What to do, what to do... Forum

[alhearn]

32 years old with an MBA from Loyola-Chicago and 8 years of work experience. 160 LSAT and 3.74 GPA.

So far, I am still waiting to hear from Northwestern (which is a very unlikely acceptance IMHO), but here are the schools that have accepted me along with the scholarships I have been offered:

U of Illinois - $10k/year scholarship
Loyola - $10k/year scholarship
DePaul - $20k/year scholarship
Michigan State – Full tuition scholarship
John Marshall – Full tuition scholarship + $10k/year living stipend

After law school, I will definitely work in Chicago but I'm leaning away from bigfirm and seriously thinking about litigation. I won national debates in high school, got my BA in persuasive communication and my MBA in marketing. Moot Court / Trial Advocacy teams would make a lot of sense for me.

The question is, given the strength of U of Illinois' ranking, does that outweigh the benefits of a full scholarship? $ is a huge issue, but I wasn't originally counting on getting any scholarships... loans don't scare me that much, provided that I get a decent job out of law school.

Any thoughts would be VERY appreciated.

Thank you!!

[BarbellDreams]

U of Illinois is a LOT better than any other school you have, 10K scholly coupled with in state tuition seems like your decision is easy. U of I by a LOT.

[avacado111]

easy john marshall... why not graduate almost debt free?

[kittenmittons]

[strike]easy john marshall... why not graduate almost debt free?[/strike]

hth

[Spaceman Spiff]

U of Illinois is a LOT better than any other school you have, 10K scholly coupled with in state tuition seems like your decision is easy. U of I by a LOT.

+1

[PigNipple]

U of I

[im_blue]

U of Illinois is a LOT better than any other school you have, 10K scholly coupled with in state tuition seems like your decision is easy. U of I by a LOT.

+1

+2

[alhearn]

Thank you all SO much for your feedback!!

What about the notion that in today's hiring environment, it would be more beneficial to spend my time during law school networking in Chicago, rather than spending the time in Champaign and hoping to successfully network long-distance.

Thoughts?

[im_blue]

Thank you all SO much for your feedback!!

What about the notion that in today's hiring environment, it would be more beneficial to spend my time during law school networking in Chicago, rather than spending the time in Champaign and hoping to successfully network long-distance.

Thoughts?

Networking in Chicago at a substantially inferior school means nothing compared to an Illinois JD.

[Blindmelon]

For God's sake, just go to UIUC. Considerably better than the other schools you got into.

[270910]

For God's sake, just go to UIUC. Considerably better than the other schools you got into.