Best Quality of Life in the Top 30 Forum

[GATORTIM]

Michigan. We have all four seasons here, in plentiful portions of each.

[jay115]

Michigan. We have all four seasons here, in plentiful portions of each.

Ya except the nearest major city is detroit.

[GATORTIM]

Ya except the nearest major city is detroit.

--ImageRemoved--

[ezpar]

The quality of life in Ann Arbor seemed to be really, really high when I visited - nice small city with lots to do, decent public transportation, low COL. I would have loved to be there for 3 years (minus the miserable winters) if a few other factors weren't involved.

[jcl2]

San Francisco has the worst weather of any major city in the country IMO.

Have you been to Minneapolis? Chicago? Maybe you like snow, though, which would be valid.

I've spent time in literally ever major city in the country (and also 1+ years each in four totally different regions). SF's weather is better than anywhere I've ever lived (amongst them Atlanta, NYC, Philadelphia).

Different strokes for different folks, I guess. But I love the year-round mildness. I hate the snow with a passion -- same with brutal heat.

I do like snow, but I also like warm summers, San Fransisco has neither. Don't get me wrong, San Francisco is a great city, and I would live there over any city in the midwest or east, I just don't like the foggy cold summers.

Don't you live in seattle jl2c?

I will soon, currently in eastern Washington. Seattle summers are warm enough, usually 70s and sunny, and it snows occasionally in the winter with snow always a short drive away. I actually love the weather where I live now, cold snowy winters and 100 degree weather in the summer, but there are no jobs or law schools worth attending in eastern Washington, plus most of my friends and family are on the west side of the state, so I can sacrifice ideal weather.

[poprox]

would Not agree with UW (Seattle)
year-round clouds and dreary weather, not to mention the curve-system and barely being in the T30...

I agree with you otherwise, but if we're taking rankings into consideration on this, Yale has the best quality of life in the Top 30, hands down.

UW's curve is pretty generous - you really have to want it to get below a B. Also, the weather is very nice from May to the end of September.

I've thought about this - Chicago would have good weather May-first week of Sept too. However, what will we be doing in law school during this time? Leaving to go do internships (hopefully; cross my fingers the economy starts to improve soon). So if I'm most likely going to be leaving the city where my law school is located for the summer, wouldn't I want a school with good fall through spring weather? That's if weather is a factor. Considering that, I'd say more southerly schools would win out, but as pointed out several times it really depends on personal preference. Some people truly enjoy snow and below freezing temps.

[chicoalto0649]

How's the weather in St. Louis?

[Dinho]

Why is everyone talking shit about SF? I don't agree with you, but that's not my point. Neither Berkeley nor Stanford is in SF. Both are isolated from the fog. I am seriously laughing at anyone who thinks its anything close to "cold and rainy" in Palo Alto in the summer. That's actually a joke.

As I said, SF is a great city, but you have to admit the weather there sucks, in the summer at least. The only US city I can think of with worse summer weather is Anchorage, and that doesn't really quite count as a major city. Fortunately if you live in SF you are only about 20 minutes away from very nice weather. And yes, Palo Alto has much nicer weather than SF and Berkeley has slightly nicer weather.

What? I don't have to admit anything of the sort. I have no interest in uncomfortably hot summers or snowy winters. Since when does SF's weather suck? Yes the fog can be annoying, but on the whole I don't think you'll find many people who admit that the weather in San Francisco sucks...

[prezidentv8]

*runs into law school building to hide*

To the person who said non-urban schools have better QOL: I respectfully disagree. 24/7 public transportation FTFW.

What I would do for some decent public transit....

[prezidentv8]

SF weather is really the worst though, cold and windy all summer, cold and rainy all winter

Well, besides the fact that that is simply false, our weather rocks. The weather in SF is perfect if you like low humidity and temperature that's not too hot or cold, and don't mind seeing clouds pretty often. It's not THAT rainy or cold though.

Av.H Av.L Av.P
January 56 42 4.35
February 59 45 3.17
March 61 46 3.06
April 64 47 1.37
May 67 50 .19
June 70 53 .11
July 72 54 0.03
August 72 55 0.05
September 74 55 .2
October 70 52 1.22
November 62 47 2.86
December 56 43 3.09

[prezidentv8]

Why is everyone talking shit about SF? I don't agree with you, but that's not my point. Neither Berkeley nor Stanford is in SF. Both are isolated from the fog. I am seriously laughing at anyone who thinks its anything close to "cold and rainy" in Palo Alto in the summer. That's actually a joke.

As I said, SF is a great city, but you have to admit the weather there sucks, in the summer at least. The only US city I can think of with worse summer weather is Anchorage, and that doesn't really quite count as a major city. Fortunately if you live in SF you are only about 20 minutes away from very nice weather. And yes, Palo Alto has much nicer weather than SF and Berkeley has slightly nicer weather.

What? I don't have to admit anything of the sort. I have no interest in uncomfortably hot summers or snowy winters. Since when does SF's weather suck? Yes the fog can be annoying, but on the whole I don't think you'll find many people who admit that the weather in San Francisco sucks...

To quote the great Bob Barker, "This guy sucks." (jcl2)

[jcl2]

Why is everyone talking shit about SF? I don't agree with you, but that's not my point. Neither Berkeley nor Stanford is in SF. Both are isolated from the fog. I am seriously laughing at anyone who thinks its anything close to "cold and rainy" in Palo Alto in the summer. That's actually a joke.

As I said, SF is a great city, but you have to admit the weather there sucks, in the summer at least. The only US city I can think of with worse summer weather is Anchorage, and that doesn't really quite count as a major city. Fortunately if you live in SF you are only about 20 minutes away from very nice weather. And yes, Palo Alto has much nicer weather than SF and Berkeley has slightly nicer weather.

What? I don't have to admit anything of the sort. I have no interest in uncomfortably hot summers or snowy winters. Since when does SF's weather suck? Yes the fog can be annoying, but on the whole I don't think you'll find many people who admit that the weather in San Francisco sucks...

To quote the great Bob Barker, "This guy sucks." (jcl2)

I'm sorry that you are so offended that I don't like San Francisco's weather, but was that really called for? Fuck you.

And I did grow up in the Bay Area, so I think I am fully entitled to an opinion on the weather there.

[jcl2]

As I said, SF is a great city, but you have to admit the weather there sucks, in the summer at least. The only US city I can think of with worse summer weather is Anchorage, and that doesn't really quite count as a major city. Fortunately if you live in SF you are only about 20 minutes away from very nice weather. And yes, Palo Alto has much nicer weather than SF and Berkeley has slightly nicer weather.

What? I don't have to admit anything of the sort. I have no interest in uncomfortably hot summers or snowy winters. Since when does SF's weather suck? Yes the fog can be annoying, but on the whole I don't think you'll find many people who admit that the weather in San Francisco sucks...

To quote the great Bob Barker, "This guy sucks." (jcl2)

I'm sorry that you are so offended that I don't like San Francisco's weather, but was that really called for? Fuck you.

And I did grow up in the Bay Area, so I think I am fully entitled to an opinion on the weather there.

Sorry, probably shouldn't have taken that so seriously. I'm just having a bad morning.

[eljay]

I'm in no way affiliated with UMichigan, but had a fellowship at a research library there during grad school, and thought the place was great. So much food!

Tough place to be on football weekends, though. Gotta be crowded as all get up.

[Kiersten1985]

YLS. Reportedly they only study 1.5 hours a day (not saying I buy it). Also, being guaranteed a six figure job on graduation does wonders for stress ITE.

/thread

I read that too, although I don't buy that their students only study that much, from what I've read about their grading policies and seen of their employment stats it does seem like you could actually get away with that tiny amount of studying and still land an insane job. They don't even curve, and you get like 3 chances to try out for Law Review.

I know YLS grads and it is true. They don't go even go to class half of the time.

[Illijah]

since when has boalt (by extension, berkeley) ever had "killer weather"? and why has no one mentioned stanford? stanford also has fantastic career prospects, weather not as crappy as in the inner bay area (where cal is) and isnt located in the urban ghetto, such as new haven.

+1!! SLS ftw.

*not an SLS student*

According to Princeton review and some of their students on TLS, they have a pretty high workload (SLS 1Ls). I think they actually have more classes during 1L than most of the top 14 (the same as Cornell). They put in a lot of hours at the library. Also Stanford's weather really isn't as warm as people make it out to be, it's NoCal not Socal. Honestly, the onlyh top 14 with amazing weather is Duke. UCLA, USC, and UT kill all the top 14 schools when it comes to weather.Yale is probably the real answer to this question.

i dont know why im defending SLS as I'm not going there, but I did grow up in palo alto and the weather is glorious - no where as disgusting as berekely or the more coastal regions of the SF bay. its sufficiently southern of SF that it isn't as affected by the weird SF fog yet not south enough to be as humid as LA can get.

But yes; I'm sure SLS students have disgusting workloads and palo alto isnt the cheapest place to live...

Im from LA and it is never humid. its dry heat like a desert. Humidity is in the south regions.

on the other hand the Bay Area in the winter is cold as hell.

[Tangerine Gleam]

on the other hand the Bay Area in the winter is cold as hell.

Yeah, maybe if you're used to life in L.A.!

This is my first winter in the Bay and I've never needed more than a hoodie on any single day. Given decades of truly cold winters in my past, it's amazing.

[Tangerine Gleam]

I've lived in 6 major U.S. cities (including San Francisco) and the day I leave Austin will be a sad day. It trumps them all.

Though I won't be attending UT, it's a remarkable school with a great atmosphere. The city is amazing: cultural, diverse, artistic, and geared towards the 20/30-something demographic. There are too many things to do here...it can be overwhelming trying to sort out what to do on a Friday night. It's got a killer entertainment district, it's the "live music capital of the world", it has hiking, water sports, and rafting all within a short drive, and the city has a laid back vibe.

If QOL is a deciding factor, I would recommend UT to anyone.

+1; Austin is a truly great city.

[ughOSU]

on the other hand the Bay Area in the winter is cold as hell.

Yeah, maybe if you're used to life in L.A.!

This is my first winter in the Bay and I've never needed more than a hoodie on any single day. Given decades of truly cold winters in my past, it's amazing.

It's funny hearing people from CA (NoCal or SoCal) talk about how cold it is in SF. I mean I know the sun isn't out for 12 hours a day, but where I live now we sometimes go a couple weeks without getting out of the single digits in the winter. Sometimes without getting above 0.

e: the answer is yes, when people talk about the "bad" weather in CA it really strikes a nerve to me. I'm just jealous.

[calgal17]

.

[Dinho]

What sort of atmosphere does Michigan project? How integrated is the law school with the university community on the whole? I go to a New England LAC and while I don't mind the idea of a (much) bigger school, I'm not interested in a really fratty state school-type atmosphere.

[cubswin]

How's the weather in St. Louis?

Pretty nice most of the year (spring and fall), but it's really damn humid in the summer. You still have winter, but there are few sub-zero days, and snow typically comes in small amounts.

[prezidentv8]

.

Solid avatar.

[calgal17]

.

Solid avatar.

Why thanks. I <3 Oski.

And to add to the great Bay Area weather debate of aut 10, SF in the summer can be pretty craptastic, but if you head to mission or around there, it's usually sunny. As a San Diego native, the SF summers took some getting used to. The winters are cold to me (in SF more than Oakland where I am now), but again I'm an SD native so what do I know?

And in case you couldn't tell, my vote is for Berkeley.

[beef wellington]

How's the weather in St. Louis?

Pretty nice most of the year (spring and fall), but it's really damn humid in the summer. You still have winter, but there are few sub-zero days, and snow typically comes in small amounts.

If by "most of the year" you mean twelve weeks then yeah, spring and fall are fantastic. Your description of St. Louis winters does not square with my memory of Columbia at all. Missouri (and the midwest in general) has the worst weather I can imagine. Way too hot and humid in the summers, way too cold in the winters.