Alabama-- what's it like? Forum

[georgej]

sub 3.0 gpa

172+ LSAT

I would spam the lower T14 to T20. If you have decent WE then Northwestern is a possibility as is a full ride from a T20, like WUSTL (I know people with worse on a full now, alhough last year was kind of a strange cycle)

Regardless, especially without any reason to be in Alabama, you should have better options, although applying wouldn't hurt.

Thanks, Sublime. That's been my exact strategy so far. Northwestern or WUSTL with $$$ are by far my most probable, positive outcomes based on mylsn. I also really like both cities and would be very happy to stay long term, although I still don't really have any ties there besides a few friends in Chicago.

Re: BigZuck, nothing makes me expect to be top 5%. I probably won't be.

Re: SweetTort, nope. My great-great-great grandmother was Native American, but I don't think that counts.

[BigZuck]

If WUSTL WUSTLes it up this cycle then you should have a great scholarship there and that would and should be the absolute "worst" school you should attend in terms of job prospects. Then this thread will be but a distant memory.

I would definitely apply to Alabama to use as leverage. Or if you're a music lover.

[LET'S GET IT]

Man I feel I can provide you with some insight on your questions but it may leave you even more confused because there is some good and some bad. I have lived in Arkansas my whole life and am preparing to go to law school somewhere north of here, I am so ready to get out of the South. Also, I am a white man married to a black woman. Here goes, let's piss off some Alabamans.

Yes. Racism and racial tension are still a BIG problem in the South. It may not be as out in the open as in the 60's, but it's still there. Being in an interracial marriage, I can assure you we experience this all to often. From my experience, it gets worse the father south you go so Alabama and Mississippi are the worst. It tends to be a little better in college towns like Tuscaloosa, but still not great. That's not to say that everyone here is a racist, in fact the vast majority are not, but the percentage that are is much larger than in other areas of the country and it is still evident at times.

University of Alabama law has a great rep in the region (Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Georgia) but your best bet for good jobs are probably Memphis, Little Rock, New Orleans, Jackson, places like that. Atlanta is an option but far from a given.) Outside of those states, Alabama law is fairly irrelevant.

Yes. It really is beautiful for all it's faults and the food in the South is fantastic.

You didn't ask this but I'll mention it anyways since going there may relegate you to working in the region. You said your married. I don't know what your plan is with kids, but it would probably not be ideal place to raise them. Alabama, Miss, and Arkansas are consistently dead last on things like education, drug usage, obesity, and many others. We joke in Arkansas that if it weren't for Alabama and Mississippi we would be last in everything.

Hope this helps and good luck to you. One positive is that UofA is among the easiest T25 to get into with large money because so many have concerns like yours. PM me if there is anything else I can maybe help you with. GL!

[lawhopeful10]

I went to Alanama for undergrad. I was originally from New Jersey and did a fraternity at Alabama and let me say the culture shock for you coming from California is huge. Problems with race were far from hidden and it really is another world. I will say however that the law school experience is likely different from an undergrad one and thus the experience might not be as drastic a culture school as mine was. Still, I have talked to attorneys in Birmingham and a lot of them say they know all the other ones like they went to school together, their wives are in the same clubs. Point being it can be insular for someone not from there so I would keep that in mind.

[rad lulz]

m

[hookem7]

If you aren't from AL (maybe TN, FL, GA, MS) then don't go to Bama. It's simple, southerners hire their own. It's not the race thing you may think it is, they just really hate outsiders and sorry to say, but if you are from Cali they will pick up on this immediately. My parents are from Alabama and all of my extended family lives in Alabama, so just telling you the truth. I can tell you for a fact that it is a shitty state that you don't want to live in with a small, parochial legal market. Not trying to get you down, and Bama gives good schollies for negotiation purposes, but it would be a poor decision IMO.