BYU c/o 2016 Applicants (2012-2013 cycle) Forum

[jimmy_dean]

anybody notice that byu dropped out of the top 50 schools for placement (as a % of class size) in the nlj 250? that's kind of a bummer and negates the low cost to some degree (at least for me).

[JM73]

congratulations! for me, getting admitted to jrcls made the rest of my cycle much less stressful since no matter what i've got a great option.

Thanks! Honestly, I didn't really see myself going anywhere else, because of the price. I couldn't justify the huge costs of going to other schools, with the job market being how it is, and the amount of risk that those costs represent. I am averse to risks like that, especially when it comes to my finances! I'm sure there are people who have no or little problem paying off those loans, and I'm completely happy for them. I'ts simply not worth it to me to take that risk.

Oh, and did you go to the dinner with Professor Backman? I probably would have, had I known about it sooner.

How long did it take all of you to receive your acceptance letter after doing the interview (or being emailed about the interview)?

It was probably about 2 weeks after the interview/acceptance that I got the acceptance letter.

I got my packet two weeks after the interview too. And I received the email from BYU Graduate Studies with a decision notification (I think you can pay the seat deposit there too). The letters in the packet were dated the same day that I received the email, so I would think that when you get that email, the packet would come soon after.

[PRgradBYU]

anybody notice that byu dropped out of the top 50 schools for placement (as a % of class size) in the nlj 250? that's kind of a bummer and negates the low cost to some degree (at least for me).

That's definitely a bummer. I'm honestly starting to see that for as many pros are there may be for attending BYU (i.e. cost/COL, friendly LDS environment, elite professors), there are a fair number of cons (i.e. placement/employment stats and insane inter-student competition), too. It's definitely still one of my top choices right now but I wish my decision were more clear.

[Nickg415]

PR your choice seems pretty clear NYU at 60,000!! Congrats man! I'd take that over BYU in a heartbeat. On top of that you haven't heard back from most of the other T14! I'm surprised BYU is even up for consideration.

[jimmy_dean]

anybody notice that byu dropped out of the top 50 schools for placement (as a % of class size) in the nlj 250? that's kind of a bummer and negates the low cost to some degree (at least for me).

That's definitely a bummer. I'm honestly starting to see that for as many pros are there may be for attending BYU (i.e. cost/COL, friendly LDS environment, elite professors), there are a fair number of cons (i.e. placement/employment stats and insane inter-student competition), too. It's definitely still one of my top choices right now but I wish my decision were more clear.

i'm thinking along those lines as well, though my options aren't nearly as good as yours . at this point i'm waiting to hear from cornell, but with that still an unknown i'm leaning towards usc w/$75k/yr and spending a few years in la biglaw.

[PRgradBYU]

PR your choice seems pretty clear NYU at 60,000!! Congrats man! I'd take that over BYU in a heartbeat. On top of that you haven't heard back from most of the other T14! I'm surprised BYU is even up for consideration.

Thanks! You'd think it'd be a no-brainer decision but there are a lot of random factors that might impede me from going to NYU. I'll obviously have a much better idea once I hear back from everyone, so we'll have to see!

i'm thinking along those lines as well, though my options aren't nearly as good as yours . at this point i'm waiting to hear from cornell, but with that still an unknown i'm leaning towards usc w/$75k/yr and spending a few years in law biglaw.

I bet you're in at Cornell but either way, USC is a fantastic fallback. The COL in Ithaca would definitely be cheaper, though, huh? At any rate, I've been told by several people--and admittedly I'm not sure how truthful this is--that going to the same school for both your UG and law school / grad school is slightly frowned upon by employers because it shows a lack of diversity in your education. Obviously there are tons of attorneys who went to the U + S.J. Quinney or BYU + J. Reuben Clark and found employment just fine, but who knows.

[Nickg415]

usc w/$75k/yr and spending a few years in la biglaw.

75K a year!!? Did they really give you full tuition plus a ridiculous living stipend? If so congrats that sounds like a killer deal.

[yodamiked]

Just got the email to set up a phone interview for later today! Anyone know what kind of questions I should be prepared for?

[jimmy_dean]

usc w/$75k/yr and spending a few years in la biglaw.

75K a year!!? Did they really give you full tuition plus a ridiculous living stipend? If so congrats that sounds like a killer deal.

d'oh. $25k/yr, $75k total.

[yodamiked]

Just got in by phone interview. Told I would be receiving a "substantial" scholarship.

[PRgradBYU]

Just got in by phone interview. Told I would be receiving a "substantial" scholarship.

Congrats!

[eryj]

I thought for sure that if I got accepted to BYU I would be going there. But I wasn't expecting a full scholly with no stips to another really good school. After going back and forth between the 2 options, my wife and I decided to go with the scholarship, so I will be declining the offer from BYU sometime this week. Hopefully that helps out somebody here!

Best of success to everybody with whatever you end up doing!

[jimmy_dean]

I thought for sure that if I got accepted to BYU I would be going there. But I wasn't expecting a full scholly with no stips to another really good school. After going back and forth between the 2 options, my wife and I decided to go with the scholarship, so I will be declining the offer from BYU sometime this week. Hopefully that helps out somebody here!

Best of success to everybody with whatever you end up doing!

congratulations, my wife and i are in the middle of the same decision. where did you end up deciding on (if you don't mind my asking)?

[eryj]

I thought for sure that if I got accepted to BYU I would be going there. But I wasn't expecting a full scholly with no stips to another really good school. After going back and forth between the 2 options, my wife and I decided to go with the scholarship, so I will be declining the offer from BYU sometime this week. Hopefully that helps out somebody here!

Best of success to everybody with whatever you end up doing!

congratulations, my wife and i are in the middle of the same decision. where did you end up deciding on (if you don't mind my asking)?

Thanks! We decided on U of Iowa. How about you guys? What are the choices you've narrowed it down to?

[buddyt]

We decided on U of Iowa.

Do you intend on working in Iowa?

[eryj]

We decided on U of Iowa.

Do you intend on working in Iowa?

Not necessarily. They place a lot in PHX, which is where I've lived most of my life. At the end of the day, there are only a few states in the US that I am just not open to landing a job in.

[PRgradBYU]

Ouch... has anyone noticed that the U finally beat BYU in the rankings this year? This really shouldn't bother me that much but it kind of does.

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandr ... ngs/page+2

[yodamiked]

Just offered a full-tuition scholarship at BYU. It's going to be hard decision this year where to go!

[buddyt]

Just offered a full-tuition scholarship at BYU. It's going to be hard decision this year where to go!

Usual stips, or no stips?

[yodamiked]

Just offered a full-tuition scholarship at BYU. It's going to be hard decision this year where to go!

Usual stips, or no stips?

Usual stips. Have some strong offers else where, so I might try and negotiate the stipulations. Has anyone had any luck with negotiating stips at BYU?

[Nickg415]

Ouch... has anyone noticed that the U finally beat BYU in the rankings this year? This really shouldn't bother me that much but it kind of does.

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandr ... ngs/page+2

Yeah the fact that BYU is bordering on being a tier 2 law schools is a very scary fact. Considering that they are having troubles filling their class this year it could drop that far

[PRgradBYU]

Ouch... has anyone noticed that the U finally beat BYU in the rankings this year? This really shouldn't bother me that much but it kind of does.

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandr ... ngs/page+2

Yeah the fact that BYU is bordering on being a tier 2 law schools is a very scary fact. Considering that they are having troubles filling their class this year it could drop that far

No kidding. And to make matters worse, I spoke with a 2L a few weeks ago who told me that the competition at the JRCLS is insane--like, akin to or more competitive than Harvard (according to a girl who transferred from BYU to Harvard). I'm more than confident in my ability to succeed in law school but some of the stories the 2L told me lead me to think that it'd be easier to be in the top of my class at a T-14 than BYU.

[jimmy_dean]

Ouch... has anyone noticed that the U finally beat BYU in the rankings this year? This really shouldn't bother me that much but it kind of does.

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandr ... ngs/page+2

Yeah the fact that BYU is bordering on being a tier 2 law schools is a very scary fact. Considering that they are having troubles filling their class this year it could drop that far

No kidding. And to make matters worse, I spoke with a 2L a few weeks ago who told me that the competition at the JRCLS is insane--like, akin to or more competitive than Harvard (according to a girl who transferred from BYU to Harvard). I'm more than confident in my ability to succeed in law school but some of the stories the 2L told me lead me to think that it'd be easier to be in the top of my class at a T-14 than BYU.

scaring me away too. us news is obviously garbage, but i the drop feels foreboding and makes it hard for me to choose byu. i'm about 20/80 in terms of attending/not attending. i'm very debt averse, but perhaps more averse to the risk of not having gainful legal employment upon graduation.

[Nickg415]

Ouch... has anyone noticed that the U finally beat BYU in the rankings this year? This really shouldn't bother me that much but it kind of does.

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandr ... ngs/page+2

Yeah the fact that BYU is bordering on being a tier 2 law schools is a very scary fact. Considering that they are having troubles filling their class this year it could drop that far

No kidding. And to make matters worse, I spoke with a 2L a few weeks ago who told me that the competition at the JRCLS is insane--like, akin to or more competitive than Harvard (according to a girl who transferred from BYU to Harvard). I'm more than confident in my ability to succeed in law school but some of the stories the 2L told me lead me to think that it'd be easier to be in the top of my class at a T-14 than BYU.

I know in the Princeton review BYU is rated one of the most competitive. I dont know how they rate schools, you can look it up, so take it for what its worth.

[JDAviator]

Ouch... has anyone noticed that the U finally beat BYU in the rankings this year? This really shouldn't bother me that much but it kind of does.

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandr ... ngs/page+2

Yeah the fact that BYU is bordering on being a tier 2 law schools is a very scary fact. Considering that they are having troubles filling their class this year it could drop that far

No kidding. And to make matters worse, I spoke with a 2L a few weeks ago who told me that the competition at the JRCLS is insane--like, akin to or more competitive than Harvard (according to a girl who transferred from BYU to Harvard). I'm more than confident in my ability to succeed in law school but some of the stories the 2L told me lead me to think that it'd be easier to be in the top of my class at a T-14 than BYU.

scaring me away too. us news is obviously garbage, but i the drop feels foreboding and makes it hard for me to choose byu. i'm about 20/80 in terms of attending/not attending. i'm very debt averse, but perhaps more averse to the risk of not having gainful legal employment upon graduation.

It seems the only good thing about BYU is the low cost of tuition, but a free education that gets us underemployed is not better than an expensive education that opens doors to a lot of great jobs. Atleast in my eyes. I am considering Indiana Bloomington. They have great scholarship offers with practically no stips. Solid school close to Indy, Chicago, Louisville, St. Louis, Columbus and Cincinnati. The only downfall is they don't place well in Utah. My wife wants to be in Utah after school. I am torn on what to do. Even Two IU alumni told me to stay and go to BYU at an IU recruiting event.
I think the competitiveness thing is kind of hit and miss. My friends that are at BYU right now have said the 2L's are pretty chill, the 3L's are competitive and a little belittling. The 1L's have a little bit of both. The real problem with not being in the top 15% at BYU is getting a job in Utah at a good firm. Utah is too saturated with professionals. The whole country is in a sense, but especially Utah.