Utah c/o 2017 Applicants Forum

[Sweeny12]

did it fall on account of the dean situation or what?

I haven't heard about the dean situation, care to enlighten....

[NotoriousPAG]

As far as I know, the last Dean quit or something and they currently have an interim dean. As you can tell, I really don't know squat about it. Just wondering if something like that downgrades the school's standing according to US news. The whole rankings thing seems super arbitrary to me, at least when you get outside of the top 20 or so.

[tsutsik]

Dean Chodosh left to become the President of Claremont McKenna College. Robert Adler is the Interim Dean.

[Sweeny12]

Interesting, I find it stupid in many ways that something like that would drop their rank. I would hope more important things would carry more weight in the whole scheme of things.

The whole rankings thing seems super arbitrary to me, at least when you get outside of the top 20 or so.

I agree.

Curious, of you TLS'ers what about the U of U do you like?

[whjohnso444]

It's cheap. I'm worried about employment. I want to make like 80k when I graduate but it doesn't seem likely from the u. Do you guys think with a 168 I would have an easy time hitting top 10% if I studied like crazy?? I'm pretty debt averse which is why I'm really considering utah but I don't want it to come back to bite me when I'm making 40k a year lol

[tsutsik]

Lots of good clinic opportunities. Salt Lake City is a great place to live. If you're going to attend a regional school, you should do it somewhere you wouldn't mind being "stuck" after graduation.

[Sweeny12]

It's cheap. I'm worried about employment. I want to make like 80k when I graduate but it doesn't seem likely from the u. Do you guys think with a 168 I would have an easy time hitting top 10% if I studied like crazy?? I'm pretty debt averse which is why I'm really considering utah but I don't want it to come back to bite me when I'm making 40k a year lol

IMHO I think you need to look at where you would be happy to practice after graduation. The U only really feeds into SLC/Utah in general for work (with some exceptions of course). If you don't really want to work here then it's worth going to school where you would like to practice. If you're happy with your work and where you work your paycheck will be less important...

I think the U has some awesome clinics, a big reason why I want to go. I also like the new law building. I've worked as a structural designer for 5 years and the building is quite impressive. I think it will be a great addition to the academic experience there (and much better than what they have now )

[whjohnso444]

Ya my fiancée has a business here so I'm planning on working in state. I hear that to crack the very small limited big law market in salt lake it is better to go to a top school but the debt is so damn risky I don't know if I can do that. COL is really cheap here though which is nice.

[Sweeny12]

COL is great, which makes the lower salary pull more. I remember reading a study once about COA in a demographics class in UG. Manhattan was the base and in order to have the same buying power of 160K in NYC here you need to make something like 75k...so that does play into it a little when you make the comparison.

Also I've heard that work/life balance outside some of the huge legal markets can be more manageable...

Another option (since we're throwing stuff around) is going to a top school, working big law in a big market for a few years and lateraling to a firm here or a smaller market where you want to work. I know a guy who went to Duke, worked NYC Big law for 5 years, and came back here, completely debt free (he had around 100k from school) and opened his own boutique firm in Utah.

Doing something like that would give you some great experiences, you'd making a huge salary, as well as some great networking opportunities and maybe some freedom down the road. If taking that route some of the debt I think would be justified since paying it off would be more doable. But that is just one guys experience, so take it for what it's worth

[whjohnso444]

Ya if only I could get into duke lol. Right now by best option is texas which I'll definitely consider if there is scholarship. Also holding out for usc / ucla because I love California and used to live by the ocean. But to live in la it is literally twice the cost which makes it almost not even worth it.

[tsutsik]

I'm skeptical of the claim that it is better to go to a top school for purposes of breaking into the SLC market. If you check out the bigger firms in SLC (Parr Brown; Kirton & McKonkie; jones waldo; etc.) the attorneys are overwhelmingly from Utah or BYU.

[Sweeny12]

Ya if only I could get into duke lol. Right now by best option is texas which I'll definitely consider if there is scholarship. Also holding out for usc / ucla because I love California and used to live by the ocean. But to live in la it is literally twice the cost which makes it almost not even worth it.

Texas has a good COL, and Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, etc. have good market salaries for biglaw. Which helps with debt, but still taking on a lot of debt is risky.

My wife is from Texas and absolutely loves it there (like all Texans )

[whjohnso444]

So to keep my scholarship I have a week to deposit and have I withdraw my other apps. Anyone else have this problem? I'm really struggling with the decision.

[Sweeny12]

So to keep my scholarship I have a week to deposit and have I withdraw my other apps. Anyone else have this problem? I'm really struggling with the decision.

Where else have you been admitted and w/ what financial incentives?

[whjohnso444]

So utah right now will cost 8k per year. My fiancée has a business and if we stay here she will be able to pay my whole tuition and cost of living so really I will pay nothing. Other options are wustl boston u notre dame umn all with 90k which would still make them very pricey. I have gotten into texas with no aid so far and would be able to stay on the waitlists at gtown virginia michigan and uci if I commit to utah. As much as I'd hate to say it I'm leaning towards utah.

[uvandy]

Withdrawing my app. Good luck to the rest of yall.

[Sweeny12]

So utah right now will cost 8k per year. My fiancée has a business and if we stay here she will be able to pay my whole tuition and cost of living so really I will pay nothing. Other options are wustl boston u notre dame umn all with 90k which would still make them very pricey. I have gotten into texas with no aid so far and would be able to stay on the waitlists at gtown virginia michigan and uci if I commit to utah. As much as I'd hate to say it I'm leaning towards utah.

Graduating with no debt would be incredible, however with some of those other schools you might have more opportunities IMHO. I think you just have to weigh what you want. Whether no debt, possibly less opportunities, or obviously more debt, but possibility of high earning power and opportunities. This is how I look at it, but take it for whats it's worth.

Best of Luck Deciding

[whjohnso444]

Ya just had some real talk with a partner at the firm I work at. He said they just hired a guy out of UVA for 60k starting an he had to take a mortgage out on the house to pay student loans lol that sounds terrible. And I'm not sure I want to be forced into big law. Orem city is starting prosecutors off at 70k and I think that's a very live able wage with my fiancée making about 40k here in utah. Seems like it would be most wise to just stay in utah.

[amp2017]

Submitted my scholarship acceptance/deposit yesterday!

[whjohnso444]

Sweet me too. Are you a fellow Utahn? Did you get the 14k? I'm really hoping a lot of people didn't deposit so they can increase the scholarship amounts. Wouldn't be surprised if tuition went up this year also with the new building and all.

[amp2017]

I am actually from Wyoming. I got an in-state tuition waiver and a random assemblage of monies that reduced my tuition for the first year to about 11k. And yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if tuition went up either.

[whjohnso444]

Well... The tls dwellers of sj quinney seem pretty sparse lol.

[Sweeny12]

Well... The tls dwellers of sj quinney seem pretty sparse lol.

It is...

We need to revive this thread. Even though I'm WL I hope to see myself there with the rest of you this fall.

Have you TSLers looked at the new building info? Looks pretty awesome...

[whjohnso444]

I think they will bring in some waitlisters. There's only 45 on the fb group. Although this year is critical for rank, one wrong move and they will drop to t2. Maybe this will incentivize them to be less stingy with scholarships. I hope the new building helps give a rank boost lol.

[Sweeny12]

I think it will. ASU jumped like 15 spots a couple of years ago and if I remember from rumors it had to do, in part, with a new building they had done...but don't quote me on it.

I had a waitlist interview and it went really well, so I'm hoping that will help in the end, it's just the waiting that sucks.