Top Law Schools

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what are your career aspirations

this is impossible to answer intelligently without knowing what you intend to do w your degree

sanpiero wrote:what are your career aspirations

Secretary of the Interior... lol until that's possible, I'd like to work for the EPA or some other government organization. I'd also like to work for the UN, an NGO, etc... I can dream!! My biggest insecurity with wanting to work for the government is the killer debt.

I'd be getting my LL.M. in International Environmental Law at GW, and at FSU they have a new LL.M. in Environmental Law and Policy

I'd take FSU, although being a UF student offering this advice is a hard pill to swallow.

minuit wrote:

sanpiero wrote:what are your career aspirations

Secretary of the Interior... lol until that's possible, I'd like to work for the EPA or some other government organization. I'd also like to work for the UN, an NGO, etc... I can dream!! My biggest insecurity with wanting to work for the government is the killer debt.

If you are committed to working for the fed. gov't, go to GW. The debt will be extreme but it will be very manageable if you spend 10-years in public service post-grad (http://www.finaid.org/loans/publicservice.phtml).

There's no question GW is a better fit for someone with a desire to work for the EPA, UN, or another federal/international org.

FSU has a top environmental law program I believe.... I believe FSU is your best option. You're looking at 7,500 tuition or 35k tuition. GW definitely has the prestige, but your looking at 5x the debt and as far as environmental law goes I'd say theyd rank about the same with a slight edge to FSU.

U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT RANKS
FLORIDA STATE'S ENVIRONMENTAL LAW PROGRAM 11TH IN THE NATION
In 2009, U.S. News & World Report ranked Florida State Law's Environmental Law Program 11th strongest in the nation (tied with Stanford and Tulane).

Florida State Law provides students the option of more than two dozen courses focusing on environmental law and land use, a student-edited scholarly journal in the area, and a certificate program that offers students a chance to signal their expertise. Students also can take advantage of a wide range of offerings in related areas of study at Florida State University, as well as externship opportunities in Florida and Washington, D.C.

(link) http://www.law.fsu.edu/academic_program ... index.html

Hope that helps..

sanpiero wrote:If you are committed to working for the fed. gov't, go to GW.

This advice is credited, but, if you don't have the grades you're going to be left with crippling debt and bleak career prospects.

hth.

minuit wrote:...I keep on hearing statements such as "GW is definitely not worth full sticker!!" so this concerns me. Why do people say that it's not worth it (assuming COL is exaggerated in their estimates)?

GW is not worth sticker (~$200k) if you intend to work in the private sector and likely will not have the grades (roughly T1/3...ITE maybe T20%) to land a biglaw position. IMO it's silly to gamble to the tune of $200k ITE if you have no interest in serving the public (outside of the T14, of course).

CKuleba wrote:FSU has a top environmental law program I believe.... I believe FSU is your best option. You're looking at 7,500 tuition or 35k tuition. GW definitely has the prestige, but your looking at 5x the debt and as far as environmental law goes I'd say theyd rank about the same with a slight edge to FSU.

If OP is OK w working for the EPA or state government in FL, FSU is credited. However, I got the impression OP has sights set on DC gov't work. IMO, FSU's USNWR rank of 11 in Env. won't carry much weight with federal gov't recruiters from DC

Thanks for the insight, everyone. I thought GW would have the slight edge on here, but seeing the support of FSU really makes me feel better about potentially going to FSU. I trust your judgment! Basically I just have to be at the top of my class at either place

Check out Gatorlion's Environmental Law ranking thingamajig: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?oi0ettiomyo. It gives a much more comprehensive analysis than USNews.

Consider looking into the Income Based Repayment (IBR) plan if you want to go to GW.

ccs224 wrote:Check out Gatorlion's Environmental Law ranking thingamajig: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?oi0ettiomyo. It gives a much more comprehensive analysis than USNews.

Oh thanks... FSU isn't even on here, though. Yikes! Is there a reason for it? It doesn't make sense to me that Cornell or USC would be on this list and FSU would not, considering their scores are reallllly low.