Schools like SMU with "lower rank" + great employment

[bound]

Sorry to chime in after this SMU conversation (it's very enlightening, btw! Lots to think about) BUT to answer your question about similar schools, (T2, Good employment prospects) you should check out LSU. Here is its profile on LST http://www.lstscorereports.com/?school=lsu

Obviously having connections in LA will certainly be helpful with employment, but even then, its numbers boast MUCH higher than most schools ranked anywhere close to LSU. If you were to get resident tuition/big schollie, it could be worth it. Just something to think about!

[deebanger]

William and Mary- very good employment numbers given its US news rank. I believe the ATL rankings does justice to W and M.

[Winston1984]

William and Mary- very good employment numbers given its US news rank. I believe the ATL rankings does justice to W and M.

My only problem with this is how many grads are employed by the school. 17.2% seems way too high to be considered very good employment numbers.

http://www.lstscorereports.com/?school=wm

[deebanger]

William and Mary- very good employment numbers given its US news rank. I believe the ATL rankings does justice to W and M.

My only problem with this is how many grads are employed by the school. 17.2% seems way too high to be considered very good employment numbers.

http://www.lstscorereports.com/?school=wm

yup thats puzzling to me too. Uva has a lot of school funded jobs too. I really dont know whats the deal with virginia law schools here. I would love current students to chime in

[AT9]

I'll second LSU. If you want to to work in Louisiana, want little debt, and don't care about biglaw type jobs/salaries, LSU is quite possibly the best option you'll have. Almost applied myself, but then I realized I really really don't want to live in Louisiana forever.

William and Mary- very good employment numbers given its US news rank. I believe the ATL rankings does justice to W and M.

I thought W&M was ranked higher by US News than ATL?

[midwest17]

If you go to SMU, you're going to have a bitch of a time finding employment with Biglaw

Total bullshit. Students in the top 10% are basically guaranteed BigLaw jobs if they want them. Top 20% is also easily doable if you're an ace candidate in other respects (law review, moot court/mock trial, etc.). Same goes at UH. Your odds of getting a job at a Dallas BigLaw firm, assuming your grades are top-notch, really aren't much different than if you were applying from a T14 school, albeit with a lower class rank. (Again, same goes for Houston and UH. Every BigLaw firm in town recruits at OCI, and even a few that aren't recruit there.)

Getting back to the OP's question: ATL has SMU ranked higher than UH in terms of job prospects, but both are pretty damn good (and considerably better than the likes of Baylor, even if its U.S. News ranking is close and it always has the highest bar-passage rate in Texas). Even among students who didn't land a BigLaw summer gig via OCI, I know plenty who landed a p/t clerkship during the school year at a midsized firm and ended up getting hired there after graduation (and a number of them moved into BigLaw via laterals).

Huh?

[ScottRiqui]

If you go to SMU, you're going to have a bitch of a time finding employment with Biglaw

Total bullshit. Students in the top 10% are basically guaranteed BigLaw jobs if they want them. Top 20% is also easily doable if you're an ace candidate in other respects (law review, moot court/mock trial, etc.). Same goes at UH. Your odds of getting a job at a Dallas BigLaw firm, assuming your grades are top-notch, really aren't much different than if you were applying from a T14 school, albeit with a lower class rank. (Again, same goes for Houston and UH. Every BigLaw firm in town recruits at OCI, and even a few that aren't recruit there.)

Huh?

I think what he's saying is that you can get biglaw from SMU or a T14, but employers will go much lower in the class for a T14 candidate. That's kind of "true but obvious" though, and doesn't really say much in favor of SMU, so I'm not sure why he brought it up.

[midwest17]

If you go to SMU, you're going to have a bitch of a time finding employment with Biglaw

Total bullshit. Students in the top 10% are basically guaranteed BigLaw jobs if they want them. Top 20% is also easily doable if you're an ace candidate in other respects (law review, moot court/mock trial, etc.). Same goes at UH. Your odds of getting a job at a Dallas BigLaw firm, assuming your grades are top-notch, really aren't much different than if you were applying from a T14 school, albeit with a lower class rank. (Again, same goes for Houston and UH. Every BigLaw firm in town recruits at OCI, and even a few that aren't recruit there.)

Huh?

I think what he's saying is that you can get biglaw from SMU or a T14, but employers will go much lower in the class for a T14 candidate. That's kind of "true but obvious" though, and doesn't really say much in favor of SMU, so I'm not sure why he brought it up.

I just don't see how the odds can be equal if you have to be higher in the class, though.

[JRO1989]

SMU is a great option for TX. If you just can't quite get into UT (or a T14), makes no sense to go off to W&M or something and then try to move back. You go to SMU.