Law School Programs >> Maryland Law Schools

law.umaryland.edu/
University of Maryland School of Law is located in Baltimore, MD. It appears on the Top Law Schools Rankings page.

Please "post a reply" and add any comments you have about the University of Maryland, School of Law. Many generations of prospective law students will benefit by the information you share.

Are there any Maryland students or Baltimore natives out there that can discuss UMD in more detail? I've tried running some searches and haven't come up with anything too helpful thus far. Also, if anyone knows of any good threads, feel free to post links.

A few of my concerns:

-How easy is it to obtain MD residency after 1L?
-I would think UMD probably dominates the Baltimore market? How true is this and what's the Baltimore legal market as a whole like?
-How does it place outside of Baltimore in the DC area?
-How's the crime situation around the law school and what are the safer areas to live?

I'm a prospective UMD Law student (one of two schools that I have been admitted to so far) and was drawn to it for a number of reasons:

1) I'm a MD resident (DC metro area though) and having an excellent law school with in-state tuition is a great opportunity.
2) I'm an earth scientist working for the goverment in DC and have done a lot of work with Chesapeake Bay issues. UMD Law's environmental program approaches a lot of these issues specifically.
3) I've heard from practicing attorneys (biglaw and gov't) that the opinion amongst their colleagues of UMD Law are excellent ones. Among these attorneys, is my father (nearly 40 years NYC biglaw, HYSC grad - I don't have numbers for his school so I did not apply there) whose advice I take to heart in terms of law schools' overall reputation as well as regional reputation.
4) I really like Baltimore although it's a wee bit hot in the summer. I don't know much about UMD Law's living options other than what they sent in the admitted students packet - student housing and a number of housing complexes. A friend of mine lives in Federal Hill and says it takes her about 20 min. to get to the law school.

I'm still waiting on a number of other schools including some west coast options where I have other close family. But if those don't work out, UMD is definitely a top choice for me.

I started late in the game and may still end up applying next Sept. Maryland Law is looking more and more appealing to me. As a lifelong Virginian who moved to NYC after graduation to work in TV, I am now hoping to relocate back to the South Atlantic MD/DC/VA. I have a GPA a hair under 3.2 which I know is low for MD, but even lower for UVA. While I'm leaving New York I am definitely a city person and for this reason initially focused on the DC Schools. More and more I find myself coming back to UMD as a school I would really like to attend for all of these reasons. It is also cheaper than American or GW and I could see myself living in Baltimore.

Does anyone have further input about what it's like being a student there? How are they with $? Do you feel safe? Alumni network/ jobs?

Any info would be appreciate on what has become a major target school for me.

Thanks

Breathing life back into this zombie thread, since it's the single UMD thread I could fine.

Any UMD students willing to share their experiences?

God, seriously? I knew UMD wasn't the most targeted school, but I expected at least one 1L to be lurking around here.

I'd love to hear from any UMD students as well...

You probably aren't going to find many current Maryland law students posting here.
The main reason is that most people come here for law school admission or at least transfer information. Most Maryland students don't transfer out of Maryland.
Thus, I would bet that there are very few, if any, current Maryland law students perusing these boards.

I bet that's the reason you see all those current T-14 students posting on TLS. They all want to transfer out (perhaps to Meryland!)

I am a 1L at Maryland. As far as "how are they with $", I don't know what this poster was asking.

As far as "do you feel safe?", the answer is yes. It is similar to NY, Miami, and LA. It is not similar to small towns. Crime does happen, and pretty frequently. I feel safe because I have always been in big cities, and know not to do certain things that makes me a target like:

1: Jogging at night
2: Always lock car/house doors
3: Don't talk to random beggars on street
4: Walk with a purpose
5: Don't be a target, i.e., walk around with money in hands, or overly lavish jewelry.
6: Stay away from bad neighborhoods
7: Mind your own business
8: Etc.

As far as Alumni Network/Jobs, this is really where University of Maryland shines. There are so many things going on at the law school to build your network and opportunities for success it is really pretty impressive. Now I am a first year student so I can't tell you about post-graduation jobs, but there are tons of opportunities for internships, externships, summer work programs, and so on.

If you have any other specific questions, just let me know. I am happy about my decision to attend Maryland. If you want to practice in Maryland it is the best school option there is. I came to the school under the assumption that it was going to carry only a regional rather than national reputation. I think this is pretty much correct, though there are exceptions (environmental law/health law). These exceptions are recognized nationally.

Energy, do you get the impression that there are a lot of connections to DC, or to mostly Baltimore itself? I ask mainly because of the city's proximity to DC, but I can imagine it getting pushed out by GW and GULC, although I imagine any particularly ambitious student could find his or her way there.

Also, how do you like the curriculum? There seem to be quite a few interesting opportunities (there's one class where you basically help manage an investment fund, which I found really interesting; another in which you assist community organizations in forming).

Hey
I attend Maryland Law. If you want a school that is decent and where students treat each other decently and don't backstab and constantly freak out about who's number one etc., Maryland is for you. (obviously there are people like that everywhere, but it just doesn't seem to be overt here) It is pretty mellow as far as I can tell compared to what I hear from people I know at other law schools. If you want to work in Maryland, there's Maryland and UBaltimore, so pretty good in that sense. If you want to work in DC, it is not out of the question just because there are schools in DC that get more attention. The school does job fairs in conjunction with those schools, etc. Don't think just because it's in Baltimore that it's not considered by employers in DC, especially if you do healthcare law or environmental law. As far as money, I can't tell you about other people, but I have heard a lot of people say " well I got offered more money here, so I came here." So obviously some people get money. To be honest if you have a 3.2 I don't know if that is in the range for money, but who knows what your particular situation is. There are plenty of opportunities if you participate in groups or in the different seminars/talks they have and get to know people around school, which is probably good advice wherever you end up. The student housing is around the corner from school, and people get to live with other graduate students, not just law students because the campus is composed of all the professional schools like medicine, social work, dentistry, nursing, etc. The people who live there seem to think it's pretty good, perhaps a little expensive for the neighborhood, but it's literally across the street, so....as far as safety, I feel safe there. There are security guards that check id at every door for every building. There are cops on all the corners it seems like at most times of the day for a few blocks around the various campus buildings. The building itself is very nice. I've heard other students say they visited several law schools and the other schools are not even in the same league. I was at American U a while back and their building seemed like an old school government building. Maryland has a lot of interesting classes and programs and they have a requirement that you participate in a clinic course, where you actually do legal work under supervision of a lawyer. I am happy with my choice, hope this helps!