Top Law Schools

I got scholarships to both...
Which one would you choose? I'm having a hard time deciding!

Pick a city! I have close ties to Boston so I'd take BU (But not over BC unless there was money involved:P)

Do you want to work in Boston/New England(maybe NYC if top grades pre ITE) or do you want to work in DC/MD/VA?

/thread

I love Boston as a city, I just hate the cold. DC seems pretty nice too, but slightly less vibrant of a city.
Does anyone have an opinion on how the reputations of BU and GW compare?

doopwooper wrote:I love Boston as a city, I just hate the cold. DC seems pretty nice too, but slightly less vibrant of a city.
Does anyone have an opinion on how the reputations of BU and GW compare?

I'd say they are pretty comparable. Check out some placement statistics for their locations. Really it comes down to what city you are looking to spend a significant amount of time in-- Boston or D.C. Visit both schools and see if there is one that you identify with the most.

I was in a similar position last year and ended up choosing a slightly lower-ranked school over both of them because I wanted to end up in CA. Both are excellent choices, but both are largely regional schools. If you're impartial about whether New England or DC would be a better fit for you, visit both and see what kind of feel you get. You can't really go wrong with either one.

Yeah, I hear what you're saying. I guess I'm also having a bit of a hard time deciding which is even ranked better. Overall BU has a higher ranking (BU = 20, GW= 28ish now?). But I'm interested in pursuing intellectual property law, of which GW is ranked #3, (BU is #11).
I know rankings should be taken tooo seriously when they aren't so far apart, but it's just making my decision that much harder.

doopwooper wrote:Yeah, I hear what you're saying. I guess I'm also having a bit of a hard time deciding which is even ranked better. Overall BU has a higher ranking (BU = 20, GW= 28ish now?). But I'm interested in pursuing intellectual property law, of which GW is ranked #3, (BU is #11).
I know rankings should be taken tooo seriously when they aren't so far apart, but it's just making my decision that much harder.

The IP interest gives GW a bit of an edge IMO. I think that you should not worry at ALL about the rankings difference between GW and BU. To put it in some perspective for you, had I chosen on rankings last year, I would have picked GW (#20) over BU (#21) and now look how silly that would have felt.

doopwooper wrote:Yeah, I hear what you're saying. I guess I'm also having a bit of a hard time deciding which is even ranked better. Overall BU has a higher ranking (BU = 20, GW= 28ish now?). But I'm interested in pursuing intellectual property law, of which GW is ranked #3, (BU is #11).
I know rankings should be taken tooo seriously when they aren't so far apart, but it's just making my decision that much harder.

BU and GW are comparable for IP. Specialty rankings are BS, and Boston as a city has tons of tech/medical instrument companies that soak up BU grads for IP work. BU's IP faculty is also pretty amazing.

Well I'm going to visit Boston next weekend and then DC the following weekend, hopefully that would help me decide.

If anyone else would like to give me their opinions, I'd love to hear.

Not sure about BU, but i highly doubt it could be as good for IP as GW is. The American Intellectual Property Law Journal is housed at GW (Not Berkeley, Stanford)
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I'd rather be in D.C. than Boston, but I have a feeling I'm in the minority here

Also, keep in mind the size difference. BU enrolls about 270 students per year compared to GW's about 500 students per year.

Oban wrote:Do you want to work in Boston/New England(maybe NYC if top grades pre ITE) or do you want to work in DC/MD/VA?

TITCR

Though I'll add, and this is a minor point, that GW's physical building is nicer then BU's.

As for employment, here's some data from the class of 2008 (if anyone has more recent data, feel free to share):
http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNL ... hbxlogin=1
41.2% of the class from BU and 43.5% from GW going to NLJ 250 firms. Pretty comparable, though, again, I couldn't say how either is holding up this past year, ITE.

Can't say I know much about the IP specialty, though.

how feasible is the nyc market coming out of BU? (pre2007 and post 2007?)

Ah, I just visited BU and honestly got a really bad vibe from the tour. The law school building looked incredibly depressing, it looked fairly deserted (although it was Friday at 11am), the tour guide didn't show us a single classroom and over all I guess there wasn't much I can say I was particularly impressed by.
However, it's in a really awesome location and I loved Boston. I could definitely see myself living there, but I don't know how much consideration that should be given in my over all choice.

I'm visiting GW this weekend, so I guess I'll see how it goes.

doopwooper wrote:Yeah, I hear what you're saying. I guess I'm also having a bit of a hard time deciding which is even ranked better. Overall BU has a higher ranking (BU = 20, GW= 28ish now?). But I'm interested in pursuing intellectual property law, of which GW is ranked #3, (BU is #11).
I know rankings should be taken tooo seriously when they aren't so far apart, but it's just making my decision that much harder.

You should choose GWU for IP law because a lot of those firms are located in DC.

Honestly I'm leaning on GW at this point.

I just hope DC isn't too boring of a city for me! (I'm from NYC, so its hard to visit a city and it not seem deficient in some aspect.) However I really liked Boston, and I know DC is really nice too. I also hope the snow doesn't interfere with my visit too much!

Go to BU! It's ranked 20ish vs GW (30ish). ITE, I'd go with BU...but I don't have an offer from GW, so take it with a grain of salt...

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doopwooper wrote:Honestly I'm leaning on GW at this point.

I just hope DC isn't too boring of a city for me! (I'm from NYC, so its hard to visit a city and it not seem deficient in some aspect.) However I really liked Boston, and I know DC is really nice too. I also hope the snow doesn't interfere with my visit too much!

DC is not boring at all. I lived there for 2 years. The people are much different than NYC though. If you're cool with a more southern, dressier, frattier kind of city, then you will love it. If you're more the nerdy type it probably won't be the best city. But then again, you'll be in law school - so all nerds pretty much.

This is totally a region decision though, as GW doesn't translate to Boston and BU only really translated to DC gov. work, firms I'm not so sure.

Either is a great choice though! (I agonized between the two and ultimately just followed the $).

jocelyne wrote:Go to BU! It's ranked 20ish vs GW (30ish). ITE, I'd go with BU...but I don't have an offer from GW, so take it with a grain of salt...

You honestly have to be kidding here, right??? GW will likely be ranked 20 or 21 in THIS years rankings, especially with their 167/3.71 medians. Ranking therefore should not even be a consideration when choosing b/w BU and GW. Also, I was able to land a job in NY with median grades from GW; it's really not as regional as everyone makes it out to be.

I don't know...I just like BU

GW hands down.

pennstatepride wrote:

jocelyne wrote:Go to BU! It's ranked 20ish vs GW (30ish). ITE, I'd go with BU...but I don't have an offer from GW, so take it with a grain of salt...

You honestly have to be kidding here, right??? GW will likely be ranked 20 or 21 in THIS years rankings, especially with their 167/3.71 medians. Ranking therefore should not even be a consideration when choosing b/w BU and GW. Also, I was able to land a job in NY with median grades from GW; it's really not as regional as everyone makes it out to be.

BU's medians are about the same. Peer schools - will prob. be ranked similarly next year. Don't look at US News when deciding between the two.