Top Law Schools

So, it looks like I'll need to make a decision between USC and WUSTL in the week. Same scholarship offer at both (20k/year). I don't feel particularly tied to either region over the other, but the fact that USC is in LA is appealing (both because it's a large city and because of weather). I'd like to go for the best chance of obtaining a good job. Please vote and explain your thinking, if possible. Thanks!

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job prospects are pretty similar, although in the latest nlj chart, usc seems to have the edge. plus, it seems you like LA. go to usc.

f0bolous wrote:job prospects are pretty similar, although in the latest nlj chart, usc seems to have the edge. plus, it seems you like LA. go to usc.

Well, I wouldn't say I necessarily like LA, but it appeals to me a bit more than St. Louis.

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dvd wrote:

f0bolous wrote:job prospects are pretty similar, although in the latest nlj chart, usc seems to have the edge. plus, it seems you like LA. go to usc.

WUSTL is pretty skeevy about the job prospects they publish - I get the feeling USC doesn't fudge their numbers as much.

Yeah, all that strange geographical breakup ("east north central"?) seems ambiguous.

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Only take USC if you are ok with So Cal long term. Only take WUSTL if you are comfortable in the mid-west long term. USC isn't a national school for more than the very top of the class, and neither is WUSTL. Within their regions there is no actual difference. I live in LA, the weather is great and it's a fun city. But incredibly expensive, so make sure you consider COL differences over three years.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess there's a huge scholarship at a school that's just as good somewhere here.

WHICHEVER PLACE YOU WOULD RATHER WORK OR HAVE EXISTING TIES THAT WILL HELP YOU NETWORK.

DerrickRose wrote:I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess there's a huge scholarship at a school that's just as good somewhere here.

Yeah this. Take the lower T1 school with the large scholarship.

bigben wrote:

DerrickRose wrote:I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess there's a huge scholarship at a school that's just as good somewhere here.

Yeah this. Take the lower T1 school with the large scholarship.

Oh, I'm thinking he might even be looking at a full-ish ride from a Hastings or an Illinois that he has disregarded because of rankings. (My apologies OP if I'm wrong about that)

DerrickRose wrote:

bigben wrote:

DerrickRose wrote:I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess there's a huge scholarship at a school that's just as good somewhere here.

Yeah this. Take the lower T1 school with the large scholarship.

Oh, I'm thinking he might even be looking at a full-ish ride from a Hastings or an Illinois that he has disregarded because of rankings. (My apologies OP if I'm wrong about that)

you could probably go to cooley with some nice scholarship money. come on, they have a national reputation...

DerrickRose wrote:

bigben wrote:

DerrickRose wrote:I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess there's a huge scholarship at a school that's just as good somewhere here.

Yeah this. Take the lower T1 school with the large scholarship.

Oh, I'm thinking he might even be looking at a full-ish ride from a Hastings or an Illinois that he has disregarded because of rankings. (My apologies OP if I'm wrong about that)

The only full scholarships I was offered were from IU-Bloomington and Temple. I definitely don't want to go to either of those schools. Illinois gave me $30,000/year, but I really would like to be in a city of some size. My wife is a musician and will not find any teaching or gigging work in Champaign, Illinois.

USC I think it is stronger in Cali/west than wustl is in the Midwest plus u get the nice weather and a decent city

Champaign has a pretty active music scene, but that's neither here nor there.

If you told Illinois about your offers you might be able to squeeze a full ride out of them, but if you wouldn't even take that, then its gotta be USC.

You will be fine at either school. I initially thought you should choose WUSTL, because cost of living is significantly lower there. However, after hearing about your wife, I think you should choose USC. She will enjoy the music scene in LA.

I don't think you could go wrong with either option. It just depends on where you want to work. If you're truly up in the air about that, ask your wife!

bump

thinkbig wrote: you could probably go to cooley with some nice scholarship money. come on, they have a national reputation...

Yeah... on TLS they do.

To answer OP's question, I think both are decent options. In general though, in the greater Midwest WUSTL has an edge over USC. And in CA and probably some of the nearby western states, USC has an edge over WUSTL.

I would disagree with the notion that "this is not even close." I think you could feasibly go either way. But the schools are so different that you should factor in what you would want/prefer.

All that said, if you are Midwestern and choose to go to USC, you can use your Midwestern roots to catapult you back to the Midwest, and vice versa, if you're Californian and go to WUSTL, you can use your CA roots as an excuse to get back to CA. Firms in rougher economies are concerned about flight risk to some extent. And if you are actually from their region, they'll be more likely to think you will want to stay there, and consequently, stay with their firm for a number of years.

jcunni5 wrote:USC I think it is stronger in Cali/west than wustl is in the Midwest plus u get the nice weather and a decent city

I don't think it's that so much as the Midwest has more highly ranked schools in its region that WUSTL is sometimes compared to.

When you think about it, CA really only has 4 schools that consistently make the top-30: Stanford, Berkeley, UCLA, and USC. Yes, I know, Davis is there this year as well, and Hastings is also good. But in general, those are the only "top" options.

The Midwest always has more schools in the top-30 consistently: Chicago, NU, Michigan, Wustl, Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa. And then the ones that make it in with occasional frequency such as Indiana, Wisconsin, and even OH State.

I dunno... I guess my point is that the Midwest as a whole has more top-notch schools than CA, so it would make sense that USC appears strong in CA.

You Gotta Have Faith wrote:I would disagree with the notion that "this is not even close." I think you could feasibly go either way. But the schools are so different that you should factor in what you would want/prefer.

I'd be interested in what differences you perceive between the two schools (other than the differences in location).

musicfor18 wrote:

dvd wrote:

f0bolous wrote:job prospects are pretty similar, although in the latest nlj chart, usc seems to have the edge. plus, it seems you like LA. go to usc.

WUSTL is pretty skeevy about the job prospects they publish - I get the feeling USC doesn't fudge their numbers as much.

Yeah, all that strange geographical breakup ("east north central"?) seems ambiguous.

??? they just use the region breakdown that usnews uses. east north central for the most part depicts chicago and a spatter of tertiary markets. east north central and west north central together make up the midwest.