"Go to school in the state you want to practice in" problem Forum

[crisgcia]

How true is this statement? While for some it's a very easy choice to go for a Tier 1 school, the state I'd like to practice in is devoid of very good schools. Would it make more sense to go for a higher ranked school in another state over a mediocre one where I plan to go back to practice?

[BigZuck]

How true is this statement? While for some it's a very easy choice to go for a Tier 1 school, the state I'd like to practice in is devoid of very good schools. Would it make more sense to go for a higher ranked school in another state over a mediocre one where I plan to go back to practice?

Pretty much unless its a T14, I would say its very true.

Your hypo is a bit too amorphous, which state/schools are we talking about? Based on what you said, I would go to whatever is the best school in that state. Meaning, if the state was Mississippi I would go to whatever the best school is in Mississippi rather than, say, UCLA.

[timbs4339]

"Good school" is not the issue. School that will get you a job with low debt is the issue. LST released a graph some time back that showed outside of the top 20 or so schools and the bottom 30 or so schools, there is essentially no correlation between school rank and employment percentage.

If you want to practice biglaw or another "prestigious" job, it doesn't even make sense to go to a T1. If you don't then go to a school in your state. Even better if it is lower ranked, cause' you can get a scholly.

[twenty]

If you're in a state like Maine where they only have one law school, and even that one is crap, I would do some serious soul searching as to what you're willing to compromise on in order to be an attorney. If you're willing to move out of state fairly permanently, cool. If you must be in (hypothetically) Maine, maybe law school isn't for you.

[jkwo07]

Do you have a link to the LST Graph?

[northwood]

what is the state ( or area) in question? If it is ND, SD, Montana, Wyoming or Mississippi, Arksansas, Tennessee ( for illustrative purposes only), and you know its insular, then going with the state flagship may open more doors than most of the T14, especially if you can get a good scholarship. If there are multiple schools, and the state is located near a t14, then perhaps that may be an option.


but it will boil down to your options after you have acceptance letters in. And how confident you are in your decision to remain in the state after graduation??

[2014]

Just give the state, being vague is useless here.

[crisgcia]

It's actually Florida. While FSU, UF, and UM are all decent options, none of them specialize as strongly in the area of law I want to practice in (international business) compared to other schools.

I realize that "devoid of good schools" is too extreme of a statement to categorize Florida, but I've already gotten into T20 and T14 schools with better programs. Would it be a good option to focus on the state over in Georgia?

[worldtraveler]

It's actually Florida. While FSU, UF, and UM are all decent options, none of them specialize as strongly in the area of law I want to practice in (international business) compared to other schools.

I realize that "devoid of good schools" is too extreme of a statement to categorize Florida, but I've already gotten into T20 and T14 schools with better programs. Would it be a good option to focus on the state over in Georgia?

What do you plan on doing in international business?

[patogordo]

you may be surprised to hear this but florida is technically not a foreign country.

[Cal Trask]

what is the state ( or area) in question? If it is ND, SD, Montana, Wyoming or Mississippi, Arksansas, Tennessee ( for illustrative purposes only), and you know its insular, then going with the state flagship may open more doors than most of the T14, especially if you can get a good scholarship. If there are multiple schools, and the state is located near a t14, then perhaps that may be an option.


but it will boil down to your options after you have acceptance letters in. And how confident you are in your decision to remain in the state after graduation??

I can second this as a resident of one of the above states. I've spoken with quite a few employers here who have stated a strong preference for graduates of the state flagship school. To many of them, somebody who goes to an out-of-state school and comes back looks like a flight risk and a bit of an outsider. This is all anecdotal, however.

[crisgcia]

It's actually Florida. While FSU, UF, and UM are all decent options, none of them specialize as strongly in the area of law I want to practice in (international business) compared to other schools.

I realize that "devoid of good schools" is too extreme of a statement to categorize Florida, but I've already gotten into T20 and T14 schools with better programs. Would it be a good option to focus on the state over in Georgia?

What do you plan on doing in international business?

Similar to the work I've been doing in my firm. Contracts for foreign companies to work in the US, etc. I've already gotten experience in the field so I have a feel for it.

[whereskyle]

It's actually Florida. While FSU, UF, and UM are all decent options, none of them specialize as strongly in the area of law I want to practice in (international business) compared to other schools.

I realize that "devoid of good schools" is too extreme of a statement to categorize Florida, but I've already gotten into T20 and T14 schools with better programs. Would it be a good option to focus on the state over in Georgia?

worked in small law in south Florida. It doesn't matter where you go to school, if you want to do small law in FL. If you want to do more than small law, don't go to school in FL.

[BigZuck]

Still confused by the question. Are you asking whether you should go to a T14 if you want Florida big law? Yes, preferably HYS, and then go down the list from there. I would probably prefer a school like Duke or UVA over a Northwestern or Michigan however (cuz proximity and general southerness).

[crisgcia]

Still confused by the question. Are you asking whether you should go to a T14 if you want Florida big law? Yes, preferably HYS, and then go down the list from there. I would probably prefer a school like Duke or UVA over a Northwestern or Michigan however (cuz proximity and general southerness).

Yes! That's the question I tried to get across, and thank you for the input.

[prezidentv8]

While FSU, UF, and UM are all decent options, none of them specialize as strongly in the area of law I want to practice in (international business) compared to other schools.

I have no reason to think that this would matter at all.

[Tiago Splitter]

The Florida biglaw market is tiny. It's a great goal to shoot for, but if you're going to go to law school you need to be comfortable with the idea of either ending up in FL small law or biglaw in another place.

[BigZuck]

Still confused by the question. Are you asking whether you should go to a T14 if you want Florida big law? Yes, preferably HYS, and then go down the list from there. I would probably prefer a school like Duke or UVA over a Northwestern or Michigan however (cuz proximity and general southerness).

Yes! That's the question I tried to get across, and thank you for the input.

With very, very few exceptions, don't go to any non-T14 if the main goal is big law.

An exception in your case might be if you got Vandy for a reasonable price and the only other T14 you got was Cornell at sticker or something and you were all out of retakes or a splitter that couldn't expect to get any more money with a higher LSAT score. But that type of situation is obviously really rare.

[Ohiobumpkin]

For Florida, HYS>FSU>UoF>UVA>Duke>Emory. This ordering assumes you have at least a half scholly at FSU, UoF, and Emory. I'm a big believer in going to the flagship school of your state of preference. I personally don't agree with the whole go down the list of the t-14 thing. You appear like a flight risk, and it will cost you a ton of money compared to attending a state flagship with in-state tuition and scholly. HYS is almost always a sure bet, but for a state like FL, the second best option in my opinion is to go to FSU or UoF with in-state tuition and scholly. Don't know about UVA, but Duke does not place well in Florida compared to other regions. Emory with significant scholly might even be better for FL with 8.3% placement.

[BigZuck]

For Florida, HYS>FSU>UoF>UVA>Duke>Emory. This ordering assumes you have at least a half scholly at FSU, UoF, and Emory. I'm a big believer in going to the flagship school of your state of preference. I personally don't agree with the whole go down the list of the t-14 thing. You appear like a flight risk, and it will cost you a ton of money compared to attending a state flagship with in-state tuition and scholly. HYS is almost always a sure bet, but for a state like FL, the second best option in my opinion is to go to FSU or UoF with in-state tuition and scholly. Don't know about UVA, but Duke does not place well in Florida compared to other regions. Emory with significant scholly might even be better for FL with 8.3% placement.

No

[hichvichwoh]

For Florida, HYS>FSU>UoF>UVA>Duke>Emory. This ordering assumes you have at least a half scholly at FSU, UoF, and Emory. I'm a big believer in going to the flagship school of your state of preference. I personally don't agree with the whole go down the list of the t-14 thing. You appear like a flight risk, and it will cost you a ton of money compared to attending a state flagship with in-state tuition and scholly. HYS is almost always a sure bet, but for a state like FL, the second best option in my opinion is to go to FSU or UoF with in-state tuition and scholly. Don't know about UVA, but Duke does not place well in Florida compared to other regions. Emory with significant scholly might even be better for FL with 8.3% placement.

are you saying that the people at Duke who are targeting FL have a harder time getting it, or that not many people at Duke get jobs in FL? in any case, this is probably not good advice because you want to have a back-up plan whichever school you go to, and the back-ups are just way better at t-14s than at FSU or UoF

[rad lulz]

m

[twenty]

If you'd rather have big law anywhere than work in Fl then go to T14

If working in FL is your #1 goal and you MUST be there then go local

Basically what it usually comes down to.

[ndirish2010]

If you have ties to the state (strong ties meaning you grew up there and went to undergrad there, or at least lived there until you were 18), I think the requirement to go to an in-state school is somewhat overstated on here. Most people in my class at Notre Dame went back to where they were from, and a lot of them found solid jobs and were not in the top 15-20% of the class. I have to think these people were in better situations being, say, above median at Notre Dame, than if they had gone to a marginal T2/T3 in their home market.

[jenesaislaw]

Do you have a link to the LST Graph?

It's kind of on the site right now, but it's presently broken. I broke it when updating the database. I'm not going to fix it for at least a few weeks.

In the meantime, non-interactive versions of the chart are available if you download this paper: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2106814 Look in the appendix I think (it's been a while since I wrote it).