Top Law Schools

Hi everyone! Please help me decide between these schools!
Here is the scenario: I am from Northern California but currently live in Los Angeles. I dreamed of going to San Francisco for Law School but UC Hastings did not agree. I want to go to school in a big city but I am also very concerned about the cost of school because I am financing it entirely on my own and intend to go into Public Interest International Human Rights work. I believe that I would like to practice in San Francisco but I do not want to limit myself entirely. I am worried Santa Clara would do that. On the alternative, I do not want to have to stay and work in any of the other cities following school, plus I would like to know that I would be able to practice internationally as well.
So here is the low down on the schools and their offers:
University of AZ $8k scholarship/tuition $39k/yr/rank 43(Tucson,AZ-def not a big city location :/)
Brooklyn Law $7k scholarship/tuition $44/K/Yr/rank 61 (Awesome location but high COL)
Lewis & Clark $8k scholarship (2.95 gpa stipulation)/tuition $35k/yr/rank 61 (15mins from Portland)
Santa Clara $8k Scholarship (top 25% stipulation)/tuition $39k/yr/rank 85 (bay area but almost 2 hours south of SF and SC is boring!)

So there you go! Please help me out! SCU's deposit is due tomorrow!! On a side note I was accepted at American but offered no $ and with their $45k price tag I decided to pass. I have also been waitlisted at Davis and Cardozo and would strongly consider both if I get pulled off the wait.

Please help. Thanks!!

AZ can get you into phoenix pretty easily fwiw

Don't go if you don't want to practice in the market these schools feed into.

So then would you suggest that I go to Santa Clara despite it's low rank and scholarship stipulation? Or Brooklyn despite it's cost?

Yes, once you get outside of the top 20 or so schools, no one cares about any schools but the regional one. People in the area around Santa Clara are going to respect a degree from there out of proportion to the ranking. Note tho that none of the schools on your list is likely to get you a good job anywhere. Brooklyn Law will not get you anywhere in CA.

Edit: Actualy U of A top of class places ok in Cali.

Veyron wrote:Yes, once you get outside of the top 20 or so schools, no one cares about any schools but the regional one. People in the area around Santa Clara are going to respect a degree from there out of proportion to the ranking. Note tho that none of the schools on your list is likely to get you a good job anywhere. Brooklyn Law will not get you anywhere in CA.

Edit: Actualy U of A top of class places ok in Cali.

Thanks for the advice but good job is relative to the person. I am do not want to do BigLaw, so it is more important for me to go to a school that places well in government or public interest.

The county where Santa Clara is located has one of the highest public defender starting salaries in the country. Thought you should know.

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Decent government jobs (including PD ones in the area) and good PI jobs that pay above 30k are almost as competitive as biglaw.

Santa Clara is about 1 hour south of SF. Just an FYI.

I see on the poll that more people are choosing U of AZ over SCU. Feel like explaining why?

As I've said before, the top of the class at U of A (not U of AZ) has some solid opportunities in SoCal and you could consider SoCal to be part of the region in which it places. If you think you can rank highly in the class and you like the school - go for it.

Looks like you are not getting your international jobs based on your JD if these are your choices, so go wherever you feel like.