BYU or GW ED Forum

[fanmingrui]

Dude. Go T14. Don't ED GW. BYU is an awesome, cheap school and living in Provo watching BYU football would be awesome. If you feel prepared to fight for your life in the most competitive environment there is at ANY law school anywhere, then go BYU. Everyone wants biglaw/midlaw to provide for their families. All of the males are of equal ability, and a lot of them have turned down HLSCCN to get married/ watch BYU play/ drink the sweet Provo koolaide, religious reasons, etc. A lot of the studnets are high GPAers, meaning they know how to work like crazy. It is going to be so competitive. Also, don't think numbers mean much, I know a kid who is tops at BYU that barely got in off the waitlist.

If you go T14, your chances of Biglaw go from 15-percent (assuming you are a white male) to like 65% or something. Plus, the mormon network at T14 schools may be stronger than that at BYU. You can walk into a lot of jobs at Mormon firms pretty easy out west with the network's help and T14 on your resume, while Mormon partners at firms may be less likely to help you from BYU.

TITCR.
I had a similar decision to make numbers-and-options-wise last cycle and chose T14 w/$. The Mormon network/J Reuben Clark Society exist everywhere and you'll likely have more clout/options with a T14 degree, debt notwithstanding.

[legalresearch]

I think what you do depends on what debt load you're comfortable with and how committed you are to the Rocky Mountain and West Coast regions. I'm primarily interested in those regions myself, but I will not be going t13 without understanding that there's a high probability I end up NYC or elsewhere. With the exception of Berk, I wouldn't go to any of these schools expecting to return to the Mountain West or West Coast.

If you have ties to the Rocky Mountain Area (as OP does) I would say going to a T14 actually increases his chances of being able to work in his geographic location of choice. The main difficulty in getting a job in the smaller secondary markets out West is that there just isn't a whole lot of summer associate positions. Somebody from a T14 with ties to the area has a better chance of securing one of those limited openings.

He's still going with a $100K commitment with being stuck in NYC in order to pay off debt as a very real possibility. If he's cool working NYC Big Lawl it's worth the chance. Otherwise, I'm not sure if it is.

+1