arkansas vs fiu Forum

[Mygramlsat]

-The schools you are considering
-The total Cost of Attendance (COA) of each. COA = cost of tuition + fees + books + cost of living (COL) + accumulated interest - scholarships. Here is a helpful calculator.
-How you will be financing your COA, i.e. loans, family, or savings
-Where you are from and where you want to work, and other places where you have significant ties (if any)
-Your general career goals
-Your LSAT/GPA numbers
-How many times you have taken the LSAT

1) I am considering: UF (WL), FSU (HOLD), Arkansas (IN), Stetson (IN), and FIU (IN)
2) UF COA: 105k
Arkansas COA: 40-50k (If I decide to get residency after 1st year)
Stetson COA: 80k
FIU COA (105k)
****ALL equal to 3 year debt of law school
3) Loans
4) Florida, two of my uncles have firms in Florida (civil and criminal)
5) 157, 3.6
6) once

[BigZuck]

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 1&t=206299

You need to do all that first. Also, the correct answer will be "Neither, retake" or some variation of that.

[Mygramlsat]

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 1&t=206299

You need to do all that first. Also, the correct answer will be "Neither, retake" or some variation of that.

thxs, i fixed it

[romothesavior]

So FIU would be free? You would pay nothing?

ETA: For COA, you should put your three year total, which should reflect tuition, cost of living, scholarships, interest, etc. So, example: UF: 100k, Arkansas: 120k, Stetson: 150k, etc. (I just made those numbers up). It should just be a single number.

[Mygramlsat]

So FIU would be free? You would pay nothing?

ETA: For COA, you should put your three year total, which should reflect tuition, cost of living, scholarships, interest, etc. So, example: UF: 100k, Arkansas: 120k, Stetson: 150k, etc. (I just made those numbers up). It should just be a single number.

i meant to write no scholarship

[BigZuck]

So FIU would be free? You would pay nothing?

ETA: For COA, you should put your three year total, which should reflect tuition, cost of living, scholarships, interest, etc. So, example: UF: 100k, Arkansas: 120k, Stetson: 150k, etc. (I just made those numbers up). It should just be a single number.

Even if that's the case, the gpa is solid and needs a good LSAT to go with it.

[BigZuck]

So FIU would be free? You would pay nothing?

ETA: For COA, you should put your three year total, which should reflect tuition, cost of living, scholarships, interest, etc. So, example: UF: 100k, Arkansas: 120k, Stetson: 150k, etc. (I just made those numbers up). It should just be a single number.

i meant to write no scholarship

OP, consider everything Romo said. At the end of three years, how much will you have to pay for each school?

[romothesavior]

See my above edit. We need to know what your expected total cost would be after three years. And make sure you are careful to include interest and tuition increases. Take it from me as a 3L, it is really easy to underestimate your total costs. I have way more debt that I ever anticipated.

So for example, FIU paid for completely with loans with no scholarship is ~$140k (according to Law School Transparency). That is way, way too much money for a pretty bad school.

Are you positive your uncles will hire you after graduation?

[Mygramlsat]

Thanks for all the suggestions so far.

I tried to fix all recommendations.

[Mygramlsat]

See my above edit. We need to know what your expected total cost would be after three years. And make sure you are careful to include interest and tuition increases. Take it from me as a 3L, it is really easy to underestimate your total costs. I have way more debt that I ever anticipated.

So for example, FIU paid for completely with loans with no scholarship is ~$140k (according to Law School Transparency). That is way, way too much money for a pretty bad school.

Are you positive your uncles will hire you after graduation?

I think if I needed help, they would try to help. I am not 100% sure I would get a job from them.

[romothesavior]

Good deal, thanks for providing updated information. It gives us a lot better idea of what we're working with.

So here's the skinny OP... the law schools that you're considering all have pretty mediocre job prospects. Take a look at the hard data to see what I mean:

Florida
Florida International
Arkansas
Stetson

That "Employment Score" figure represents people in full-time, long-term, J.D.-required jobs at 9 months from graduation. In other words, most of the schools you're looking at place 50-60% of their students. 40% of the graduates of these schools aren't working as real, employed lawyers. Additionally, none of the schools place well at all into big firms, so if that's something you have an interest in, your odds are well under 10% (probably under 5%).

In your case, I think the Florida schools would be decent choices if they were cheaper (as in, full tuition scholarships or close to it). But at the prices you are considering them at, they're simply too much money to justify attending. And as for Arkansas, if you click on the "Job Characteristics" tab on Law School Transparency, you'll see that none of their graduates reported working in Florida. So if that is your goal, it would be a bad choice. Outside of the top schools, law schools place very regionally.

I asked about your uncles' firms because, if your goal is to go work for them and you are positive they will hire you, then Arkansas (or some other similarly dirt cheap option) would be a solid choice. But if you are looking to do your own thing and forge out on your own, or there is doubt about whether they'd hire you, then I think you need to reconsider.

You have a strong GPA. Having only taken the LSAT once, it would probably be a really good idea to take a year off and retake the LSAT. Take a look at this thread and read some of the amazing stories there about people who were in your exact shoes, and made the decision to retake: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 2&t=208084. Retaking the LSAT can truly change the entire course of someone's life (it did for me). How hard did you study the first time around? What resources did you use? It is a very learnable test, and even a few more points could get you a lot better options and a lot more money.

[hephaestus]

Are you positive your uncles will hire you after graduation?

I think this is the most relevant question. If one of them will 100% hire you, go to the cheapest school. If not, then don't go to either.
I would retake either way. If one of your uncles will hire you, get a good LSAT score and go for free somewhere.

[Mygramlsat]

Thanks guys.

I will study for the LSAT once again. This test was very dreadful for me to learn, especially the reading comprehension part. I practiced for about 3-4 months two to three times a week for an hour or 2 before the actual test.

[hephaestus]

Thanks guys.

I will study for the LSAT once again. This test was very dreadful for me to learn, especially the reading comprehension part. I practiced for about 3-4 months two to three times a week for an hour or 2 before the actual test.

How many practice tests did you take? The great thing about the LSAT is that you can almost always improve regardless of how much prep you have done.

[romothesavior]

Thanks guys.

I will study for the LSAT once again. This test was very dreadful for me to learn, especially the reading comprehension part. I practiced for about 3-4 months two to three times a week for an hour or 2 before the actual test.

This is a great idea man, glad to hear it.

The LSAT is a real pain in the ass, no doubt about it. I hated every minute that I studied for that thing. But if you want to be a lawyer, the test is hands down the most important you'll ever take. I was just telling my girlfriend the other day that I wish pre-law students took the LSAT as seriously as pre-med students take the MCAT.

You should try to study for 2-3 months for 3-4 hours a day (maybe take Saturday/Sunday off). Try to take every practice test you can get your hands on, and the most important part is to thoroughly analyze the problems you're missing and figure out why you're missing them. Also get yourself the resources you need, including the Powerscore Bibles and the Manhattan Logic Games book. Law school is a huge financial investment, so it's well worth dropping a few hundred bucks on prep materials. Every point on the LSAT can net you thousands of dollars in return on scholarships.

If you haven't already, go check out the LSAT Prep and Discussion Forumhere on TLS. There are some great guides and resources there on how to do well on the LSAT, and the community is very helpful for getting through the LSAT. It's nice to have a community of folks who are going through the same thing to talk to.

Given what you just told us about your previous studying, I am very, very confident that you can easily crack 160, and probably can push 170 with sufficient preparation. A year from now you may be back here asking us about UF at a full ride, or UVA, or Vanderbilt/Emory with a scholarship.

[wiseowl]

I read this as Arkansas vs the flu, and I would have said "close call"

Re-take is a good choice.