Uga vs ga state decision time sensitive Forum

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Nicolemetsch

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Uga vs ga state decision time sensitive

Post by Nicolemetsch » Sun Jun 14, 2015 8:37 pm

So I got accepted into uga and ga state and I had originally thought I wanted to attend uga law Years ago. I got my undergrad degree from uga and I commuted to Athens from lawrenceville and I would do the same for law school for both uga and ga state law. I am about the same distance from both schools so commuting gas money is pretty equal (only worry would be extra travel time to ga state because of Atlanta traffic). I would live in larenceville no matter where I went so living expenses would be the same and I would think books would be about the same.
So both schools would end up costing about the same but I wasn't sure If the location of ga state in Atlanta would present me with more opportunities. GA state also has a brand new law building which would be cool. I'm not exactly sure what law I want to study, I probably want to work for a large firm but I may end up not doing that , who knows. I also didn't really feel like I belonged at uga so that's why I wanted to try a new school but who's to say I will feel better at ga state. I like the fact that the scholarship money at uga is given to me no matter If I do a clerkship or not.. ga state on the other hand will only waive my tuition my third year if I do the program and I'm not sure if I will want to do the position or not, I don't like the idea of having to commit to a year long program 3 Years in advance before I even know what I want to do. But then again the program may be great for me. But I do have the option to do it uga if I'd like.
UGA seems to make more sense but I keep hesitating and being drawn back to the idea of going to ga state for some reason. I don't really know many lawyers so any advice on this would be greatly appreciated and let me know if I left out any info. Thank you
Last edited by Nicolemetsch on Mon Jun 15, 2015 9:38 am, edited 1 time in total.

BigZuck

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Re: Uga vs ga state decision time sensitive

Post by BigZuck » Sun Jun 14, 2015 8:43 pm

Both are exceedingly poor options if you want to work at a large firm. Retake or don't go if that's your goal.

If you want to work at a small firm or local government, things like that, then either would probably be fine so long as you graduated with no more than like 50K debt.

CanadianWolf

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Re: Uga vs ga state decision time sensitive

Post by CanadianWolf » Sun Jun 14, 2015 8:49 pm

Big Zuck is a great poster & almost always right on target, in my opinion. Nevertheless, I know why you are confused. Typically, UGA is the way to go in Georgia, but Ga. State outperforms its status. Lots of downtown major law firms hire Ga. State law students part-time.

I could offer better advice if your original post was more condensed.

Nicolemetsch

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Re: Uga vs ga state decision time sensitive

Post by Nicolemetsch » Sun Jun 14, 2015 9:04 pm

Im open to different career paths, I don't necessarily have to go to a big firm. I only want to go to school in ga so my options are limited. And I don't want to have a lot of debt.

And Basically..

Offers are similar from both schools I was just wondering if you had any opinions one way or another for which school would present more scholarship opportunities and job placement. And I guess also advice on the value/benefits of a research assistantship.
Last edited by Nicolemetsch on Mon Jun 15, 2015 9:39 am, edited 1 time in total.

CanadianWolf

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Re: Uga vs ga state decision time sensitive

Post by CanadianWolf » Sun Jun 14, 2015 9:26 pm

Bluntly speaking: Athens, Georgia is heaven on earth. Georgia State is located where the action is. Either can get you whatever you want in Georgia, but you have to earn it.

Being a research assistant is an honor that should yield a great recommendation.

The South is different from the rest of the US. Duke, Virginia, Georgia & Vanderbilt are very effective at placing law grads in this region. Georgia State has outperformed its numbers & its status due to location.

I cannot tell you that one is better than the other in your situation ; I can state that you can achieve wealth &/or success from either law school if you do well.

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gregfootball2001

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Re: Uga vs ga state decision time sensitive

Post by gregfootball2001 » Tue Jun 16, 2015 2:25 am

GA outperforms GA State in every way. If you won't retake and go for a better option altogether, and you know you want to stay in Georgia, UGA is the way to go. UGA kids do plenty of internships in Atl, and UGA's OCI is much broader. If GA State were 10k less a year, you might have a choice on your hands, but for the same price, it's really a no-brainer.

Regardless, please don't pick a school because they built a new building.

CanadianWolf

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Re: Uga vs ga state decision time sensitive

Post by CanadianWolf » Tue Jun 16, 2015 9:49 am

Unfortunately, the placement numbers show otherwise.

From USNews: Georgia State 2013 graduates employed at graduation = 70.8%

Univ. of Georgia 2013 graduates employed at graduation = 51.7%

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OhBoyOhBortles

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Re: Uga vs ga state decision time sensitive

Post by OhBoyOhBortles » Tue Jun 16, 2015 10:00 am

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

gregfootball2001

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Re: Uga vs ga state decision time sensitive

Post by gregfootball2001 » Tue Jun 16, 2015 2:13 pm

CanadianWolf wrote:Unfortunately, the placement numbers show otherwise.

From USNews: Georgia State 2013 graduates employed at graduation = 70.8%

Univ. of Georgia 2013 graduates employed at graduation = 51.7%
What?

Since when do we use US News to determine employment numbers?

From Law School Transparency, we see that the percentage of "good outcomes" (students at law firms of 100 or more, plus fed clerkships) from the class of 2014 from Georgia is 19.6%, while GSU is 15.5%. Not as far apart as I would have thought (in 2013 it was 18.4% to 8.7%), but to imply that GSU has a 30% better employment rate is just silly.

If you don't like that definition of "good outcome," a broader look says that if we look at (1) students at law firms of eleven or more, (2) students going into gov't, (3) students going into public interest, and (4) federal clerkships, Georgia stands at 44.8%, and GSU is at 40.2%. Again, not a huge difference, but if we're talking equal debt upon graduation, not insignificant.

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CanadianWolf

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Re: Uga vs ga state decision time sensitive

Post by CanadianWolf » Tue Jun 16, 2015 2:19 pm

I don't think that you appreciate the effect that Georgia State has had on legal placement within Georgia. It's has affected both Emory & UGa in a significant manner. Like it or not, Georgia State is successful at placing its law grads in Georgia.

Tough to live in Athens & work part-time at a major downtown Atlanta law firm. Also, as Atlanta is the state capitol of Georgia, GSU law students have easy access to a variety of internships & externships.

It's one thing to be loyal & supportive of your school, but another thing to close one's eyes to reality.

gregfootball2001

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Re: Uga vs ga state decision time sensitive

Post by gregfootball2001 » Tue Jun 16, 2015 2:54 pm

CanadianWolf wrote:I don't think that you appreciate the effect that Georgia State has had on legal placement within Georgia. It's has affected both Emory & UGa in a significant manner. Like it or not, Georgia State is successful at placing its law grads in Georgia.
GSU is definitely successful at placing its law grads in a difficult market. However, in 2013 they were almost 10% less successful than Georgia was, and in 2014 they were 4% less successful than Georgia. Over the past few years, GSU has hovered at around 10% of their students garnering good outcomes. If last year shows a trend of moving up, that would be wonderful for them. Let's see it happen for more than one year before we say that GSU is as successful as UGA, however. At this point, the numbers don't support that statement.
CanadianWolf wrote:Tough to live in Athens & work part-time at a major downtown Atlanta law firm. Also, as Atlanta is the state capitol of Georgia, GSU law students have easy access to a variety of internships & externships.
While at UGA, I personally interned for a federal judge in Atlanta, a Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, and the Cobb County DA's office. I had friends who worked for the SEC, the Governor's office, the CDC, other federal judges in Atlanta, federal bankruptcy judges, the Fulton DA's office, and so many other downtown internships I can't remember them all. It's not as easy, sure - but it happens alllll the time.

However, this argument is ultimately irrelevant. The point of law school is to get a legal job. Internships are wonderful (my internship on the GA Supreme Court was literally my favorite part of school), but the only thing that matters is getting a job. As the numbers in my previous post showed, Georgia is slightly better for jobs. If the OP's ultimate debt burden was going to be $50k less at GSU after graduation, that might be a different story. However, for equal debt, I don't see the argument.
CanadianWolf wrote:It's one thing to be loyal & supportive of your school, but another thing to close one's eyes to reality.
I completely agree. That's why I'm using numbers.

CanadianWolf

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Re: Uga vs ga state decision time sensitive

Post by CanadianWolf » Tue Jun 16, 2015 2:58 pm

See, you're opening your eyes--you used the word "slightly" better for jobs. Much different than your first post in this thread. And, of course, internships/externships in Atlanta are available to UGa law students, but it's not convenient.

CanadianWolf

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Re: Uga vs ga state decision time sensitive

Post by CanadianWolf » Tue Jun 16, 2015 3:09 pm

I just reread the original post in this thread. OP lives in Lawrenceville & plans to commute from Lawrenceville to either law school. Based on this information, GSU makes more sense if OP plans to do an internship in Atlanta as it might be difficult to commute 45 minutes to attend law school in Athens, then commute 90 minutes to downtown Atlanta for an internship/externship. Good planning can work around this, but it is something to consider.

Also, OP went to UGa for undergraduate school & felt out-of-place. Why ? OP, law school is a different world from being an undergraduate--even though on the same campus.

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