Top Law Schools

Before Voting Consider this:

I want to practice PI law, including criminal, gov't, non-profit, etc

Cincinnati has the Graduate Metro Rate allowing me to get instate tuition + $120 in my first year (About 21k) plus the scholarship

I have visited every school except Hofstra and would feel comfortable living in any of these places

I am a NY resident so I would get instate at Buffalo (about 16k) plus the scholarship

I don't care about BigLaw or where I practice.

Thanks for your input and your votes.

Also, I am on the wait list at W&M and Iowa. I really don't know what I would do if I committed to a school, set up shop in that city, then got a call from W&M saying ive been accepted in August. Any input on that would be helpful as well.

I'm not willing to ride out any waitlists, but that's because I have an SO and she needs to make plans as much as I do.

I'd pick Cincinnati. I dig the small class sizes and the relatively cheap tuition.

Take Case, even though you are riding at more debt. You may change your mind about what kind of law as you get olde (like you get married and have a family and that pay check doesn't go as far as when you were a bachelor).

Ditto for the Iowa and William and Mary wailist. I am on both, but I am pulling out of the Iowa pool. William and Mary is my top choice and I'm willing to ride out that waitlist until late July. Once August rolls around and I am settled and moved in there is no way I throw my life into chaos for any school not named HYS.

Bump

There is something to be said for 14k/year discount and smaller classes, if you favor smaller classes and a surprisingly good student/teacher ratio. Cinci does not seem to be a bad choice for you. I am not sure how it compares in terms of Public Interest. Have you done some specific research in that regard?

Case is a bigger (more students, more faculty) school in a slightly larger market (Cleveland vs. Southern Ohio) with more specialization options like health/international, but neither school is going to let you down in terms of Ohio overall. My personal preference is Case, but would I go case if you offered me $42,000 not to, given a comparable school? Not sure.

creamedcats wrote:There is something to be said for 14k/year discount and smaller classes, if you favor smaller classes and a surprisingly good student/teacher ratio. Cinci does not seem to be a bad choice for you. I am not sure how it compares in terms of Public Interest. Have you done some specific research in that regard?

Case is a bigger (more students, more faculty) school in a slightly larger market (Cleveland vs. Southern Ohio) with more specialization options like health/international, but neither school is going to let you down in terms of Ohio overall. My personal preference is Case, but would I go case if you offered me $42,000 not to, given a comparable school? Not sure.

Cincinnati is one of the top 10 schools for placement percentage in public interest jobs according to Nat'l Jurist.

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/cypress ... startid=26

I'm curious as to the results of this little poll. I mean 17 votes is hardly an adequate sample, but it is what it is. What I'm curious about is why people are picking Case over Cincinnati? I mean from a pure ranking standpoint Cincy is 52 and Case is 55. The gap is purely statistical and probably of no real, tangible utility in making the decision (a difference of one point on the USN Ranking system). The schools receive similar accolades from the TLS profiles. I'm just wondering if it the perception of the schools and not based on any real factors? Is it because Case Western as a brand is more well-known than U of Cincinnati?

I would argue that these schools are, when considering the overall quality, indistinguishable. It is their individual programs, and strengths that separate the two (i.e. differing clinics, certain faculty specialties, class size, facilities, location). While they are certainly not HYS, I would think that going to one over the other is not going to in any meaningful way alter my future job opportunities and it really is a decision on which school I would be most comfortable at.

I do value the input of my fellow TLSer's but at the same time I wonder if the few votes cast are knee jerk reactions. Did the people who voted even read my OP? I wonder....

I still would like more input, I'm on the precipice of a decision. I'm essentially looking to validate the decision I have already made. I had a gut reaction as to what school I liked the best and since then I have been to sell myself on that decision and see of the other schools can present me with adequate reasoning to go to them over the school I have chosen. So keep it coming, I would like all the input I can garner.

I think you'll do fine at U of Cinci, but I really don't know that much about it. You seem to have done your homework and they're giving you a far better deal. The Case name might be a little better known, but so what? Unless you can negotiate for more money (possible?) AND have a compelling reason to pick it over Cinci, and as long as you are, as you say, comfortable with Cincinnati, why not go there?

My preference is for a slightly larger law school and I like Cleveland better than Cinci, but if neither of those matter to you and you're sure about PI, I think your choice is pretty obvious. PI isn't big money, so saving money now matters more, Cinci ranks better in that regard, etc.

creamedcats wrote:I think you'll do fine at U of Cinci, but I really don't know that much about it. You seem to have done your homework and they're giving you a far better deal. The Case name might be a little better known, but so what? Unless you can negotiate for more money (possible?) AND have a compelling reason to pick it over Cinci, and as long as you are, as you say, comfortable with Cincinnati, why not go there?

My preference is for a slightly larger law school and I like Cleveland better than Cinci, but if neither of those matter to you and you're sure about PI, I think your choice is pretty obvious. PI isn't big money, so saving money now matters more, Cinci ranks better in that regard, etc.

Thanks for the input, man. I was basically looking for someone to tell me that I am not crazy for taking Cincinnati over Case Western.

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I picked Cincy. You want to do PI, so your best bet is a small urban school that is inexpensive and Cincy fits that bill quite nicely .

keg411 wrote:I picked Cincy. You want to do PI, so your best bet is a small urban school that is inexpensive and Cincy fits that bill quite nicely .

CR. Case is overrated. Case closed. (HA HA HA HA!)