William Mitchell (Full Ride) vs. Wisconsin (Unknown) Forum

[sailwoanchor]

So I have my schools narrowed down to pretty much two choices: Wisconsin and William Mitchell. William Mitchell offered a full ride scholarship (100% tuition) with a pretty low stipulation. I just got into Wisconsin so I still don't know what, if any, scholarship money they will offer me. I am in-state, 75% LSAT 50% GPA for WI so who knows, though I may have some leverage from peer school offers. However, that brings me here, I have no idea which to choose or what is the scholarship amount that would make Wisconsin the better choice.

I plan on staying in the Midwest/Twin Cities area (for the time being). I have a lot of friends and families in both areas (more in the Twin Cities) and have spent a lot of time in both as well (more in Madison where I went to undergrad). I don't be a wage slave when I come out of law school, but the T3/T4 feel of William Mitchell rubs me the wrong way. I feel like Wisconsin offers better course diversity, "better faculty," and all the things with being a higher ranked school/flagship university. However, money, debt, and prospects all play a roll, obviously. I love and am familiar with Wisconsin, but I know I have to "spread my wings." http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mb7fq ... o1_500.jpg Desk pop! Thanks for any input.

[hephaestus]

What is the stipulation on the WM scholarship? Is there data on the percentage of people that keep scholarships?

[sailwoanchor]

What is the stipulation on the WM scholarship? Is there data on the percentage of people that keep scholarships?

2.0 stip. Curve is set at 2.72 from what I've heard. The stats for 2011 are 174 entering with conditional scholarships, 10 reduced or eliminated.

[UndecidedMN]

I would suggest WISC if you intend to practice in Wisconsin. If you wish to stay in twin cities area, WM is better. I don't know how much you are squeezed in Wisconsin by U of M and Chicago on other side. WM does have a very strong alumni base. I went there for a year. But WM is not strong in business in my personal opinion. Would say more criminal work.

[Teflon_Jeff]

Billy Mitch is not well-regarded in the Twin Cities or anywhere else. Wisconsin with any money or even sticker is a better bet.

[UVAIce]

Wisconsin in-state > William Mitchell full-ride almost every time. If you only wanted to practice in Minnesota then maybe WM would be okay, but the fact is that a lot of WM grads are straight up unemployed upon graduation. If you want to practice in Wisconsin you're better off going to UW and not having to take the bar exam (read, no bar prep costs, etc.). I wouldn't expect an extremely high paying job from either school; you will have to hustle to get a job.

The short version: Neither is a really awesome option, but I would pick Wisconsin over WM. I would, however, recommend a retake (gasp) as if you managed to get a 167-169 you would probably end up attending the University of Minnesota for free.

[sailwoanchor]

I know I'm going to have to pound the pavement regardless of where I end up. WM definitely has a degree mill feel which would explain why many leave unemployed, but there is a lot of anecdotal on both sides of that argument. I'm really not sure of Wisconsin's abilities to crack the Twin Cities, but I want to believe Wisconsin is more regional while WM is really only the cities and maybe MN as a whole. I would be fine practicing only in Wisconsin, but having the option of the Twin Cities would really help.

WM's emphasis/specialty, according to them, was tax law and I think "Indian Law." Neither of those really interest me so Wisconsin probably has the edge in that regard. Only having to cover living expenses would be nice, but I think the picture will be a lot clearer once I find out scholarship situation from Wisconsin.

[johnsonville]

William Mitchell's curve is 3.0, so you'll be fine with maintaining your scholarship if you're required to keep a 2.0 GPA. WM has a strong IP and patents program. Its range largely is Twin Cities / Minnesota with extension into western Wisconsin. While it has a large student population, faculty are quite approachable and you can generally find faculty to work closely with on various endeavors. WM does rely heavily upon adjunct faculty--attorneys and judges in the field who teach a class at WM. That can be hit-or-miss at times. The majority translate the subject matter well into the classroom and it adds a dimension that might otherwise be missing (as they can draw upon their experience in the field). As a straight up comparison--Madison versus Mitchell? Well duh, Madison. All of which is to say, if you've not made up your mind, you should arrange a visit to WM and talk with a number of profs and students while there (and yes, I previously attended WM, so there is that inherent bias).