Thomas Jefferson School of Law vs. Western State Forum

[northwood]

WOW-

For all of the TTTTTT supporters:
Listen UP- job prospects matter- the schools reputation and alumni matters. The comfort levels of the schools buildings, whether or not there are greeters to open the doors for you, and all fo the other things dont matter. You are here to learn a trade, and become part of the alumni network. This is not undergrad, where the quality and level of the schools dont really matter much ( you just need that piece of paper, a decent gpa, and a plan fo rthe future). Once you complete law school- chances are for 99.87 percent of law school graduates do not go back to school, so this is your career path. Look at the location. Your TTT/TTTT are most often in saturated markets and you will be competing against big named, well reputed schools, and their alumni networks. Unless you have a guarenteed job in writing, you ought to really consider going to one of htese schools. A 151 is only in the 50% of the total lsat takers in the past 3 years. You need to re evaluate your LSAT strategy and try again. Taking a year off isnt the end of the world.

However- its not boom times. Things are getting slightly better, but the recovery rate and time until things get back to somewhat stable times and levels is still to be determined. You need to look at this from a business perspective- since graduate schools are a business. What do you need to do to get to the best position to achieve your goals? WHat can you finance and be comfortable spending to reach these goals? 150k is a lot of money ( its a mortgage for konwledge). If you really want to be a laywer- then spend it- but its not a sure thing for a life of riches and pleasure. In fact you need to consider this? WOuld you be willing to be a lawyer making 45k a year? If so- then go ahead. if not, reassess.

TJ and Western are in saturated markets at a high cost. Do you think its worth it?

[flexityflex86]

I can't tell if molawn, flexityflex, or craplicant is the worst poster in this thread. Most threads like this have one or two clueless TTTT apologists. We've got three. The jackpot of fail.

Dude, I don't think it's a gooooooooooooooooooooood school.

I think you're an idiooooooooooooooooooot if you go there.

I am not an apologist. You misread me if you are saying this or are changing my words.

I just said it's possible to succeed coming out of these schools like it's possible to succeed as an actress.

Just most people don't do it. You can't say it's totally impossible to succeed coming from TJLS. I'm sure 1 or 2 people do each year. I just would not take that risk, and think people are dumb if they do.

But I'm sure some succeed

[romothesavior]

You can't say it's totally impossible to succeed coming from TJLS.

You're right, which is why I didn't say this (nor did anyone else).

[flexityflex86]

Well I don't want you to say I am a TTTT supporter. That is untrue. My only point was some people will make it no matter what, and some Yale grads get confined to LSAT tutoring.

Both schools OP mentioned SUCK. I would bet money on him being unemployed, but I would not give him 20:1 odds.

[romothesavior]

Well I don't want you to say I am a TTTT supporter. That is untrue. My only point was some people will make it no matter what, and some Yale grads get confined to LSAT tutoring.

I doubt any Yale grads cannot find legal employment, but yeah, I get your point and I agree with it. It just made no sense to make that point here, because no one said otherwise.

But anyways, I take back what I said before... we'll let molawn and crapplicant duke it out for worst poster ITT.

[flexityflex86]

Well I don't want you to say I am a TTTT supporter. That is untrue. My only point was some people will make it no matter what, and some Yale grads get confined to LSAT tutoring.

I doubt any Yale grads cannot find legal employment, but yeah, I get your point and I agree with it. It just made no sense to make that point here, because no one said otherwise.

But anyways, I take back what I said before... we'll let molawn and crapplicant duke it out for worst poster ITT.

Well I only take on arguments I know cannot be false. Inference questions taught me that.

[molawn]

I can't tell if molawn, flexityflex, or craplicant is the worst poster in this thread. Most threads like this have one or two clueless TTTT apologists. We've got three. The jackpot of fail.

I'm only on this site because I'm curious about rankings. I didn't mean to intrude on your little cult of dipshit circlejerkers. By all means, carry on and better luck with life

[TTH]

Western is certainly more practically-oriented while Thomas Jefferson has a more theoretic bent to its curriculum. Go to Western for BigLaw or Thomas Jefferson if you're interested in more of a clerkship/academia path. Great options from both. GOOD LUCK

[arhmcpo]

Western is certainly more practically-oriented while Thomas Jefferson has a more theoretic bent to its curriculum. Go to Western for BigLaw or Thomas Jefferson if you're interested in more of a clerkship/academia path. Great options from both. GOOD LUCK

That got me to chuckle

[Birdman]

.

[TheTopBloke]

To the OP, in the State of Cali you don't have to go to law school. There are alternatives.

I don't know anything about Jefferson, but WSU isn't going to make you some great lawyer. They just pump out paper pushers. And I make this statement based on the Dean's own comments.

See Calbar rules.

[alexonfyre]

To the OP, in the State of Cali you don't have to go to law school. There are alternatives.

I don't know anything about Jefferson, but WSU isn't going to make you some great lawyer. They just pump out paper pushers. And I make this statement based on the Dean's own comments.

See Calbar rules.

Baby bar FTW!! Truth there, If you only want to practice in Cali, State accredited offer similar or better job prospects to those two while offering MUCH lower tuition.
http://www.top-law-schools.com/californ ... y-bar.html

For anyone serious about law school, pay 20 bucks for a USN premium account and look at the full career numbers, they break down the % of jobs that require a JD, give the 25-75 percentile on salary and breakdown the % by job type as well. Now, obviously a lot of this is still smudged and should be taken with a drop of soy sauce, but it does paint a much clearer picture than the "Employed after 9 months" statistic that is so readily available.

[romothesavior]

Birdman, good post. Just a few thoughts in response...

First of all, congrats on your internship (that's more than I can say at this point, I'm still seeking employment for the upcoming summer), but please do realize that 1L employment is a totally different ballgame from 2L/post-grad employment. Most Tier 1s boast 90%+ 1L legal employment (or legal coursework), but the majority of 3Ls at T1s are currently searching for jobs. 1L employment is a very different beast.

You obviously know more about TJ than any of us do, but by all objective metrics, the school is not very good. And the school is also the stingiest in the country with financial aid, which makes going there a very risky, very expensive proposition. If things work out for you with your DA gig, then that'd be great (10-year IBR will make any debt load manageable). But what about the hundreds of other classmates of yours who will not have 10-year IBR, and will be relegated to low-paying jobs with 6-figures of debt? I definitely hear what you're saying about not going to law school to get rich, but instead only going if you want to be a lawyer. That was my thought process a year ago, and I fully endorse it. But at the same time, there is a tipping point where you have to put your dreams in the backseat to financial freedom. For most people, it isn't worth it to financially hangstring yourself and your family for 25 years just to be a practicing attorney. And it is awfully hard to become a lawyer who can put food on the table if no one will hire you.

I hope you'll post back here in two years and let us know if your opinion has changed. For a lot of people, the optimism gets washed away during 2L and 3L year after seeing many of your friends (and maybe even yourself) get burnt despite doing all the right things. I do appreciate your response and I wish you luck with everything.

[amers73]

TT got to 4 pages?

[mauvy8]

As a side note, I know two Thomas Jefferson students who transferred after 1L to my T10. But the odds of doing that are very unlikely...

Do you know their ranking stats? Did they retake the LSAT at all? I am hoping to follow in their footsteps and transfer out of TJSL at this time next year.

[Nicholasnickynic]

I think the real thing about TJSL is how much debt they leave with their graduates. That school should NOT leave 95% of its students with $130K debt. The school is a really bad value. Every single higher ranked school in the country leaves their students with less debt. That's why it's a rip-off.

And 165/3.5 would not get you into T14 unless you saved a burning orphanage or you're a URM.

I like that in adcomm's eyes

Saving countless helpless children = being black.

[Birdman]

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