I am really considering FIU a 4th tier school but have been told it is a mistake even if free, anyone care to elaborate and maybe compare to UM

I am most concerned with job placement.

What are your numbers?

Would UF be out of the question? From what I hear UF is tops in the state and places better than anyone else in Florida....I highly doubt FIU (they have a law school???) is what you're aiming for because graduates of TTTT have very grim job prospects, save for the top 5% (in a good economy).

Unless you just have to go to any law school....

Be aware, though FIU sucks--it is on an upward trend, it is a very new school, so while it sucks, it is no Florida Coastal. UM places well in the state, not UF well, but alright.

long story short, I would like to stay in south florida because of personal reasons. I am not sure I will have UF numbers Ill let you know after December LSAT...kind of freaking out now to be honest.

I see that 90% of FIU students are employed how bad could that be really? Maybe I am disillusioned or TLS is overly pessimistic.

I don't care if I come out making 40k if I will only have 40k in debt compared to UM of 120k making 60k....does that make sense? I know everyones goals are personal, but I feel that I can move up over time just as in any job when you gain experience.

Is that lifted from FIU's website?

Even some of the tier 1 schools fudge these numbers....also you do not know how many of these people employed in the legal profession and how many are non-legal jobs. What if 30% of that 90% are kids stuck doing 12$/h part time doc review...

you may be correct, I guess I have no way to tell it is from ABA 89.7%

http://officialguide.lsac.org/SearchRes ... BA5831.pdf

The good law school in South Florida is UM. SoFla is the only place where you're better off having a UM degree than a UF degree in the state. With that said, unless you plan on BigLaw, UM at sticker might not be worth it. However, in direct response to your thread's title, Miami is the good law school you're wishing for.

I currently live in South FL, would also love there to be a T-14 in FL. The way i see it, if u need to be in Sofla, go to UM. I know you say that you may not have the UF #s, but you'll probably have the UM #s. Right? It depends what you want to do. If you just want to be an attorney, not necessarily make over 80,000 than i guess u can go to FIU, it will likely have a low return on investment.

I lived in Miami for a few years and still dream of moving back there and living on the 20th floor in some condo overlooking the ocean (and Latin women tanning). I know this is possible with a T14 JD, as well as a UF or UM JD (but with a higher class ranking than I would need at a T14).

I'm not saying UM sucks, but why can't Miami have at least a T30? It's a major metropolitan area and it is a major international hub for commerce in the U.S. Every other state with an even smaller economy seems to have a T1. What gives Florida!?

I completely agree, EXCEPT!! I kind of like Miami how it is (just realized this). if there was a T30/T20 school in Miami, everyone would want to go to it. The way it is now, Miami's legal market is an anomaly: Gorgeous women, gorgeous weather, many opportunities, not so much competition. I think it's funny how everyone fights for big law in NY, you end up living in a shoebox, with no car, horrible weather, and the women in miami still look better.

.

Comparing FIU to UM:

Careers : University of Miami

Bar Statistics (Winter and Summer 2007 administrations)
State where the greatest number of first-time test takers took the bar FL
School's bar passage rate for first-time test takers 86.4%
Statewide bar passage rate for first-time test takers 77.6%
Class of 2007 Graduates
Total graduates 384
Graduates employed at graduation 76.7%
Graduates known to be employed nine months after graduation 97.6%
Starting Salaries of 2007 Graduates Employed Full-time
25th percentile private sector starting salary $75,000
Median private sector starting salary $100,000
75th percentile private sector starting salary $130,000
Percent in the private sector who reported salary information 41%
Median public service starting salary $41,500
Areas of Legal Practice (Class of 2007)
Percent employed in academia 0.6%
Percent employed in business and industry 8.0%
Percent employed in government 10.8%
Percent employed in all judicial clerkships 3.7%
Percent employed in law firms 67.0%
Percent employed in public interest 8.2%
Percent employed in an unknown field 1.7%
Percent employed in a judicial clerkship by an Article III federal judge 1.0%
2007 Graduates Employment Location
Graduates employed in-state 62%
Graduates employed in foreign countries 0%
Number of states where graduates are employed 26
New England (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT) 1.1%
Middle Atlantic (NY, NJ, PA) 5.7%
East North Central (IL, IN, MI, OH, WI) 2.0%
West North Central (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD) 1.1%
South Atlantic (DE, DC, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA, WV) 71.3%
East South Central (AL, KY, MS, TN) 1.1%
West South Central (AR, LA, OK, TX) 3.1%
Pacific (AK, CA, HI, OR, WA) 2.3%
Mountain (AZ, CO, ID, MT, NV, NM, UT, WY) 1.7%
Employment location unknown 10.5%

Careers : University of Miami

Bar Statistics (Winter and Summer 2007 administrations)
State where the greatest number of first-time test takers took the bar FL
School's bar passage rate for first-time test takers 86.4%
Statewide bar passage rate for first-time test takers 77.6%
Class of 2007 Graduates
Total graduates 384
Graduates employed at graduation 76.7%
Graduates known to be employed nine months after graduation 97.6%
Starting Salaries of 2007 Graduates Employed Full-time
25th percentile private sector starting salary $75,000
Median private sector starting salary $100,000
75th percentile private sector starting salary $130,000
Percent in the private sector who reported salary information 41%
Median public service starting salary $41,500
Areas of Legal Practice (Class of 2007)
Percent employed in academia 0.6%
Percent employed in business and industry 8.0%
Percent employed in government 10.8%
Percent employed in all judicial clerkships 3.7%
Percent employed in law firms 67.0%
Percent employed in public interest 8.2%
Percent employed in an unknown field 1.7%
Percent employed in a judicial clerkship by an Article III federal judge 1.0%
2007 Graduates Employment Location
Graduates employed in-state 62%
Graduates employed in foreign countries 0%
Number of states where graduates are employed 26
New England (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT) 1.1%
Middle Atlantic (NY, NJ, PA) 5.7%
East North Central (IL, IN, MI, OH, WI) 2.0%
West North Central (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD) 1.1%
South Atlantic (DE, DC, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA, WV) 71.3%
East South Central (AL, KY, MS, TN) 1.1%
West South Central (AR, LA, OK, TX) 3.1%
Pacific (AK, CA, HI, OR, WA) 2.3%
Mountain (AZ, CO, ID, MT, NV, NM, UT, WY) 1.7%
Employment location unknown 10.5%

I think that one day UF and UM would be in the top tier (it would be similar to the UGA and Emory situation - UF would reign instate and UM would be portable).

FSU is ranked higher than UM, but it doesn't seem to receive much attention.

The only thing I can think of is that it might have to do with the level of corruption in Miami. Whenever the city government smells a cash cow they show up asking for a cut, in this case probably asking for admittance for their nephews and nieces. I don't think the pointy headed law school administrators that normally inhabit a top law school could swallow the wild west attitude that a municipality like Miami employs.

That being said, I still think the city could easily accommodate a T14. All you need to do is look at the number of Harvard, Columbia, and Penn grads at the top firms in Miami, and you'll see that there could be a nice partnership with firms put in place. In addition, the sheer volume and diversity of legal services that take place in South Florida due to such a strong presence of European and South American companies, provides plenty of challenging legal issues for legal scholars to chew on.

FSU is in Tallahassee, and while it's the state capital, it's really more part of the Floribama part of the state than SoFla. Still I do think it's better than UM because of the cost (same as UF) and the fact that it's the smallest of the 3 schools by far (it also places more in the smaller North Florida markets). UF/FSU/UM are all fine for working in Florida and UF/FSU are very cheap.