Case Western or OSU Forum

[creamedcats]

Case: 35k/year scholarship (out of 40k tuition), guaranteed academic year research stipend (not large)
OSU: 12k/year scholarship, in-state tuition (24k)

Case PRO: Hometown/Family, Cheaper, Decent Portability
Case CON: Ranked Lower, Not as Competitive in Non-Cleveland

OSU PRO: Ranked Higher, More Competitive in Ohio/Private Sector, Larger University/College Town, Name Recognition
OSU CON: More Expensive

Basically I'm looking for anyone who can convincingly argue that me turning down OSU to go to Case because I want to be back in my hometown (I've been abroad for years) would be significantly bad for my studies and career. My future ambitions are not certain, but they involve at least a short stint in DC after law school. Wanting to go to school in Cleveland/Columbus =/ wanting to work there forever. I know OSU is the higher ranked school. Is the difference so big that I will find myself regretting attending Case?

The other option is stay in my current job (biglaw paralegal/editor/researcher) and reapply to everything. My job is pretty good, even a little cushy, but it's not big money. I could probably push my LSAT average closer to 170.

Thanks.

[snowpeach06]

From what I've read, OSU is better for staying in Ohio, Case is better for leaving. However, I was confused. Was 35k the scholarship you got, or how much you'd be paying? If that is the scholarship, then the difference in tuition makes it more than worth it to go to Case. In fact, even if Case were more, there is only a slight variation in rankings, and I believe that Case is just better regarded period.

IMO, you'd be silly not to go to Case. Each spot up the rankings doesn't really matter as much as one would think. In the end, other things are far more important.

[creamedcats]

35,000/year scholarship from Case, 12,000/year from OSU. Case costs 40k, OSU costs 24k.

[Creed Fan]

Don't think twice....go to THE Ohio State University.

[charlesjd]

Go with Case..... 5k a year???? That is a deal. Case btw places well outside of Ohio, better than in (OSU dominates Ohio). If you want to stay in Ohio and work whatever BigLaw that exists there, then OSU is the choice. However Case has big connections in Jones Day and a few others from what I hear.

[84Sunbird2000]

Since you want to go to DC at some point after you graduate, Case is better. They have a very good alumni base in DC. Also, would/could you stay at home and thus save on rent at Case? Anyway, the ranking difference really shouldn't get to you, and Case's reputation is on par with OSU.

I think you'd probably be happy at either place, but when it comes to OSU v. Case debates, I've found myself a strong Case partisan because they do have such genuinely solid portability.

[Nat1018]

I've been debating the exact same question and I think I'm leaning towards OSU. I don't know exacly where I want to practice after gradution so the portability of the degree is important to me. I've been hearing that some people think Case places better out of state, but OSU places about 40% of their grads out of state. Being a state school where the majority of people going there are from OH, a 40% out-of-state placement is great. Case places 53.9% out-of-state but I'm going to assume that some of those people are from another state originally anyways and might have some connections. I've been hearing that Case's program is "going downhill" and I wasn't that impressed at their ASD.

[charlesjd]

"going downhill".

Where did you hear this?

[creamedcats]

"going downhill".

Where did you hear this?

Also interested. In terms of rankings, the university overall isn't as outstanding as it once was, and the law school has been hopping all over the place.

[Nat1018]

"going downhill".

Where did you hear this?

I would take that with a huge grain of salt as I heard it from a student at Cleveland Marshall. Also I started this exact same thread a while ago and someone said the reputation of Case amongst law firms in OH is declining. Heres a link to that thread:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 1&t=110368

Also I probably am a little biased because I went to undergrad at Case and am ready for a change of scenery.

Here are links to their employment stats:
http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/careerservices ... ss2008.php

http://law.case.edu/careerservices/Stud ... stics.aspx

[creamedcats]

Marshall and Case both place well in Cleveland; Marshall might even place better. In Ohio, OSU places better overall. These are not really disputable points.

I've read/posted in the previous thread, but nobody ever served up anything convincing about Case really going downhill. What bothered you at the ASD? I heard there were few if any students on hand, for one thing.

[snowpeach06]

"going downhill".

Where did you hear this?

I would take that with a huge grain of salt as I heard it from a student at Cleveland Marshall. Also I started this exact same thread a while ago and someone said the reputation of Case amongst law firms in OH is declining. Heres a link to that thread:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 1&t=110368

Also I probably am a little biased because I went to undergrad at Case and am ready for a change of scenery.

Here are links to their employment stats:
http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/careerservices ... ss2008.php

http://law.case.edu/careerservices/Stud ... stics.aspx

I'm an undergrad here too and was 99.9% sure I was leaving since I kind of hated Cleveland and Case. I just applied for the hell of it. But now, I think Case is my top choice, since pretty much any change of scenery is going to be really expensive and Case gave me a good scholarship. I also realized that Cleveland doesn't suck that much. It's not a big city, but there are things to do if you look. Plus, their good stats of placing out of state have me convinced. Much better than the schools i"m looking at in other locations. I was seriously considering Temple as well, but temple grads seem stuck in Philly, and I know I want NY or DC.

Also, you know Cleveland Marshall kids do whatever they can to make themselves feel better about constantly being in Case's shadow. That one time they had a better bar passage rate they went around saying they were a better school period. They are fine in Cleveland, but, in my opinion, that isn't saying much.

[creamedcats]

Marshall is good for what Marshall does, but that's not the question. I am also quite high on Cleveland, no need to convert me.

[84Sunbird2000]

So:

You like Cleveland and would prefer to return there: Point Case.
You want to go and work in DC, at least for a while: Point Case.
Case will save you about $20k over OSU (3 years): Point Case.

OP's original statement was whether OP would regret turning down OSU for Case (where OP admitted a preference to live), and based on OP's statements, I believe that the opposite would be true (would regret not going to Case), especially for DC.

[creamedcats]

Bump.

I may have sentimental reasons for leaning towards Case, but I am sincerely looking for more info, particularly evidence of the a downward trend, if it in fact exists. One year of lousy bar passage does not worry me. I am going to pass the bar. What does bother me about Case?

- Interim Dean after an unhappy demotion of the former Dean
- Declining out of state placements (even if they're still pretty good)
- Strong reliance in marketing/recruiting on ranked specialty programs
- Not knowing if recent bad bar numbers/grades/faculty departures are part of a trend

Specific things like that would be helpful. Many posters say OSU is 'obviously' better and in terms of certain areas (dispute resolution), in-state placements, facilities and faculty diversity that seems fairly evident to me. Even so, I see lots of good things about Case, and the money is way better. I'd like to be sure I'm not overlooking the bad things because I happen to get a good vibe from the school/scholarship. And yes, I'm being neurotic about investigating every little thing. Thanks.

[snowpeach06]

Bump.

I may have sentimental reasons for leaning towards Case, but I am sincerely looking for more info, particularly evidence of the a downward trend, if it in fact exists. One year of lousy bar passage does not worry me. I am going to pass the bar. What does bother me about Case?

- Interim Dean after an unhappy demotion of the former Dean
- Declining out of state placements (even if they're still pretty good)
- Strong reliance in marketing/recruiting on ranked specialty programs
- Not knowing if recent bad bar numbers/grades/faculty departures are part of a trend

Specific things like that would be helpful. Many posters say OSU is 'obviously' better and in terms of certain areas (dispute resolution), in-state placements, facilities and faculty diversity that seems fairly evident to me. Even so, I see lots of good things about Case, and the money is way better. I'd like to be sure I'm not overlooking the bad things because I happen to get a good vibe from the school/scholarship. And yes, I'm being neurotic about investigating every little thing. Thanks.

I've been paranoid about the job thing too! That paired with the money is pretty much what has convinced me of Case. But then I get this nagging feeling of "what if I really will be stuck in Ohio?" and even kind of a "shit, I'm going to be bored for the next three years of my life." I think I need to like, visit the law school again.

[creamedcats]

Unless you find law school boring in general, you won't be bored. Depends what you do for fun, of course...

[snowpeach06]

Coventry is cool, the music scene is good. Luckily-ish, as an undergrad here the people are all incredibly boring and never want to leave the room, so I'm not already sick of things. But, there is a lot more variety in other places. My problem is I compare everything to London (where I studied abroad), and there you can obviously do something new every single day. So pretty much anywhere is a let-down. But perhaps Cleveland more so than some other cities.

[TTH]

I'm not impressed at all by Case, but if you want to go to DC after graduation, then I'd go with there. Send the AcComms at Moritz an e-mail and tell them you'd like me to receive whatever scholarship money you're passing up on.

[Nat1018]

It really sounds like you want to go to school in Cleveland and you want Case. Both OSU and Case are rather regional schools in general and you'd have to do well at both schools to eventually get out of OH and work in DC. In your case, with a better scholarship from Case than OSU...maybe that's a better choice for you. I just don't think their out-of-state placement percentages are that significantly different