Illinois v Georgia v Minnesota Forum

[MSUSparty68]

All would cost about the same price. Love the warm weather in Atlanta but Chicago is great too. No clue what to do here. Any advice on student life/job prospects/school faculty would be appreciated. Have to make my decision by April 1st.

[Philranger]

When I was deciding on what law school to attend it ultimately came down to Georgia and Illinois, and I picked Georgia and have never regretted it. Also the weather is so much better than those places up north.

[solidsnake]

The school closest to the market in which you hope to work. If undecided, take Illinois as that is closest to a major market and the probability of landing something local is relatively higher because theoretically there should be more available jobs; on the other hand, there are more students from higher ranked schools who desire Chicago to compete against for those jobs as well. If you have existing personal ties to either of the markets in which Georgia or Minnesota are located, go there. None of these schools are national; if you want portability, retake the LSAT and reapply next cycle.

[MSUSparty68]

Thanks. Yeah, my LSAT was my strong point and I doubt I could do much better. I'm a senior graduating this year and it was my GPA from freshman and sophomore year that killed my chances (I only have a 3.02). Would waiting a year help that much?

[im_blue]

I think you should cut out Minnesota, then should pick between Chicago or Atlanta and decide from there.

[Thomas Jefferson]

Why all the Minnesota hate? I'm considering taking UMN over even better schools than those here. Just curious as to why, that's all.

Edit: I should add, for the OP's (and others') sake, that I'm strongly considering Minnesota because it has great faculty, strong clinical opportunities, strong clerkship placement (relative to the options currently available to me at least), Minneapolis has a great quality of life, and I loved the atmosphere of the school when I visited. I still have a few schools to hear from and a number still to visit, so this is just my present assessment, but I hope it helps. Also, I have no desire for biglaw.

[09042014]

Why all the Minnesota hate? I'm considering taking UMN over even better schools than those here. Just curious as to why, that's all.

Good school but it is extremely geographically limited. You'll pretty much be stuck in Minnesota. The same goes for Illinois, but being stuck in Chicago is better to most people.

[Thomas Jefferson]

Why all the Minnesota hate? I'm considering taking UMN over even better schools than those here. Just curious as to why, that's all.

Good school but it is extremely geographically limited. You'll pretty much be stuck in Minnesota. The same goes for Illinois, but being stuck in Chicago is better to most people.

'Tis a fair point, although I would argue that Twin Cities > Chicago. However, with Illinois, aren't you also toward the bottom of the food chain within that limited geographic reach? Minnesota utterly owns its home market, Illinois is competing with numerous T14s as well as its peers.

Edited for grammar.

[09042014]

Why all the Minnesota hate? I'm considering taking UMN over even better schools than those here. Just curious as to why, that's all.

Good school but it is extremely geographically limited. You'll pretty much be stuck in Minnesota. The same goes for Illinois, but being stuck in Chicago is better to most people.

'Tis a fair point, although I would argue that Twin Cities > Chicago. However, with Illinois, aren't you also toward the bottom of the food chain within that limited geographic reach? Minnesota utterly owns its home market, Illinois is competing with numerous T14s as well as its peers.

Edited for grammar.

If you graduated in 2007 Illinois would have been better. But people who OCI'd in 2009? Minnesota might have been a better bet.

How will OCI 2011 be? Who knows.

[Thomas Jefferson]

Why all the Minnesota hate? I'm considering taking UMN over even better schools than those here. Just curious as to why, that's all.

Good school but it is extremely geographically limited. You'll pretty much be stuck in Minnesota. The same goes for Illinois, but being stuck in Chicago is better to most people.

'Tis a fair point, although I would argue that Twin Cities > Chicago. However, with Illinois, aren't you also toward the bottom of the food chain within that limited geographic reach? Minnesota utterly owns its home market, Illinois is competing with numerous T14s as well as its peers.

Edited for grammar.

If you graduated in 2007 Illinois would have been better. But people who OCI'd in 2009? Minnesota might have been a better bet.

How will OCI 2011 be? Who knows.

Given that, I feel I should also disclose that I have no desire for biglaw, so my preferences may be (most probably are) different than most peoples' here.