Top Law Schools

Posted: **Mon Apr 27, 2015 4:00 pm**

Like the title says I am torn between these schools. Ole Miss has given me in state my first year + 15% of tuition each year, is in a lower crime area, I have friends there, and football. UALR has offered me 100% tuition.

COA difference will just be the ~13,000 a year in tuition my family is going to loan me the money for school interest free.

I'm from the north metro Atlanta area and have several law connections here. There is more alumni support from Ole Miss where I live, but most jobs would be obtained through previous connections at home unless I was offered something big in MS/AR

I am also probably going to get an SJD/JSD after school or an LLM in Europe.

I have tried to negotiate with Ole Miss for more money but they insist they are out of money, even though last week they went from 0% to 15% without me asking.

Thanks for the advice in advance.

Posted: **Mon Apr 27, 2015 4:02 pm**

In order to receive the best feedback in this forum, please provide as much of the following information in your original post as possible:

-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

Posted: **Mon Apr 27, 2015 4:03 pm**

What are your goals and where would you like to work? These schools are pretty random given your situation. Also what is your lsat/gpa?

Posted: **Mon Apr 27, 2015 4:17 pm**

I would like to work in Europe, but assuming I don't do that I will probably come back to Atlanta or the metro area working for a mid size firm through personal connections.

3.0/158

and they aren't really random. I like the southeast, I don't mind hot summers as I've grown up with them, and I hate winter so anything up north really wasn't going to do it for me.

Posted: **Mon Apr 27, 2015 4:19 pm**

Go to law school in Europe if you want to work in Europe. If you want to work in Atlanta, retake the LSAT.

Posted: **Mon Apr 27, 2015 4:24 pm**

If op is guaranteed a job at a midsize firm, I would just go to the cheapest school you can.
But Europe prolly isn't happening without some serious connection or going to school in Europe.

Posted: **Mon Apr 27, 2015 4:25 pm**

I went to undergrad in Arkansas and can tell you with some certainty that UALR's placement is hot garbage even within Arkansas. I have several friends who are either attending or have already graduated Bowen, and they consistently lose out on even undesirable jobs to Arkansas-Fayetteville graduates within Arkansas. If you have no convincing ties to Little Rock or Fayetteville, your only shot at a job would be rural law in bumfuck AR or somehow weaseling your way into a lower-level compliance position at Wal-Mart. Neither place out of state.

Both of these colleges are terrible options for your goals - Europe isn't happening either way and doesn't from most non-HYS schools.

EDIT: Also, ArkansaS, not ArkansaW. Spelling the name of the state wrong will not play well with firms.

Posted: **Mon Apr 27, 2015 4:28 pm**

OhBoyOhBortles wrote:Go to law school in Europe if you want to work in Europe. If you want to work in Atlanta, retake the LSAT.

The schools I have looked at in countries where I want to work all require a JD as a prerec to entering their programs.

Posted: **Mon Apr 27, 2015 4:38 pm**

Just looked at your profile. Unless you can get that 158 to a 170+, law school should not be in the cards for you. A 2.7 LSDAS GPA is a very, very difficult thing to overcome, and may also be an impediment to applying to graduate school anywhere (much less European programs.) You need to consider alternate avenues, dude.

Posted: **Mon Apr 27, 2015 4:42 pm**

arturobelano wrote:I went to undergrad in Arkansas and can tell you with some certainty that UALR's placement is hot garbage even within Arkansas. I have several friends who are either attending or have already graduated Bowen, and they consistently lose out on even undesirable jobs to Arkansas-Fayetteville graduates within Arkansas. If you have no convincing ties to Little Rock or Fayetteville, your only shot at a job would be rural law in bumfuck AR or somehow weaseling your way into a lower-level compliance position at Wal-Mart. Neither place out of state.

Both of these colleges are terrible options for your goals - Europe isn't happening either way and doesn't from most non-HYS schools.

EDIT: Also, ArkansaS, not ArkansaW. Spelling the name of the state wrong will not play well with firms.

lol, good catch. I literally don't think I have ever actually written the name of the state until I was accepted and text someone about it.

Posted: **Mon Apr 27, 2015 4:47 pm**

If you really want to work in Europe, McGill in Canada places well in France. But your numbers make McGill unlikely--although I haven't kept up with the civil law program there.

Did you apply to LSU or Tulane (civil law programs offered) ? I may be out of touch, but isn't Mississippi a hybrid (civil & common law) law state ? Louisiana is our only civil law state.

Between Ole Miss & UALR it's no contest, in my opinion. If you fit the profile & like the lifestyle, then clearly Mississippi is the better choice. Ole Miss alumni groups are vibrant & loyal.

P.S. If you want to join a Mississippi law firm, then Ole Miss is the better option. I know of an interview between a candidate from an out-of-state SE law school & 2 partners from the largest law firm (Jackson) in Mississippi that basically consisted of one question asked repeatedly--"Would you really move to Jackson ?"

Posted: **Mon Apr 27, 2015 4:49 pm**

Why would you not apply to UofA? They would accept you with $ and even THAT is a better option than Bowen.

Posted: **Mon Apr 27, 2015 4:51 pm**

This is a terrible plan. Just don't.

Posted: **Mon Apr 27, 2015 4:52 pm**

arklaw13 wrote:This is a terrible plan. Just don't.

Posted: **Mon Apr 27, 2015 5:01 pm**

This can only end poorly. UALR is even more of a dumpster fire than UofA, and no one should ever cross the MS border for any reason. Don't do it OP.

Posted: **Mon Apr 27, 2015 5:03 pm**

ilikebaseball wrote:Why would you not apply to UofA? They would accept you with $ and even THAT is a better option than Bowen.

The only reason I applied to bowen was because I knew I would get an offer and some $, I didn't realize they would give me a full ride.

starry eyed wrote:If op is guaranteed a job at a midsize firm, I would just go to the cheapest school you can.

Also, this. Is there any reason not to go to a school for free considering my grades and guarantied employment back home?

Posted: **Mon Apr 27, 2015 5:06 pm**

ponypulse wrote:
ilikebaseball wrote:Why would you not apply to UofA? They would accept you with $ and even THAT is a better option than Bowen.
The only reason I applied to bowen was because I knew I would get an offer and some $, I didn't realize they would give me a full ride.

I don't think your goals coincide with your choices. You need to chill this cycle, read up on how this stuff works, and retake your LSAT for next year.

Posted: **Mon Apr 27, 2015 5:06 pm**

OP: Are you proficient or fluent in any other languages ?

Also, according to your posted profile, your LSDAS GPA is only a 2.7 which certainly should affect where you apply/applied.

Posted: **Mon Apr 27, 2015 5:10 pm**

CanadianWolf wrote:OP: Are you proficient or fluent in any other languages ?

Also, according to your posted profile, your LSDAS GPA is only a 2.8 which certainly should affect where you apply/applied.

Spanish and basic competency in German that I am still studying.

I had a lot of d's and f's early in school but a 3.7 my last 2 years of school.

Posted: **Mon Apr 27, 2015 5:13 pm**

ponypulse wrote:
starry eyed wrote:If op is guaranteed a job at a midsize firm, I would just go to the cheapest school you can.
Also, this. Is there any reason not to go to a school for free considering my grades and guarantied employment back home?

I mean, if that guaranteed employment is going to last your whole career, and you will never have to explain your law school to anyone again, I guess not? Have you ever been to Little Rock, though? Bowen isn't in the worst area of LR by a long shot, but we're talking about a city that is best known for violent crime. Like, at staggering rates. I'm very familiar with the city--I can almost guarantee you don't want to spend 3 years in Little Rock.

Posted: **Mon Apr 27, 2015 5:48 pm**

ILoveYou wrote: I mean, if that guaranteed employment is going to last your whole career, and you will never have to explain your law school to anyone again, I guess not? Have you ever been to Little Rock, though? Bowen isn't in the worst area of LR by a long shot, but we're talking about a city that is best known for violent crime. Like, at staggering rates. I'm very familiar with the city--I can almost guarantee you don't want to spend 3 years in Little Rock.

Counterpoint: if OP has a fully, he could probably just lamp at Midtown for three years in a drunken haze and incur minimal debt

Posted: **Mon Apr 27, 2015 5:53 pm**

arturobelano wrote:
ILoveYou wrote: I mean, if that guaranteed employment is going to last your whole career, and you will never have to explain your law school to anyone again, I guess not? Have you ever been to Little Rock, though? Bowen isn't in the worst area of LR by a long shot, but we're talking about a city that is best known for violent crime. Like, at staggering rates. I'm very familiar with the city--I can almost guarantee you don't want to spend 3 years in Little Rock.
Counterpoint: if OP has a fully, he could probably just lamp at Midtown for three years in a drunken haze and incur minimal debt

Ya got me.

There aren't many other ways of making LR bearable for that long.

Posted: **Mon Apr 27, 2015 6:06 pm**

ILoveYou wrote:
Ya got me. There aren't many other ways of making LR bearable for that long.

Yeah, it was only bearable for *six months* for me because I'm a Hendrix grad and there's a huge alum network there.

And, to illustrate ILY's point further: one of my close friends lived in Quapaw Quarter (the neighborhood Bowen is in,) and had his house broken into multiple times. One time he and his roommate left for the weekend and found several syringes and crack pipes scattered throughout the house when they got back on Monday.

Posted: **Mon Apr 27, 2015 6:13 pm**

I think this comes down to if you are 100% confident you have a job in hand. A lot of 0Ls like to think they are in really tight with someone and have all these connections who will shower them with jobs because they had a pleasant conversation with him a few times, and they don't fully understand how tight that connection has to be. The connection better be your dad who is a named partner. If these firms loved you so much and guaranteed you a job, they would just go ahead and pay for your law school since they are so excited to hire you. I don't see that here. If for whatever reason it is actually legit and guaranteed (although I seriously doubt it), I guess just go to UALR to keep costs down, or wherever you want for free.

arturobelano wrote:
ILoveYou wrote:
Ya got me. There aren't many other ways of making LR bearable for that long.
Yeah, it was only bearable for *six months* for me because I'm a Hendrix grad and there's a huge alum network there.

And, to illustrate ILY's point further: one of my close friends lived in Quapaw Quarter (the neighborhood Bowen is in,) and had his house broken into multiple times. One time he and his roommate left for the weekend and found several syringes and crack pipes scattered throughout the house when they got back on Monday.

Not to derail this thread, but have you both seen the doc "Bangin' in the Rock?" I highly recommend it.

Posted: **Mon Apr 27, 2015 9:12 pm**

Yeah I spent 4 years in LR and most of the city is a festering shithole. Bowen is right across the street from a park that is filled with homeless people and chickens. The law school felt like a sad, sad place. Every student I talked to sounded like they were pissed to be there. Not a place I wanted to spend three years.

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