanks for the advice, everyone. I really appreciate it!

laxbrah420 wrote:About anything?

About everything.

Yukos wrote:

laxbrah420 wrote:About anything?

About everything.

Is this suppose to be some kind of LR LSAT question?

HBBJohnStamos wrote:

Pumpkin_Pie wrote:When you're talking about regional schools, you have to try to forget rankings and focus on regional reputation.

USC is the oldest and best school in SC, it's free and you have connections. This is a pretty easy answer.

This is why people call TLS an echo chamber.

Word. OP hasn't responded to this conclusion though. I thought he might be waiting on some more opinions.

Pumpkin_Pie wrote:

HBBJohnStamos wrote:

Pumpkin_Pie wrote:When you're talking about regional schools, you have to try to forget rankings and focus on regional reputation.

USC is the oldest and best school in SC, it's free and you have connections. This is a pretty easy answer.

This is why people call TLS an echo chamber.

Word. OP hasn't responded to this conclusion though. I thought he might be waiting on some more opinions.

Oops! I thought I posted thanking you all! I can't say 100% where I will go yet without knowing all the information from UNC, even though South Carolina makes the most sense at this point. Thanks so much!