Whittier Law vs Western State University School Of Law Forum

[amarie]

ya, I had a TON of research experience from undergrad that really helped me out. But you are very right, this sort of thing doesn't happen much, at all. I was in the top3%, it's usually only those ranked #1 and 2 that make it into T1

[framboozer]

what T1 schools are questionable? if OP wishes to advance his education, then all ABA approved law schools could provide that opportunity, only difference is that some will open more doors, in the end, he will be a juris DOCTOR

Everything outside T10 at normal private school sticker price.

Everything outside T25/30 at half that.

Who cares if you are a JD if you don't have a job?

I believe the argument is that even though those schools place reasonably well, they don't place well for all of their class, and prospects can be bleak sub-median. The problem is that those schools are enormously expensive, so if you go to them and fall below the median, you will probably not be able to get the only jobs that will allow you to pay off your debt. Getting biglaw is never a safe gamble, and while your chances are certainly better in the T14, plenty of students at those schools don't make the cut and still need to service that $200K they took on in debt.

yeah, but can you seriously tell me that job prospects are so much better at Michigan than they are at Cornell or NW that the latter are only worth half as much? Michigan honestly has worse biglaw placement than either of these schools. Penn and UVA are only marginally better if at all.

I could see the cutoff being GULC if only because biglaw has been inching below 40%, but they place a decent enough amount into PI that they're not a terrible bet either.

That said, this is completely different conversation than whether to go to fucking Whittier or similar shit-tier schools. The answer to that question is clearly no.[/quote]

I will say that I have long since been skeptical of Michigan, and thought for sure that it would fall rather than rise in the rankings thid year. I think USNWR just likes to stir up some drama sometimes, but I think given its cheaper cost of attendance and smaller class size it's a better bet than GULC or Cornell at sticker. I like Cornell, but it is so crazy expensive that it would terrifiy me to go there at sticker. That said, I don't think there's a cut-off in general where it's suddenly smart to go somewhere at sticker. Many of the attornies I work with, who all seem to have gone to Penn and above seem to be unders the impression that virtually no school is worth sticker.

[Z3RO]

=

I believe the argument is that even though those schools place reasonably well, they don't place well for all of their class, and prospects can be bleak sub-median. The problem is that those schools are enormously expensive, so if you go to them and fall below the median, you will probably not be able to get the only jobs that will allow you to pay off your debt. Getting biglaw is never a safe gamble, and while your chances are certainly better in the T14, plenty of students at those schools don't make the cut and still need to service that $200K they took on in debt.

yeah, but can you seriously tell me that job prospects are so much better at Michigan than they are at Cornell or NW that the latter are only worth half as much? Michigan honestly has worse biglaw placement than either of these schools. Penn and UVA are only marginally better if at all.

I could see the cutoff being GULC if only because biglaw has been inching below 40%, but they place a decent enough amount into PI that they're not a terrible bet either.

That said, this is completely different conversation than whether to go to fucking Whittier or similar shit-tier schools. The answer to that question is clearly no.

I will say that I have long since been skeptical of Michigan, and thought for sure that it would fall rather than rise in the rankings thid year. I think USNWR just likes to stir up some drama sometimes, but I think given its cheaper cost of attendance and smaller class size it's a better bet than GULC or Cornell at sticker. I like Cornell, but it is so crazy expensive that it would terrifiy me to go there at sticker. That said, I don't think there's a cut-off in general where it's suddenly smart to go somewhere at sticker. Many of the attornies I work with, who all seem to have gone to Penn and above seem to be unders the impression that virtually no school is worth sticker.[/quote]

Cornell's COA is like 7k more expensive than Mich per year, which amounts to 21k over the course of 3 years. Honestly, a 10% difference shouldn't be a decision-making factor at this point. If you want New York or are set for big-law, Cornell is the choice. If you want academia or clerkships, you might be better off at MU, but I'm not even sure that's significantly so.

People pretend like 10-50k is a lot of money over the course of your whole career. Protip: it's not.