UofL or UNLV Forum

[crazyducky924]

So here are the facts:

I have narrowed down my schools to the following to choices:

University of Louisville
- approx. $18,000/yr. + COL ($20,000) = $38,000/yr.

UNLV
- approx. $34,900/yr. + COL ($25,000) = $59,900/yr.

I plan on completing the JD/MBA program no matter which school I choose, so I plan on being in school for 4 yrs.
My dream job consists of working as in-house counsel of a major hotel group or casino, providing legal counseling and supervisor training.
I have some ties in Louisville (my hometown) and none in Las Vegas. I also have no particular location where I favor to live.
While UNLV obviously has coursework and programs geared toward the hospitality/gaming industry, is it worth the extra $20,000/yr.?

[jingosaur]

I have similar JD/MBA aspirations and a desire for a job that only a handful of people actually have, so I'm also going to be the first one to tell you that neither of these schools will give you a very good chance at that career path.

4 years at sticker at UNLV will put you in the $250k to $300k debt range and if you even get a private practice job, your median salary will be $80k, which won't be enough to service your loans and live any kind of a comfortable lifestyle.

Louisville will place you in Kentucky with similar job prospects and you'll be far, far away from the gaming market.

My advice would be to retake, apply only to UNLV's JD program (the MBA won't help much), and get a scholarship and then MAYBE it would be worthwhile. I'm no expert on this stuff, but I'm sure the more knowledgeable people on this site will say the same.

[deadpanic]

most likely you are not going to go into gaming law, or work as in-house counsel (most require multiple years before they even consider you). specialty rankings are basically worthless.

both of these schools are way too expensive. your odds of landing a job to pay off that debt are close to zero. you'll be lucky to get a legal job at all.

u of l would not be terrible since you are from there, but not at that price.

[togepi]

OP where do you have ties?

Your best option would be to retake since your LSAT is most likely in the upper 150s. If your GPA is decent, you can retake and get closer to full rides from each, or better yet, be looking at better schools.

[hephaestus]

A JD/MBA from these schools? Two worthless degrees for 250k. What a bargain.
Retake the LSAT or don't go. Also, readjust your goals so they are actually achievable.

[TheNextAmendment]

My dream job consists of working as in-house counsel of a major hotel group or casino, providing legal counseling and supervisor training.
While UNLV obviously has coursework and programs geared toward the hospitality/gaming industry, is it worth the extra $20,000/yr.?

Interesting career aspirations. Does anybody know the size of the legal market in Las Vegas and/or what schools place well there? I assume UNLV + T14. Or is the market so small that it's virtually impossible to land anything decent? Just curious.

[togepi]

My dream job consists of working as in-house counsel of a major hotel group or casino, providing legal counseling and supervisor training.
While UNLV obviously has coursework and programs geared toward the hospitality/gaming industry, is it worth the extra $20,000/yr.?

Interesting career aspirations. Does anybody know the size of the legal market in Las Vegas and/or what schools place well there? I assume UNLV + T14. Or is the market so small that it's virtually impossible to land anything decent? Just curious.

http://www.lstscorereports.com/?school=nevada&show=ABA

Based on that, it's meh. My uncle has an engineering firm there that is going through the shitter right now. Last time I checked, the whole city was struggling and unemployment was through the roof.

[romothesavior]

At these prices, neither. You're looking at well over 100k in debt from schools with mediocre job statistics:

UNLV
Louisville

Both are under 10% into large firms + AIII clerkships with around 60% employed in JD-required, full time, long term jobs. You should retake the LSAT and aim for Louisville or University of Kentucky on bigger scholarships. Both would be solid choices for you, but not at the cost you're talking about now.

[crazyducky924]

Well I do have the option of living with my parents while I go to school so I could complete the dual degree at UL for less than $100,000.

I just don't know how I feel about living with my parents until I'm 29...

[romothesavior]

Well I do have the option of living with my parents while I go to school so I could complete the dual degree at UL for less than $100,000.

I'll be blunt: the dual degree is a bad idea and a waste of money in your situation. The JD/MBA path doesn't make sense in a lot of instances, and I wouldn't tack on more debt unless you have a concrete reason for it. These schools are worth nowhere near what you're looking to spend on them, and you will be swimming in a ton of debt. I get the not wanting to live with your folks until you're 29; how about not wanting to make student loan payments when you're 49?

And as others have said, your "dream job" situation is going to be very hard (nearly impossible really) to attain right out of law school. Higher end in-house jobs typically require big firm experience, and getting a big firm from a school like UNLV or UofL is an uphill battle (see the job data). Certainly, some people at these schools will wind up in very solid in-house jobs later in their careers, but its not something I'd gamble a bunch of money on. If that's really what you're into, then you should retake and go to a much better school than these. In other words, I think you need to temper your expectations considerably, or go to a considerably better school.

And either way, you should be retaking and reapplying because these schools aren't worth six-figures.

[jingosaur]

Well I do have the option of living with my parents while I go to school so I could complete the dual degree at UL for less than $100,000.

I just don't know how I feel about living with my parents until I'm 29...

How would you pay for your degree? Would you need to take out loans?

[crazyducky924]

Obviously I know I won't be in-house counsel right after graduation. That is simply my dream job down the road. And yes I will have to take out loans but with less than $20,000/yr. I can rely entirely on government loans instead of private lenders.

[jingosaur]

Okay, considering all of this, UNLV is DEFINITELY out of the question no matter what. Doing "special track" classes isn't going to boost your chances at your dream and will probably disappoint you. Read this blog post from a T1 law professor about specializations: http://insidethelawschoolscam.blogspot. ... s-law.html

With Louisville, I think you should go if you're truly passionate about being a lawyer. I think you should drop the MBA portion and get the JD in 3 years. If you're going to get your dream job, it's going to be from your experience after you graduate. Nobody hiring a general counsel is going to care that you have an MBA from Louisville. Also, you'd only have to live with your parents until you're 28! And on the 20% chance that you're really successful in law school (top 20% of your class), you might even get to live on your own for 3L.