Top Law Schools

Having a hard time with this one, harder than I thought! Price is equal so that is a moot point, and both are 2 hours away from me so I will have to move to either one, and I am not really impressed/unimpressed with either of their locations. I am fine with staying in NC, or not. I am only tied to the east coast not a state in general.

Wake has better NLJ250 placement, better federal clerkship placement, higher median LSAT, and smaller classes. About the only thing UNC has higher is a US News ranking (due to the higher lawyer/judge rating). What do you guys think? Any reason to lean towards one over the other? Visiting UNC on the 19th, maybe that will be the deciding factor.

If this were me (in your all costs are equal scenario), I'd probably choose UNC over Wake. BUT ... I really like NC and would prefer to work there, also IMO Chapel Hill > Winston Salem. They're really so similar though, hopefully after visiting you'll have a better idea.

Good choice to have... I'd say that if cost is the same UNC will give you better lay-appeal and maybe a bit more portability as a result of that. Chapel Hill is definitely a lot nicer than Winston is, but I thought the actual law building at Wake was nicer.

However- at Wake they share a building with the business school, and although they're completing a renovation on the business-side for next year, it will also involve merging the undergrad business program into the same building. As a result you're going to have a whole lot more young people milling about, which could either be a plus or a minus depending on your preference. On the plus-side, they're going to have a really nice food court in the new business addition, which should make eating lunch on campus a bit nicer. UNC Law only has a little convenience store type thing where they bring in food from the outside world for students to eat.

Enjoy your visit!

i think you should go to wake if both will cost you the same or if wake is cheaper. but i think that it is more likely that unc will be much cheaper for you than wake. If UNC is in fact cheaper go there.

najumobi wrote:i think you should go to wake if both will cost you the same or if wake is cheaper. but i think that it is more likely that unc will be much cheaper for you than wake. If UNC is in fact cheaper go there.

Basically.

Wake may marginally be better, but it's not worth paying 2x (for in state students - I'm assuming that's the difference) as much as UNC.

Not a cost debate, that is equal, both are virtually free to me. UNC does have a little more lay prestige, but neither are anywhere near HYP status. I'm trying to figure out why UNC's lawyer/judge ranking is so high yet their placement is so low. I'm not really interested in Big Law but I would love the op to do a federal clerkship.

Edit: Addressed by OP.

It is weird that UNC has such a high lawyer/judge ranking but does so poorly with placement!

LSATfromNC wrote:Not a cost debate, that is equal, both are virtually free to me. UNC does have a little more lay prestige, but neither are anywhere near HYP status. I'm trying to figure out why UNC's lawyer/judge ranking is so high yet their placement is so low. I'm not really interested in Big Law but I would love the op to do a federal clerkship.

a greater percentage of UNC enter public interest (6% to 3%) while a greater percentage of wake students get federal clerkships (6% to 2%)

I'd pick Wake. It's got more money and in the next few years I think it's ranking will be higher than UNC. In addition UNC is disorganized and cavalier toward education, I'm not sure it's a very good school.

missvik218 wrote:Edit: Addressed by OP.

It is weird that UNC has such a high lawyer/judge ranking but does so poorly with placement!

yeah i'm surprised by this. also for the class of 2007 30% of unc students were unemployed at graduation compared to wake's 20%.

WAKE!!!

and, per UNC's lawyer/judge scores, keep in mind that Wake is ranked #28 by that measure (unc is #17)---just wanted to point out that WFU ranks in lawyer/judge scores above their USNWR as well.

wake places better (according to '09 clerkship/njl250 stats), has smaller classes, and is making a $15million expansion in the middle of this recession. i could go on and on, but, in the end, it is a matter of preference if the costs are the same.

najumobi wrote:

missvik218 wrote:Edit: Addressed by OP.

It is weird that UNC has such a high lawyer/judge ranking but does so poorly with placement!

yeah i'm surprised by this. also for the class of 2007 30% of unc students were unemployed at graduation compared to wake's 20%.

new stats read differently, iirc.

do either scholarships have stipulations? if you lose a scholly, UNC would be a better choice because even without one you'd only be paying about $16k per year whereas at wake you'd cough up around $35k.

just a contingency thing, not doubting your abilities.

I still lean towards unc here but wake's latest employment stats make this very tough. I feel like unc will bounce back due to its lawyer/judge rep. I don't know, maybe I will end up choosing wake over unc in the last minute because of these new placement stats.

jss1100 wrote:I still lean towards unc here but wake's latest employment stats make this very tough. I feel like unc will bounce back due to its lawyer/judge rep. I don't know, maybe I will end up choosing wake over unc in the last minute because of these new placement stats.

wake didnt just overtake unc within the last year....even for the current usnews stats which shows 2007 grads wake has better placement than unc. if one picks unc over it should be because it's cheaper, they want into public interest, or they want to be associated with the name.

wake's basketball team is better this year - even though unc thumped them a couple weekends ago. unc wont even make the tournament unless they win their conference tournament, while wake is in with a possible 6-8 seed. so, if you were going to decide law schools like me:

wake > unc

hth