Top Law Schools

I went to Michigan's ASW last weekend and was very impressed- loved the culture and the people I unfortunately couldn't make it to UVA a few weeks ago though, and I'm really curious about people's impressions of the culture/feel of the school. Anyone who's been to both ASWs care to share their opinions on the comparison?

I'm a 1L at Michigan and I visited both during preview weekends.

For what it's worth (and obviously biased in favor of Michigan) but I really hated the feel of UVA. I grew up in the South, and very much wanted to escape that culture. It also just felt fratty. Individual people were super nice and I have good friends there, but it felt very isolating, whereas Michigan felt way more communal and like students were involved on campus. Campus is also in the middle of Ann Arbor which is really nice.

ETA: i really loved UVA on paper and was heartbroken when it wasn't financially feasible for me to go there. I visited both and I'm way, way happier at Michigan.

I visited UVA's ASW pretty dead-set on not liking it, and fell in love. I was 98% decided on Mich before and now I am definitely heading into Mich's ASW with an criteria that it needs to at least be equal on. What I liked: I thought the other admitted students were super nice, the current students were SO enthusiastic, , the professors seemed engaged and excited (the mock class was great), and just the overall feel of the school was really really good. Not nearly as stuffy or conservative as I expected. What I am apprehensive of: ...scholarship TBH or lack of.

But for what it is worth I have heard from many accounts that they're essentially the same school Mich is just the cold version. If you look at their numbers that makes sense (at least to me).

sanschi88 wrote:I went to Michigan's ASW last weekend and was very impressed- loved the culture and the people I unfortunately couldn't make it to UVA a few weeks ago though, and I'm really curious about people's impressions of the culture/feel of the school. Anyone who's been to both ASWs care to share their opinions on the comparison?

I went to both this year. In terms of quality of programming etc. they were about equal. Both schools seem to have really engaged faculty and a student body that loves the school.

Personally I enjoyed Michigan more, but that is because I did not particularly care for the "Southern" culture feel of UVA. YMMV but UVA felt kind of fratty (lots of talk about softball / partying), and I got a different feel at Michigan. I don't think you can really make a bad decision if you are between the two schools and financials are equal though.

I didn't visit UVA, but I will say that "fratty" is a word I've seen/heard A LOT when people describe UVA's culture, so just be aware of that.

visited both. echoing what others have said. I'm from the West Coast and UVA had a definitive Southern feel to it in a way Michigan did not.

brinicolec wrote:I didn't visit UVA, but I will say that "fratty" is a word I've seen/heard A LOT when people describe UVA's culture, so just be aware of that.

I will echo this and say it was my biggest concern going into UVA ASW. Like the poster above, I was pretty sure i
I'd hate the school. However, I was so pleasantly surprised by everything! Yes there are fratty people and preppy girls in pearls with parents who consider the cost of law school to be a drop in the bucket. But those people were at every ASW I attended. I met a lot of amazing people, none of whom wanted to party every night.

I've never been very "school spirit-y" (and I hated most things related to my very fratty undergrad) but I could see how much people love being involved with the UVA. Every random student I spoke with (those not involved with ASW) had positive things to say. The school isn't perfect, but I came away from ASW feeling excited to spend time there. I didn't feel that as much with Mich.

Went to both. I will preface this by saying that I was very set on UVA before ASW, and basically was going to visit Michigan because they gave me a nice scholarship offer. I left with UVA/Michigan basically tied - not because UVA got lowered in my sights, but because I realllllllly enjoyed the ASW at Michigan.

I'll avoid the (in my opinion) pointless comments on 'fratty-ness' and whatnot, because 'east-coast frat' vs 'west-coast' frat vs 'midwest frat' vs 'SEC frat' are all super different things (coming from an SEC frat undergraduate experience), so calling somewhere 'fratty' doesn't really mean a whole lot. Regardless of which school you choose, you're going to have a bunch of rich white kids because that's a decent chunk of who goes to the top law schools (it takes money to make money or some other colloquialism like that).

The biggest distinctions for me:
1) UVAs law school feels much more separate from their main grounds than Michigan. As a previous poster said, the UMich law school is literally in the middle of Ann Arbor. UVAs North Grounds are like 1.5 miles from Main Grounds, and it includes both the law school and Darden. Great if you want to spend your time more exclusively around a demographic more comprised of graduate/professional school students, not as awesome if you enjoy the life/energy that comes along with being around undergrads (some people love it, lots don't).

2) Formality:
UVA felt very formal/traditional to me. It wasn't ever explicitly stated, and they definitely still know how to throw down, but it just seemed like a more traditional law school environment (some people might call it stuffy), and the unofficial dress code was a notch above Michigan.
As for Michigan, if I didn't know it was a top 10 law school, I would have had no idea from the people/ASW. The reality is that everyone there I ran into (admitted students, current students, and staff) was super chill/low key/not pretentious. It felt like everyone there knew why they were there, and didn't feel the need to put on some front or air of 'specialness'. Honestly it was a super refreshing environment.

To paint the difference in example format:
First night at UVA: tour of the Monticello with a guided tour and history lesson on Thomas Jefferson followed by trivia night at a local pub.
First night at Mich: Student funded fellowship auction where they provided tons of alcohol, we watched the Mich/Oregon basketball game in one of the lecture auditoriums, and a professor broke concrete slabs with his bare hands among other various spectacles. Dean Z also gave her closing remarks at a really nice hotel conference room on Saturday in a sweatshirt and yoga pants.

3) Town:
Charlottesville and Ann Arbor by population are almost the same size, but to me, Ann Arbor felt much more city-like than Charlottesville. Everything was close by/easy to get to, and the school is very well integrated with the town. UVA felt more like a university that exists alongside a town...basically a southern college town. If you went to an ACC/SEC school in the south, it was very similar.

Anyway, just my thoughts. Hope it's helpful in some way. I'd strongly encourage a visit to both.

mrgstephe wrote:Went to both. I will preface this by saying that I was very set on UVA before ASW, and basically was going to visit Michigan because they gave me a nice scholarship offer. I left with UVA/Michigan basically tied - not because UVA got lowered in my sights, but because I realllllllly enjoyed the ASW at Michigan.

I'll avoid the (in my opinion) pointless comments on 'fratty-ness' and whatnot, because 'east-coast frat' vs 'west-coast' frat vs 'midwest frat' vs 'SEC frat' are all super different things (coming from an SEC frat undergraduate experience), so calling somewhere 'fratty' doesn't really mean a whole lot. Regardless of which school you choose, you're going to have a bunch of rich white kids because that's a decent chunk of who goes to the top law schools (it takes money to make money or some other colloquialism like that).

The biggest distinctions for me:
1) UVAs law school feels much more separate from their main grounds than Michigan. As a previous poster said, the UMich law school is literally in the middle of Ann Arbor. UVAs North Grounds are like 1.5 miles from Main Grounds, and it includes both the law school and Darden. Great if you want to spend your time more exclusively around a demographic more comprised of graduate/professional school students, not as awesome if you enjoy the life/energy that comes along with being around undergrads (some people love it, lots don't).

2) Formality:
UVA felt very formal/traditional to me. It wasn't ever explicitly stated, and they definitely still know how to throw down, but it just seemed like a more traditional law school environment (some people might call it stuffy), and the unofficial dress code was a notch above Michigan.
As for Michigan, if I didn't know it was a top 10 law school, I would have had no idea from the people/ASW. The reality is that everyone there I ran into (admitted students, current students, and staff) was super chill/low key/not pretentious. It felt like everyone there knew why they were there, and didn't feel the need to put on some front or air of 'specialness'. Honestly it was a super refreshing environment.

To paint the difference in example format:
First night at UVA: tour of the Monticello with a guided tour and history lesson on Thomas Jefferson followed by trivia night at a local pub.
First night at Mich: Student funded fellowship auction where they provided tons of alcohol, we watched the Mich/Oregon basketball game in one of the lecture auditoriums, and a professor broke concrete slabs with his bare hands among other various spectacles. Dean Z also gave her closing remarks at a really nice hotel conference room on Saturday in a sweatshirt and yoga pants.

3) Town:
Charlottesville and Ann Arbor by population are almost the same size, but to me, Ann Arbor felt much more city-like than Charlottesville. Everything was close by/easy to get to, and the school is very well integrated with the town. UVA felt more like a university that exists alongside a town...basically a southern college town. If you went to an ACC/SEC school in the south, it was very similar.

Anyway, just my thoughts. Hope it's helpful in some way. I'd strongly encourage a visit to both.

I would second all of the above, having also gone to both. You really can't beat the location of the Law Quad at Michigan and it's really beautiful (especially the Reading Room at the law library). Also, the students really were incredibly down to earth, laid back, and it's clear the students, faculty and administrators make up one cohesive unit (and that they all really like each other).

Also, I'm from North Carolina and I kind of love that they are really similar schools, but Michigan is the Midwestern version. Having grown up in the South, there are plenty of things I don't love about the culture/people it attracts, and I love the idea of going to a school that has everything I want without (what I personally see as) the downsides of a southern school.

I went to Michigan's ASW and came away very impressed. .... the UVA ASW thread... there's some discussion of Mich versus Virginia in there.