This whole "having connections to an area" thing kinda baffles me. So please excuse me if this is a really dumb question: Would my being born in Cincy help with finding work given that I don't even really remember living there (my family moved when I was 4)?

I'm a UC undergrad and have lived in Cincy my entire life and would agree with what others have said. Almost all of the lawyers I know of around Cincy grew up here and most went to UC or another nearby law school.

How much better would OSU be than UC for bigger firm job in Cincinnati?

The most better.

I figured it would be. I'm just not sure if it's worth the cost difference (assuming I still apply to LS) I can commute from home to UC, so that combined with a small scholly (again assuming that would happen) combined with $$ saved up with result in a low overall COA. However, I'd hate to just save $$ and not end up with a decent job/career.

I disagree that an OSU law degree gives you an advantage over a UC law degree for firm jobs in Cincy - from what I've seen, they are pretty much equal in terms of opportunities (even though OSU is technically ranked higher than UC).

Interesting-I'll have to keep this stuff in mind. None of it matters yet though, as I still need to take the LSAT.

I don't want to hijack the thread, but does anyone know how difficult it is for T14's to break into Cincinnati Big Law? I grew up between Dayton and Cincinnati, and will probably want to move back after attending Uchicago. I've gone through the websites of the firms mentioned in this thread and have only seen one associate and a couple of partners from UChicago, and it seems like the rest of the T14 is similarly represented (Michigan probably has a few more). I don't know how much of that is selection bias though.

I'd say with impressive stats, you shouldn't have too much trouble (well, no more trouble than is normal in this awful legal economy) to find a "big law" job in Cincinnati. It may be more difficult with mid-law or small law, though, since A LOT of senior attorneys in the area went to school at UC, NKU, Dayton, OSU, etc.