I'm strongly considering Baylor Law right now, my dream has always been to be a prosecutor, possibly outside of Texas, so i was wandering what everyone's opinion is of Baylor particularly in relation to being a prosecutor.

Anyone?

i dunno, i guess if i were in your shoes i would try to find out what the hiring process is like for prosecutors, and what they value in applicants.

Numbers?

Great School, Shithole town

Go to the cheapest school in the state, IMO. Just make sure it's got a decent reputation. Then intern at the courthouse in the summers (which will be unpaid) and do your clinics/internships/externships there. That's really the key to getting a job there more than the slightly better or worse university.

Keep in mind, that means working at a courthouse in or near Waco unless you want to commute and hour every day and still go to class.

Baylor:

Lol...i didn't think it was that bad.

Supposedly extremely competitive..?

Why is this in the lounge?

I've been discussing nearly all of the questions/concerns that I've found on this website (and others) with a 3L that attends Baylor atm. Essentially, she hasn't noticed the super competitive atmosphere and can only attribute that "ranking" to the 3L practice court that you are required to complete. Baylor does pride themselves on being hard, but it isn't impossible (but, the grades are lower due to the 3.0 curve). She told me flat out that if you discussed the school with half of the student population at Baylor they would tell you not to come (quite disheartening). The scholarship offers/the gpa cutoff aren't as cutthroat as TLS makes it out to be. She hasn't seen anyone lose their scholarship in her section and she also said that if you can't maintain a 2.5gpa (requirement for full-ride) that you won't be getting a job anyway. I can answer more specific questions, but I think Baylor gets a worse rap than it deserves.


PS: She got a job right out of OCI at a unicorn-midlaw firm specializing in bankruptcy law.

Yea i've heard the same thing about the GPA, from what i hear the curve screws everyone out of jobs because regardless of rank you will have a lower GPA then just about every other law student in the state of Texas.

would love to hear more opinions on Baylor as well.

They supposedly have a very good mock trial team, and that would help you in terms of wanting to be a prosecutor. Of course, being a prosecutor in Texas is kind of like being the Cowboys playing Lubbock Central.

In that it's easy to do?

Baylor isn't some small, distant school in Texas. It is a very reputable and well recognized University throughout the state. Because of this, most firms realize that Baylor's GPA #'s will appear to be lower than other applicants. Most employers are well aware of the difficulty of the program, especially if they have a Baylor alum in their firm. The Baylor alumni family is much stronger (imho) than SMU/U of H due to the type of institution it is. This is purely subjective/unevaluated, but I feel it is credited.

Do you know anything about South Texas College of Law?

Here is the South Texas College of Law career info ..... I made notes where needed.


Careers : South Texas College of Law

Bar Statistics (Winter and Summer 2007 administrations)
State where the greatest number of first-time test takers took the bar TX
School's bar passage rate for first-time test takers 88.4%
Statewide bar passage rate for first-time test takers 84.0%
Class of 2007 Graduates
Total graduates 349
Graduates employed at graduation N/A - it's not reporting this?
Graduates known to be employed nine months after graduation 85.4% - less than 90% after nine months? Didn't GW also have the problem? - it led to their drop in rank.
Starting Salaries of 2007 Graduates Employed Full-time
25th percentile private sector starting salary $60,000
Median private sector starting salary $80,000
75th percentile private sector starting salary $120,000
Percent in the private sector who reported salary information 23% - haha
Median public service starting salary $48,500
Areas of Legal Practice (Class of 2007)
Percent employed in academia 2.0%
Percent employed in business and industry 23.0% - ???????????????????????
Percent employed in government 10.0%
Percent employed in all judicial clerkships 2.0%
Percent employed in law firms 61.0%
Percent employed in public interest 2.0%
Percent employed in an unknown field 0.0%
Percent employed in a judicial clerkship by an Article III federal judge 1.0% - ????????????????????
2007 Graduates Employment Location
Graduates employed in-state 92%
Graduates employed in foreign countries 0%
Number of states where graduates are employed 13
New England (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT) 0.0%
Middle Atlantic (NY, NJ, PA) 0.0%
East North Central (IL, IN, MI, OH, WI) 0.0%
West North Central (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD) 0.2%
South Atlantic (DE, DC, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA, WV) 1.8%
East South Central (AL, KY, MS, TN) 0.0%
West South Central (AR, LA, OK, TX) 94.0%
Pacific (AK, CA, HI, OR, WA) 1.8%
Mountain (AZ, CO, ID, MT, NV, NM, UT, WY) 0.2%
Employment location unknown 2.0%


Job Type
Bar admission required or anticipated (e.g., attorney and corporate counsel positions, law clerks, judicial clerks) 80.0% - only 80% in bar admission required jobs?

J.D. preferred, law degree enhances position (e.g., corporate contracts administrator, alternative dispute resolution specialist, government regulatory analyst, FBI special agent) 11.0%

Professional/other (jobs that require professional skills or training but for which a J.D. is neither preferred nor particularly applicable; e.g., accountant, teacher, business manager, nurse) 9.0%

Nonprofessional/other (job that does not require any professional skills or training or is taken on a temporary basis and not viewed as part of a career path) 0.0%

South Texas is a black hole. If you feel like paying 30 grand a year for very very VERY minimal job prospects, be my guest. Wasn't there a South Texas grad on here recently who was the #2 graduate in his class and couldn't find work? The post above me speaks for itself.

slightly racist and structurally homophobic.

Lol...does anyone know the screen name of the 2nd ranked guy from STSL?

I live in Texas, have all my life.

Baylor is considered a good school, but if you want to work in Texas, I would highly suggest looking at other schools first.

UT is obviously the big one, but if you can't get in there, U of H is good for southern Texas and SMU is tops in Dallas.

This. Baylor is as "prestigious" as the other schools (in my opinion), but chances of getting into a big firm are about 10-13% lower compared to SMU/U of H. This is what I'm struggling with in my decision.

baylor is attractive to me because they offer a lot of money and they focus on litigation. I want to end up as a DA or a PD so this combination is ideal. but i don't want to practice in texas and i can't imagine a baylor jd being very portable.

Also, not sure about U of H, but SMU has a very high median salary, especially in Dallas. Cost of living is very low here, so making a median of about $115K starting is easily comparable to the $150K - $160K average from the top schools.

I know here in D/FW, SMU opens a lot of doors. A lot.