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Okay, so I am having an incredibly hard time making a decision. I would deeply appreciate your feedback and opinions.

Here's some context: I am dead set on practicing PI Law and I would love to establish myself in San Francisco. My impression is that USF, SCU and Loyola are all excellent schools for PI law. However, Chapman offered me a great scholarship and if I went there, I would save even more money by living at home. The other three schools didn't offer me any money so I am trying to decide if I should focus on being in as little debt as possible or focus on establishing myself in the location I ultimately want to practice in.

Do you think these schools are all roughly similar in the quality of their programs for PI law? Should I take the money and go to Chapman or follow my dreams and go to USF? SCU and Loyola are still in the mix for me too because I am really impressed with what they have to offer.

Also, is it crazy to go to these schools at sticker price??

Flame

I know SCU has a strong PI program, but I do not know much about their LRAP. If you can get total forgiveness within 10 years go there.

Would have been a better flame if you had "Hastings v. SCU v. Chapman$$" cause then we could get swheat in here and all riled up.

If this is serious and chapman is full ride then chapman, if not, take 1 semester of Loyola at full price and drop out unless you do epic.

Ya, and I know SCU used to have a good IP thing going...apparently this is not as awesome as it used to be, but in any case assuming the SCU IP doesn't come into play...

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LOL wow swheat way to sabotage

I am 100% serious about this. I am currently waitlisted at Hastings and haven't heard back from Davis, so with seat deposits coming up, I need to choose one of these schools.

eth3n wrote:Would have been a better flame if you had "Hastings v. SCU v. Chapman$$" cause then we could get swheat in here and all riled up.

If this is serious and chapman is full ride then chapman, if not, take 1 semester of Loyola at full price and drop out unless you do epic.

Ya, and I know SCU used to have a good IP thing going...apparently this is not as awesome as it used to be, but in any case assuming the SCU IP doesn't come into play...

- edit -

LOL wow swheat way to sabotage

wtf dude I am being serious...we are talking about Public Interest not Intellectual Property. There is no way in hell I would suggest OP attend any of these schools if he/she were after private sector work.

I am not a rabid Hastings troll...I don't go around telling everyone they have to go to Hastings. I don't give a crap...if they like Davis' location better I will say for sure go to Davis. I am not sure it is even important to go to a higher ranked school for a public interest career. My only opinion is that Davis and Hastings should be considered equals, as they have been for 20+ years, and unfortunately Davis doesn't see things that way.

..but this isn't a Hastings vs. Davis thread so let's give that a rest

swheat wrote: wtf dude I am being serious...we are talking about Public Interest not Intellectual Property. There is no way in hell I would suggest OP attend any of these schools if he/she were after private sector work.

Lol swheat, I purposely added that after I saw you posted like 5 seconds before me. Just kidding around man. And the "if this is serious" was regarding the post that said "flame", not you.

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POMFIEND - I was wrong about PI/IP. No idea personally about PI focus of those schools, but I have to agree with swheat. Minimize debt and/or make sure you can get LRAP/IBR before you spend the money to go to one of those schools. If you pull a "but i need to see if I can make it in law school!" make sure you are prepared to drop out after 1st semester if you dont destroy finals.

eth3n wrote:

swheat wrote: wtf dude I am being serious...we are talking about Public Interest not Intellectual Property. There is no way in hell I would suggest OP attend any of these schools if he/she were after private sector work.

Lol swheat, I purposely added that after I saw you posted like 5 seconds before me. Just kidding around man. And the "if this is serious" was regarding the post that said "flame", not you.

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POMFIEND - I was wrong about PI/IP. No idea personally about PI focus of those schools, but I have to agree with swheat. Minimize debt and/or make sure you can get LRAP/IBR before you spend the money to go to one of those schools. If you pull a "but i need to see if I can make it in law school!" make sure you are prepared to drop out after 1st semester if you dont destroy finals.

Why do you say that?

What i mean is, some people will go to school no matter how poor the chance of success is (I am currently this kind of person -_-) just to see if they can make top10% or whatever, what I meant was you can cut your losses if you do poorly your first 1L semester, and you won't be out that much debt. There is no reason to be stuck in law school if you feel like your grades will never let you get a job. See what I mean? While it may be slightly pessimistic, I think its better to be pragmatic. But its each person's choice, just trying to give you some plans to minimize debt/risk.

pomfiend wrote:I am 100% serious about this. I am currently waitlisted at Hastings and haven't heard back from Davis, so with seat deposits coming up, I need to choose one of these schools.

If you are dead set on matriculating at a law school in the fall, then take the scholarship at Chapman and save money by living at home. If you can wait a year and believe you could increase the attractiveness of your application, then reapply next cycle and push for scholarship money at Bay area schools

I see what you mean now and I appreciate your input. Taking out that much money in loans is certainly a gamble and has a lot to do with why I am unable to make a decision right now.