Chapman Forum

[84Sunbird2000]

I got the scholars mail today. I mean, that's pretty serious. All expenses paid trip to the area - that's heavy.

What, they pay for you to come down, put you in a 4-star suite for two days, take you on a cruise, and fly you back home!??!

Oh, man, I want my letter to show up in the mail now - hopefully I get this invite too. North Dakota is about the slowest place for mail from anywhere.

[twintipping_bumps]

Seriously, it's pretty remarkable. It makes me wonder how far they can actually climb if they make this much of an effort.

[zeth006]

I got the scholars mail today. I mean, that's pretty serious. All expenses paid trip to the area - that's heavy.

A lot of people who got accepted at better schools are choosing to stay with Chapman since it has a decently strong regional presence and the generous scholarship offer. Realistically speaking, unless you plan to go to Big Law, Chapman seems to present a strong value proposition. As long as you plan to practice in OC, it isn't too bad at all.

The Scholar's Weekend will most likely highlight the ups of Chapman. You'll probably be around a lot of their top brass, so if you do choose to go, I'd suggest asking a LOT of questions concerning current and future job prospects and any recent moves Chapman have made in light of UCI.

My mom's afraid that if I go, Chapman will force me to pay some hidden fees or even force me to sign a document saying I've signed my soul off for three years with them.

[zeth006]

Seriously, it's pretty remarkable. It makes me wonder how far they can actually climb if they make this much of an effort.

I'm confident they will climb up soon. Top 100 rankings next year (2011) if not this year. I don't know whether they'll ever gain the estimated #29 ranking UCI has gotten this year. But they're definitely a new powerhouse in the OC area.

[twintipping_bumps]

Yeah, I mean I work in film, and all the people I've met from Chapman are really cool. I wonder how their reputation out there is. Out here, Emerson has a hugely strong rep, but I imagine it's not as big outside of New England since it's outside the top 10 even in Region Masters Universities rankings in US News.

I am really torn. I tell people that Chapman might be like the Suffolk of Southern California - well known and respected in the area. In Boston, people respect Suffolk. But you see what people on TLS say about Suffolk.

And Orange County seems like a great quality of life. There are many factors to consider, I suppose.

[84Sunbird2000]

Yeah, I mean I work in film, and all the people I've met from Chapman are really cool. I wonder how their reputation out there is. Out here, Emerson has a hugely strong rep, but I imagine it's not as big outside of New England since it's outside the top 10 even in Region Masters Universities rankings in US News.

I am really torn. I tell people that Chapman might be like the Suffolk of Southern California - well known and respected in the area. In Boston, people respect Suffolk. But you see what people on TLS say about Suffolk.

And Orange County seems like a great quality of life. There are many factors to consider, I suppose.

Well, I think Suffolk is a good comparison, though Chapman has a smaller alumni base due to their newness.

That being said, the OC is a mixed bag. I lived there for two years (about 2 miles from Chapman), and while it is convenient and pretty and has good weather, it's also very conservative and there is a crushing gap between the ultra-wealthy and the bars-on-windows poor that sank my heart.

[swiard]

Got the scholars weekend invite in the mail a couple of days ago.

Chapman was originally pretty low on my list, but with the full scholarship, OC quality of life, and now this, it has quickly been raised towards the top. I'm still going to wait to hear back from more schools, but for someone who wants to live and practice in Southern California in some kind of government or public service career...no debt sounds like a pretty sweet deal.

See that other law schools, a little courting can go a long way!!! (not to mention a dinner cruise on a yacht)

[84Sunbird2000]

Got the scholars weekend invite in the mail a couple of days ago.

Chapman was originally pretty low on my list, but with the full scholarship, OC quality of life, and now this, it has quickly been raised towards the top. I'm still going to wait to hear back from more schools, but for someone who wants to live and practice in Southern California in some kind of government or public service career...no debt sounds like a pretty sweet deal.

See that other law schools, a little courting can go a long way!!! (not to mention a dinner cruise on a yacht)

+1 to that entire post, except for quality of life in OC. Got my Full Scholarship in the mail (I'm going somewhere for sure now! ), but haven't received the invite. Did the rest of you with full scholarships get the invitation on the same day as your acceptance or did it arrive later?

[zeth006]

Got the scholars weekend invite in the mail a couple of days ago.

Chapman was originally pretty low on my list, but with the full scholarship, OC quality of life, and now this, it has quickly been raised towards the top. I'm still going to wait to hear back from more schools, but for someone who wants to live and practice in Southern California in some kind of government or public service career...no debt sounds like a pretty sweet deal.

See that other law schools, a little courting can go a long way!!! (not to mention a dinner cruise on a yacht)

+1 to that entire post, except for quality of life in OC. Got my Full Scholarship in the mail (I'm going somewhere for sure now! ), but haven't received the invite. Did the rest of you with full scholarships get the invitation on the same day as your acceptance or did it arrive later?

Arrived few days after. Expect it to come next week.

[twert]

Got the scholars weekend invite in the mail a couple of days ago.

Chapman was originally pretty low on my list, but with the full scholarship, OC quality of life, and now this, it has quickly been raised towards the top. I'm still going to wait to hear back from more schools, but for someone who wants to live and practice in Southern California in some kind of government or public service career...no debt sounds like a pretty sweet deal.

See that other law schools, a little courting can go a long way!!! (not to mention a dinner cruise on a yacht)

+1 to that entire post, except for quality of life in OC. Got my Full Scholarship in the mail (I'm going somewhere for sure now! ), but haven't received the invite. Did the rest of you with full scholarships get the invitation on the same day as your acceptance or did it arrive later?

mine were like month apart. don't read too much into not getting one yet.

[MixedGirl2009]

lol, i got my invite 3 days before my acceptance so i was really confused as to what was going on but it looked like a good sign, esp with the star treatment

[mjs92983]

I'm in the same boat. I was originally planning on attending a higher ranked school but the scholarship money and OC weather are tough to turn down. Does anyone have reliable information on job prospects outside of the information the school provided? Thanks.

[BrookeB]

(Disclaimer: I am REALLY sick and on flu meds, so if my sentences don't make much sense...lets blame it on the meds. Sorry.)

Hi, felt like jumping in here (trying to avoid starting my closed brief for LRW). Anyways, I'm a 1L at Chapman and noticed you guys were asking about job prospects. If you want to work in southern CA, then it seems to have a large following among employers, specifically in OC. I've talked to a few firms from the area and they ALL seemed to LOVE Chapman kids. One guy told me he'd hire a Chapman grad over a Harvard grad any day. Im not sure if I believe him, but he seemed pretty sincere about it.

However, at the current time, if you plan to move out of state, Chapman might give you a bit more difficult of a time. Though, considering we should finally hit top 100 next ranking, it might not be so bad. Chapman is taking huge efforts, it seems, to climb its way up to the top. After our first round of finals, 4 out of 5 of my professors said the caliber of students on the exams this year far surpassed anything they had seen in the previous years.

Also, I just want to add that I LOVE it here at Chapman. It's true what they say about quality of life. And the vegan food is awesome...I'm not even vegan but, damn, its good here. Also (random), I lost my Property casebook 3 days ago, and Dean Kacer was amazing enough to just take hers off her own shelf and let me borrow it for the rest of the semester so I didnt have to buy a new one. (BTW, if you decide to go here, make sure you know where her office is because during finals month she has amazing healthy snacks she keeps outside her office for any hungry law student who wanders up there...I stole like 40 snacks this year haha)

So if my sickness didn't make me sound too crazy, feel free to PM me if you have any questions about Chapman. I would love to help. Also, I dont usually ramble this much.

[zeth006]

Wow.

Chapman's staff should give you a few browny points on top of a letter of recommendation to your future job for your post.



However, I'm hesitant to choose Chapman because of the info shown for this school on LSN. It shows Chapman has only a handful of law firms that hire from there (OCI numbers). Contrast that with USD which has 50+ firms that hire from the school. I understand that those numbers can't be taken solely at face value, but Chapman's TLS profile concerning shaky job prospects doesn't comfort me very much. The to-be top 100 rankings are certainly a plus but even with the full scholarship offer, I'm a bit wary of the fact that UCI Law will at some point in the future compete against Chapman. It's one thing if Chapman is deemed the top law school in the OC market. But when you have rising UCI looming in the horizon with its estimated #28-30 rank on TSL, it's easy to gain some trepidation.

[mjs92983]

I really doubt that UCI is going to cause as big a splash as some seem to think. Future students are not going to have free rides to their school and it will have a hard time maintaining as high as numbers. That and Chapman never was the school to go to if you wanted to work at BigLaw.

[zeth006]

I really doubt that UCI is going to cause as big a splash as some seem to think. Future students are not going to have free rides to their school and it will have a hard time maintaining as high as numbers. That and Chapman never was the school to go to if you wanted to work at BigLaw.

You are right at least to some degree. With fewer full scholarships being offered, it'll be difficult to stay anywhere above #30. Their numbers could easy fall to the 30s or even as low as the 40s. But Big Law never was within my list of aspirations. Once again, in the end, the one factor that puts Chapman off the shortlist is the job prospects.

[BrookeB]

HAHA, yea I know, it sounds like Chapman hired me to say that or something. I just really like it here, and I practically lived on TLS when I was trying to decide about whether or not I even wanted to go to law school.

Anyways, I dont know about what TLS profile says about prospects, but I do know that Chapman does have several deals set up with local firms where they HAVE to interview Chapman students if they bid on a job. I dont know what the number is. At orientation they also told us the percentage of students that have jobs after graduation, and I think it was like 75% within a few months.

But hey, by all means, San Diego is an awesome place. I used to live there for my undergrad. I dont know if the school focuses on quality of life as much as Chapman does, but then again that doesnt matter to some people. Personally, I was happier with a more personal feeling school than a school with a higher percentage of firms with an alumni base. ::shrug:: I might regret it in the end, but for now, I actually am enjoying law school.

One last thing...I dont know if this helps at all, but I would like to add that a HUGE number of kids in my track are from out of town, most from back east. I dont know if that means Chapman is gaining notoriety, or if they are specifically here for tax law or entertainment law. It could mean nothing.

[Mr. Matlock]

I don't see a high percentage of UCI grads getting "Big-Law" either. I think they'd be fortunate to hit 10% of the class.

[zeth006]

I'm not bashing on Chapman. But at this moment, with my prospects with Davis looking dim, I'm stuck on choosing among USD, Loyola, and Chapman. The financial aid at USD and Loyola are equally vague; While USD has offered a $23,000 grant for the first year with nothing slated for the other years, Loyola has offered 15k/year with the 30% stipulation which I can't take for granted. Chapman on first glance presents the best value. But the unknown variables make me pause and worry.

[twert]

I'm not bashing on Chapman. But at this moment, with my prospects with Davis looking dim, I'm stuck on choosing among USD, Loyola, and Chapman. The financial aid at USD and Loyola are equally vague; While USD has offered a $23,000 grant for the first year with nothing slated for the other years, Loyola has offered 15k/year with the 30% stipulation which I can't take for granted. Chapman on first glance presents the best value. But the unknown variables make me pause and worry.

i'm with you man, same options, same questions, same concerns.

[BrookeB]

Completely understandable

[BruinsFan]

I'm not bashing on Chapman. But at this moment, with my prospects with Davis looking dim, I'm stuck on choosing among USD, Loyola, and Chapman. The financial aid at USD and Loyola are equally vague; While USD has offered a $23,000 grant for the first year with nothing slated for the other years, Loyola has offered 15k/year with the 30% stipulation which I can't take for granted. Chapman on first glance presents the best value. But the unknown variables make me pause and worry.

I think a lot of law school applicants end up making a decision like this. Do I go to the lower ranked/tier school that makes the most financial sense or do I go to the best school I get into and hope that the job prospects are better?

I shot off a last minute app to Chapman, I'm kind of kicking myself for not applying earlier. I'm also in the same boat, Cal Western offered me significant $$, but I've also been accepted at a few higher ranked schools.

At the end of the day, there are going to be people that went to the lower ranked school and are now very happy/employed. There are also going to be people who aren't employed and very frustrated. The same can probably be said for any school. There are people who have jobs, but are still looking at 15+ years of loan payments and people who didn't end up in the field they wanted.

If it's worth it to YOU, TODAY, to spend the money on the other school, then spend the money. If it's not, it's not, but know you're going to spend additional time job hunting. It's about finding the best combination of $$, opportunities, location, etc for YOU.

[MixedGirl2009]

What is the highest ranked school you guys have gotten into? I got into SMU yet haven't gotten the packet yet or scholarship info.... no way am i going to pay full price though.

[zeth006]

What is the highest ranked school you guys have gotten into? I got into SMU yet haven't gotten the packet yet or scholarship info.... no way am i going to pay full price though.

Pepperdine and Lewis and Clark with no $.

[pauldoeslaw]

I'm not bashing on Chapman. But at this moment, with my prospects with Davis looking dim, I'm stuck on choosing among USD, Loyola, and Chapman. The financial aid at USD and Loyola are equally vague; While USD has offered a $23,000 grant for the first year with nothing slated for the other years, Loyola has offered 15k/year with the 30% stipulation which I can't take for granted. Chapman on first glance presents the best value. But the unknown variables make me pause and worry.

i'm with you man, same options, same questions, same concerns.

Again, same questions and concerns. Pepperdine offered $25,000 for the first year, which renews if I stay within the top 1/3. In their acceptance package, they warn that more than a 1/3 of the class may have been offered scholarships with the same stipulation. I don't know if I want to study in that kind of environment, with the prospect of paying full tuition while living in the Malibu area looming overhead!