To Commute or Not? Forum

[davidtothej05]

Years ago, I made a promise to my wife that we would return to our home in Maine after my military service was completed this year. The problem is the lack of law schools in Northern New England. I am not about to tell my wife that we are not going home after she has followed me to places like Alabama and Jersey (apologies to the residents, just not our cup of tea), which leaves the only school readily available to be Maine Law in Portland. Would it be worth it to take a 2 hour train ride to Boston to attend Northeastern or Suffolk over Maine (my scores wont allow BC/BU and I cant retest before 2011 admissions cycle closes) or drive an hour west to New Hampshire (no IP)? With the Post 9/11 GI bill and yellow ribbon, money will not be an issue.

I apologize if this is obvious to most, I am just getting my feet wet with all of this. Thanks.

[bk1]

The schools aren't different enough to warrant that commute. NE/Suffolk are not really better than Maine if you want to work in Maine.

[Grizz]

Want to practice in Maine? Maine law I would gather is your best bet. 2 hr. commute is a terrible idea..

[davidtothej05]

thanks, you both saved me a couple of hundred in application fees.

[patrickd139]

If you want to work in Maine after you graduate, go there for law school. I agree with the posters above in that Harvard would be worth the commute. Suffolk? Not so much.

Also, Portland is awesome.

[reasonable_man]

If you want to work in Maine after you graduate, go there for law school. I agree with the posters above in that Harvard would be worth the commute. Suffolk? Not so much.

Also, Portland is awesome.

Agree completely. However, look into the Maine legal market. I've heard (note I said heard, not that I know), that it has been hit particularly hard, as in, worse than much of the rest of New England. That said, practicing law in New England is a wonderful experience and to some extent, I'm jealous. Good luck to you OP and thank you for your service. I hope that much of your tuition will be covered by the government (as it should be).

FWIW, Maine is just as good as Northeastern and/or Suffolk. Rankings below a certain point mean absolutely nothing..

[davidtothej05]

Thanks all! After being in stationed in Iraq for the past year, New England will be quite a change of pace. I probably will have to get used to cold weather again, but I am exicted about it none the less.

How would you recommend going about finding out about how the Maine legal market is doing? UML has a pretty high placement rate, but I am not sure how that plays into the job market as a whole.

[reasonable_man]

Thanks all! After being in stationed in Iraq for the past year, New England will be quite a change of pace. I probably will have to get used to cold weather again, but I am exicted about it none the less.

How would you recommend going about finding out about how the Maine legal market is doing? UML has a pretty high placement rate, but I am not sure how that plays into the job market as a whole.

Try contacting some local attorneys... Local bar news papers, etc. There is no science to it really.. You're just going to have to look into it a bit... Take the time and research it closely.. Don't jump in head first, ya know..

[JOThompson]

An exhausting commute like that might be worthwhile for BC/BU, but certainly not for Suffolk or Northeastern.

[kalvano]

An exhausting commute like that might be worthwhile for BC/BU, but certainly not for Suffolk or Northeastern.

Whatever. It's by train. That's easy. Though I agree, probably not worth it for those schools.

[davidtothej05]

I was considering the train as being a way to catch up on reading and notes, but if there isnt that much difference in the schools then it doesnt seem to be worth it.

Thank you all for your feedback!

[MDPSteve]

Years ago, I made a promise to my wife that we would return to our home in Maine after my military service was completed this year. The problem is the lack of law schools in Northern New England. I am not about to tell my wife that we are not going home after she has followed me to places like Alabama and Jersey (apologies to the residents, just not our cup of tea), which leaves the only school readily available to be Maine Law in Portland. Would it be worth it to take a 2 hour train ride to Boston to attend Northeastern or Suffolk over Maine (my scores wont allow BC/BU and I cant retest before 2011 admissions cycle closes) or drive an hour west to New Hampshire (no IP)? With the Post 9/11 GI bill and yellow ribbon, money will not be an issue.

I apologize if this is obvious to most, I am just getting my feet wet with all of this. Thanks.

I'm using the Yellow Ribbon/Post 9/11 GI Bill and the only school that I wasn't paying out of pocket for is New Hampshire. I believe Maine was still about 8,000 a year out of pocket and the Boston schools were closer to 20k out of pocket. Also, look at the BAH rates for the school... I'm getting 1,650 in New Hampshire while I think Boston was just over 2,300 and Maine was under 1000 (I'd double check these but I'm fairly certain that's what they were). Also, if you get a scholarship and your tuition is covered by the GI Bill/Yellow Ribbon, it's refunded back as a living allowance.

[20160810]

I would never commute 2 hrs. Any commute under 30 minutes is fine though IMO. I hate studying at school anyway, it just stresses me out more.

[NU_Jet55]

Want to practice in Maine law? Maine law I would gather is your best bet. 2 hr. commute is a terrible idea..

[20160810]

Want to practice in Maine law? Maine law I would gather is your best bet. 2 hr. commute is a terrible idea..

1.) LOL
2.) Touche

[davidtothej05]

what makes you say that? sorry for the bump

[NJcollegestudent]

The thing about NE commuting is that outside New Jersey Transit, Metro-north, LIRR and Amtrak, the latter of which is expensive, there is not much in the way of rail.

You could try the downeaster, i believe that is the Amtrak rail service to Maine, however, it would be expensive.