Best Law School in the South Forum

[thecilent]

I thought FL was the most southern you could get in this country!

lol It is!

hawaii?

QFtruthness. meant continental obvi..

[Omerta]

Duke is the best IMO, followed by UVA and then Vandy. Local schools take priority after these three (i.e. don't go to Texas expecting to have an edge over UNC students in NC because Texas is ranked in the top 20.)

Also, slightly off-topic, I just read through the OCI thread and can't believe how poorly Emory did. Only 30 firms are coming to OCI?!? During my ASW the administration claimed Emory was the "Harvard of the South," and that most students ended up in NYC. I guess they are a "northern" school in a southern state, but the NYC firms do not want to spend money to come down and interview them.

Disclosure; I'm going to Emory. There is a Harvard of the South, and it's Harvard and Yale. Every school in the US claims they are the Harvard of the _______. Devry probably says they are the Harvard of online colleges. The South seems especially prone to the comparison because all the undergraduate academic stars are in the northeast. My college said it all the time. I would say UVA because it seems a lot more of their graduates end up in Miami and Atlanta. I turned down vandy for Emory but I doubt I would have gone to Emory if I got into UVA (which I didn't).

[stratocophic]

Duke is the best IMO, followed by UVA and then Vandy. Local schools take priority after these three (i.e. don't go to Texas expecting to have an edge over UNC students in NC because Texas is ranked in the top 20.)

Also, slightly off-topic, I just read through the OCI thread and can't believe how poorly Emory did. Only 30 firms are coming to OCI?!? During my ASW the administration claimed Emory was the "Harvard of the South," and that most students ended up in NYC. I guess they are a "northern" school in a southern state, but the NYC firms do not want to spend money to come down and interview them.

Disclosure; I'm going to Emory. There is a Harvard of the South, and it's Harvard and Yale. Every school in the US claims they are the Harvard of the _______. Devry probably says they are the Harvard of online colleges. The South seems especially prone to the comparison because all the undergraduate academic stars are in the northeast. My college said it all the time. I would say UVA because it seems a lot more of their graduates end up in Miami and Atlanta. I turned down vandy for Emory but I doubt I would have gone to Emory if I got into UVA (which I didn't).

Vandy says they're the Harvard of the South as well, and I'm preeeetty sure Duke does the same thing.

[stratocophic]

Duke is the best IMO, followed by UVA and then Vandy. Local schools take priority after these three (i.e. don't go to Texas expecting to have an edge over UNC students in NC because Texas is ranked in the top 20.)

Also, slightly off-topic, I just read through the OCI thread and can't believe how poorly Emory did. Only 30 firms are coming to OCI?!? During my ASW the administration claimed Emory was the "Harvard of the South," and that most students ended up in NYC. I guess they are a "northern" school in a southern state, but the NYC firms do not want to spend money to come down and interview them.

Disclosure; I'm going to Emory. There is a Harvard of the South, and it's Harvard and Yale. Every school in the US claims they are the Harvard of the _______. Devry probably says they are the Harvard of online colleges. The South seems especially prone to the comparison because all the undergraduate academic stars are in the northeast. My college said it all the time. I would say UVA because it seems a lot more of their graduates end up in Miami and Atlanta. I turned down vandy for Emory but I doubt I would have gone to Emory if I got into UVA (which I didn't).

Vandy says they're the Harvard of the South as well, and I'm preeeetty sure Duke does the same thing.

[General Tso]

Ole Miss claims to be the Harvard of the South as well. The school colors are "harvard crimson and yale blue"

[najumobi]

What is the best law school in the south? Both ranking, prestige, placement, alumni base.

UVA and Duke are similar in the south but i think UVA edges duke out in the south.
the next level down is vandy and texas.
after that, emory and smu.

[stratocophic]

Ole Miss claims to be the Harvard of the South as well. The school colors are "harvard crimson and yale blue"

Hm... I'd give them the Harvard of Mississippi, but only because Starkville's such a bleak place.

[redvelvetccake]

Florida: the only state where the farther south you go, the farther north you get.

Until you hit Miami. Then you're pretty much on an entire different continent.

[im_blue]

UVA
Duke
Vandy
Texas

[jawsthegreat]

It's UVA followed by Duke and Vandy, the rest aren't even really in the conversation.

unless they're talking Texas, in which case, Texas.

Texas is closer to its' own country than it is part of the South.

[Informative]

Florida is southern, it is just not hick-southern (see Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, etc.).

[merichard87]

Florida is southern, it is just not hick-southern (see Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, etc.).

Depends on what part of Texas you are talking about. I would argue Texas alot of southern conservatives but Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi have more hicks and red-necks. Also, south Florida is very hick-southern.

[showNprove]

.

[MJMD]

"The South" is generally considered to consist of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

Hence, the best Southern schools would be:

1. U.Va.
2. Duke
3. Vanderbilt
4. Everyone else.

Florida is included under any definition of "the South;" and a definition that excluded Texas would require considerable justification.

West Texas doesn't fit the stereotypical understanding of the South, but East Texas is as Southern as it gets. So I guess you could ask whether the city of Austin is in East Texas or West Texas (having never been to Austin, I couldn't say for sure). If the former, then:

1. U.Va.
2. Duke
3. Texas
4. Vanderbilt
5. Everyone else.

I'd be tempted to name Emory to that list, but that raises the sticky question of what to do about Missouri (WUSTL) and D.C. (Georgetown, GWU).

[sdv]

"The South" is generally considered to consist of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

Hence, the best Southern schools would be:

1. U.Va.
2. Duke
3. Vanderbilt
4. Everyone else

TITCR, although Florida, Arkansas, and Kentucky are definitely southern states. Basically, wherever the SEC is, that's the south.

And Texas is as much a part of the south as Mexico is, as in, it's its own country that is geographically close to the American Southeast. I really don't think this is a hard question, it's not much more complicated than the list above.

[stratocophic]

Yeeeah. About this. TCR is "see generally the USNWR rankings." We're all giving the same advice and the only deviations come from switching Vandy and Texas or debating over whether Texas should be included in our definition of "the South." /thread

[General Tso]

Florida is southern, it is just not hick-southern (see Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, etc.).

sick of the stereotypes

I've been to places in California far more backwoods than anywhere I've been in the places you listed.

[beachbum]

"The South" is generally considered to consist of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

Hence, the best Southern schools would be:

1. U.Va.
2. Duke
3. Vanderbilt
4. Everyone else.

Florida is included under any definition of "the South;" and a definition that excluded Texas would require considerable justification.

West Texas doesn't fit the stereotypical understanding of the South, but East Texas is as Southern as it gets. So I guess you could ask whether the city of Austin is in East Texas or West Texas (having never been to Austin, I couldn't say for sure). If the former, then:

1. U.Va.
2. Duke
3. Texas
4. Vanderbilt
5. Everyone else.

I'd be tempted to name Emory to that list, but that raises the sticky question of what to do about Missouri (WUSTL) and D.C. (Georgetown, GWU).

As a lifelong resident of Missouri, I can say with absolute certainty that it is not a southern state. On the other hand, Emory is definitely located in a southern state (Georgia), though I would be hesitant to name it to any list that features the best of the south. OCI's a bitch.

[showNprove]

Florida is included under any definition of "the South;" and a definition that excluded Texas would require considerable justification.

TITCR, although Florida, Arkansas, and Kentucky are definitely southern states. Basically, wherever the SEC is, that's the south.

Florida is in the South, but very few people consider it part of "The South."

Edit: The Census Bureau does consider Kentucky, West Virginia, and Arkansas to be part of the South.

[MJMD]

Arkansas is sort of hanging loose out there. Could be considered part of the South, but I don't believe it's part of the traditional understanding.

No, dude, that's the general understanding.

And on what planet are Kentucky and West Virginia are the Midwest? What are you on?

/thread.

[vanburen81]

Arkansas is definitely the South. What else would it be? People don't talk about Bill Clinton as a "Midwestern" President.

The South is: Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida (New Hampshire likes NASCAR and votes Republican sometimes, doesn't mean it's not in New England, likewise Florida IS part of the South even if they do their own thing sometimes), South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia.

The local state school ALWAYS dominates their state in the South. The schools which have some name recognition and might get you to a different Southern state (but only if you also have ties to that state) are (1st level) Duke and Vanderbilt, (2nd level) Virginia and Washington and Lee, (3rd level) Emory, Tulane, Wake, UNC.

[Pablo Ramirez]

1. Duke



2. Texas






3. UVA

[MJMD]

The schools which have some name recognition and might get you to a different Southern state (but only if you also have ties to that state) are (1st level) Duke and Vanderbilt, (2nd level) Virginia and Washington and Lee, (3rd level) Emory, Tulane, Wake, UNC.

Why is everyone in here extolling Duke over Virginia? Is it just because it's private? Virginia has the higher USNWR ranking and kicks Duke's ass when it comes to both federal clerkships and BigLaw hiring. It's also the local state school in Virginia, making it dominant within that state in a way that Duke and Vanderbilt cannot necessarily claim in North Carolina or Tennesse. What am I missing here?

[vanburen81]

The schools which have some name recognition and might get you to a different Southern state (but only if you also have ties to that state) are (1st level) Duke and Vanderbilt, (2nd level) Virginia and Washington and Lee, (3rd level) Emory, Tulane, Wake, UNC.

Why is everyone in here extolling Duke over Virginia? Is it just because it's private? Virginia has the higher USNWR ranking and kicks Duke's ass when it comes to both federal clerkships and BigLaw hiring. It's also the local state school in Virginia, making it dominant within that state in a way that Duke and Vanderbilt cannot necessarily claim in North Carolina or Tennesse. What am I missing here?

UVA might be a better school than Duke. It might place better in Biglaw and federal clerkships. But if I was looking for a job at a private firm in Alabama or Louisiana I'd rather be median at Duke than median at UVA. Duke just has much better name recognition in the South. If you're from Bama and trying to get a job at a firm in B'ham and you went to UVA, people would be like, maybe UVA's a good school but why didn't you go to U Bama? I just think its different if said person went to Duke. UVA is kind of special though because I think it is the ONLY state school that will get to other Southern states. UGA and Bama and even UNC may be great schools, but people in Arkansas would take their Razorbacks over them anyday, people in South Carolina will take their Game Cocks, etc.

[flyingpanda]

The schools which have some name recognition and might get you to a different Southern state (but only if you also have ties to that state) are (1st level) Duke and Vanderbilt, (2nd level) Virginia and Washington and Lee, (3rd level) Emory, Tulane, Wake, UNC.

Why is everyone in here extolling Duke over Virginia? Is it just because it's private? Virginia has the higher USNWR ranking and kicks Duke's ass when it comes to both federal clerkships and BigLaw hiring. It's also the local state school in Virginia, making it dominant within that state in a way that Duke and Vanderbilt cannot necessarily claim in North Carolina or Tennesse. What am I missing here?

UVA might be a better school than Duke. It might place better in Biglaw and federal clerkships. But if I was looking for a job at a private firm in Alabama or Louisiana I'd rather be median at Duke than median at UVA. Duke just has much better name recognition in the South. If you're from Bama and trying to get a job at a firm in B'ham and you went to UVA, people would be like, maybe UVA's a good school but why didn't you go to U Bama? I just think its different if said person went to Duke. UVA is kind of special though because I think it is the ONLY state school that will get to other Southern states. UGA and Bama and even UNC may be great schools, but people in Arkansas would take their Razorbacks over them anyday, people in South Carolina will take their Game Cocks, etc.

Dude, you're wrong. I think you're confusing lay prestige with legal prestige. Also the OP question wasn't FOR the south, it was IN te south.