Top Law Schools

Title said it. I like both cities, don't mind practicing IP law in either of them. And they seem have similar job placement number. What do you guys think?

Do you have ties to either city or state? Do you have an advanced STEM degree?

Ti Malice wrote:Do you have ties to either city or state? Do you have an advanced STEM degree?

no ties to either city, I have a Ph.D in chem-bio from a top school

Im from Dallas, and from what I have heard, Dallas is much less insular than Boston.

Its good that you are looking past rankings. SMU does quite well in Dallas, despite no love from USNWR.

What are the total costs of attendace for each? (cost of living +tuition & fees - Scholarship)

Nova wrote:Im from Dallas, and from what I have heard, Dallas is much less insular than Boston.

Its good that you are looking past rankings. SMU does quite well in Dallas, despite no love from USNWR.

What are the total costs of attendace for each? (cost of living +tuition & fees - Scholarship)

SMU 100k

BC 120K

These are figures took from their websites, but I think SMU is overestimating COA in Dallas, while BC is significantly underestimating COA in Boston. For the same money, I can comfortably rent a studio in Dallas but hardly a room in Boston. But BC do have slightly better employment data.

SMU if you want to work in Dallas
BC if you want to work in the Northeast (MA, NH, VT, ME, RI, CT)

Where do you have ties?

patrickd139 wrote:SMU if you want to work in Dallas
BC if you want to work in the Northeast (MA, NH, VT, ME, RI, CT)

Where do you have ties?

no ties to either state, seems BC has a little advantage of getting into big law

I would take BC because Boston is eleventy-billion times more awesome than Dallas. Scientific fact.

maxmartin wrote:

patrickd139 wrote:SMU if you want to work in Dallas
BC if you want to work in the Northeast (MA, NH, VT, ME, RI, CT)

Where do you have ties?

no ties to either state, seems BC has a little advantage of getting into big law

I didn't ask whether you had ties to either state. I asked where you do have ties.

patrickd139 wrote:

maxmartin wrote:

patrickd139 wrote:SMU if you want to work in Dallas
BC if you want to work in the Northeast (MA, NH, VT, ME, RI, CT)

Where do you have ties?

no ties to either state, seems BC has a little advantage of getting into big law

I didn't ask whether you had ties to either state. I asked where you do have ties.

CA

Seems the general consensus is its a toss up. Since the difference in prospects is marginal, location/fit should be a major factor.

I know youve implied youre impartial to location, but really, where would you be?

Id rather be in Dallas

kalvano wrote:I would take BC because Boston is eleventy-billion times more awesome than Dallas. Scientific fact.

+1 can't wait to move out of DFW. But, they say SMU does well in Dallas. Not sure how true this is? See if they'll bump 90--->100k and send in that deposit!

Teflon_Don wrote:

kalvano wrote:I would take BC because Boston is eleventy-billion times more awesome than Dallas. Scientific fact.

+1 can't wait to move out of DFW. But, they say SMU does well in Dallas. Not sure how true this is? See if they'll bump 90--->100k and send in that deposit!

10K bump from SMU? i would rather BC bump from 70k to 90K

why do you can't wait to leave Dallas? if you don't mind

Nova wrote:Seems the general consensus is its a toss up. Since the difference in prospects is marginal, location/fit should be a major factor.

I know youve implied youre impartial to location, but really, where would you be?

Id rather be in Dallas

terrible summer vs terrible winter, I think I might go with the summer.

I'd slightly lean SMU, but I think it really all comes down to where you want to be.

Do you have outside contributions, i.e., savings or parents or a spouse helping with the cost of law school? If not, then I think you've underestimated your COA pretty significantly. SMU's non-discounted cost is listed on LST as 260k, and BC is listed at 228k. LST tends to overestimate a bit, but there's still no way you are looking at 100k and 120k with a 90k and 70k scholarship, respectively, absent some outside help.

Do not underestimate the damage that tuition increases and interest accrual take while you're in school. I have considerably more debt now as a 3L than I expected to have as a 0L, in large part due to tuition increases and interest while in school. You're probably looking to spend more than either school is worth, honestly.

Also, do you have any previous debt?

romothesavior wrote:I'd slightly lean SMU, but I think it really all comes down to where you want to be.

Do you have outside contributions, i.e., savings or parents or a spouse helping with the cost of law school? If not, then I think you've underestimated your COA pretty significantly. SMU's non-discounted cost is listed on LST as 260k, and BC is listed at 228k. LST tends to overestimate a bit, but there's still no way you are looking at 100k and 120k with a 90k and 70k scholarship, respectively, absent some outside help.

Do not underestimate the damage that tuition increases and interest accrual take while you're in school. I have considerably more debt now as a 3L than I expected to have as a 0L, in large part due to tuition increases and interest while in school. You're probably looking to spend more than either school is worth, honestly.

Also, do you have any previous debt?

Thanks for the reply. But I think your cited number about SMU is slightly off. Tuition of SMU is 44k, BC is 43K, while cost of living of Dallas should be lower than Boston. How come SMU ends up 260K higher than BC 228K? My calculation about SMU is around 200k. Unless there are hidden fees about SMU that I am not aware of.

I don't have any debt right now but am planning to buy a car soon if moved to Dallas.

The numbers are from Law School Transparency, which at least in my experience, tend to be a little inflated. You could probably graduate with less debt than the number LST cites.

That said, make sure you are including tuition increases and interest in your calculations, and make sure you are realistic about what your expenses are going to be (this really depends on your lifestyle). As a 3L who was once in your shoes, I can tell you that it's very, very easy to underestimate your total COA by 10 or 20k. I did it, and I know lots of other people who did it (go check out the USS Student Loan thread). I just wanted to throw that out there as a word to the wise.

romothesavior wrote:The numbers are from Law School Transparency, which at least in my experience, tend to be a little inflated. You could probably graduate with less debt than the number LST cites.

That said, make sure you are including tuition increases and interest in your calculations, and make sure you are realistic about what your expenses are going to be (this really depends on your lifestyle). As a 3L who was once in your shoes, I can tell you that it's very, very easy to underestimate your total COA by 10 or 20k. I did it, and I know lots of other people who did it (go check out the USS Student Loan thread). I just wanted to throw that out there as a word to the wise.

Thank you for your advice. Which sub-forum is this USS Student Loan in?

maxmartin wrote:

romothesavior wrote:The numbers are from Law School Transparency, which at least in my experience, tend to be a little inflated. You could probably graduate with less debt than the number LST cites.

That said, make sure you are including tuition increases and interest in your calculations, and make sure you are realistic about what your expenses are going to be (this really depends on your lifestyle). As a 3L who was once in your shoes, I can tell you that it's very, very easy to underestimate your total COA by 10 or 20k. I did it, and I know lots of other people who did it (go check out the USS Student Loan thread). I just wanted to throw that out there as a word to the wise.

Thank you for your advice. Which sub-forum is this USS Student Loan in?

It's a lounge thread, intended to be a bit funny, but mostly its just depressing:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 0&t=183509

romothesavior wrote:

maxmartin wrote:

romothesavior wrote:The numbers are from Law School Transparency, which at least in my experience, tend to be a little inflated. You could probably graduate with less debt than the number LST cites.

That said, make sure you are including tuition increases and interest in your calculations, and make sure you are realistic about what your expenses are going to be (this really depends on your lifestyle). As a 3L who was once in your shoes, I can tell you that it's very, very easy to underestimate your total COA by 10 or 20k. I did it, and I know lots of other people who did it (go check out the USS Student Loan thread). I just wanted to throw that out there as a word to the wise.

Thank you for your advice. Which sub-forum is this USS Student Loan in?

It's a lounge thread, intended to be a bit funny, but mostly its just depressing:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 0&t=183509

Thanks will check it out.

romothesavior wrote:

maxmartin wrote:

romothesavior wrote:The numbers are from Law School Transparency, which at least in my experience, tend to be a little inflated. You could probably graduate with less debt than the number LST cites.

That said, make sure you are including tuition increases and interest in your calculations, and make sure you are realistic about what your expenses are going to be (this really depends on your lifestyle). As a 3L who was once in your shoes, I can tell you that it's very, very easy to underestimate your total COA by 10 or 20k. I did it, and I know lots of other people who did it (go check out the USS Student Loan thread). I just wanted to throw that out there as a word to the wise.

Thank you for your advice. Which sub-forum is this USS Student Loan in?

It's a lounge thread, intended to be a bit funny, but mostly its just depressing:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 0&t=183509

This ought to be sticky-d and required reading for every person who registers for this site. Like, to register, you ought to have to pass a test based on questions formed from the details of the thread.