Top Law Schools

I am trying to decide which SF Bay Area part time program to attend. Much to my surprise, I was admitted everywhere I applied (serious splitter with abysmal UGPA). I am a working police officer and interested in prosecution, policy, or police labor as areas of practice (nice alliteration!) I would especially like to hear from anyone with any direct experience with any of these schools, but here are my choices:

Santa Clara - they tossed me a ridiculous 3k/yr which may cover books. ranked 77, great local reputation, but perhaps more focused on serving the local tech sector than I am interested in

Pacific McGeorge - I think my top choice - ranked 95 - offered me 10k/yr - located in the state capital - seem to produce a lot of DAs and judges - highly ranked trial advocacy and legal writing programs

Golden Gate - tier 4, abysmal reputation, 100% scholarship, walking distance from work, I suspect I would be a rock star there, on ABA probation for terrible bar passage rates, but suprisingly, speaking to local attornies, their graduates (those that pass the bar and get jobs) are actually pretty good lawyers with good working skills

USF - tier 3, don't really know too much about the school and they didn't offer me a dime

honest opinions helpful

I think your rankings are off...

As of 2010 USNWR:

SCU: 93
McGeorge and USF: tied for 98
GGU: still tier 4

I'm not too sure about each of the school's part-time programs since I applied FT but I did consider all four schools at one point.

-McGeorge is in Sacramento...not even remotely considered Bay Area. You got offered 10K at McGeorge and 0 at USF, which in the long-run isn't really a substantial difference. If you want to work in the Bay, out of these two go for USF.

-I personally wouldnt choose GGU...there's just too much competition in the Bay Area to be scrapping for jobs out of a school that's at the bottom of the totem pole. I guess if you are seriously debt averse, go for it but don't assume you'll be a "rockstar." You COULD end up dominating but you could also get bent over by the curve.

-I would say just visit the schools and see which one you like the best. SCU, USF, and McGeorge are relatively equally ranked and each school has their strengths. Each school does have a different job market it caters to though so be mindful of that.

I visited all of the schools except GGU so if you have an specific questions, feel free to ask and hopefully I can help you out.

Here's the thing dude: Yes, GGU is a T4 school, but depending on what the conditions are for maintaining your full ride, it's your best option. None of the other schools are any good. Going $150,000+ in debt for a degree from SCU, McGeorge or USF in this economy is a really, really bad idea. Take the money.