Tulane vs University of Houston (low equal cost) Forum

[Duragon]

I will attend either Tulane (48) or the University of Houston (60), and hope to practice in Houston. I have strong offers from both schools, and cost of attendance will be low and almost equal for either choice. Tulane has more name recognition, more geographic reach and a much nicer law school, but I think UH is the practical decision. I'm married and I will spend my summers working (hopefully) in the city where I attend school, so there will be no six week stents in Texas if I attend Tulane.

I love the idea of living in New Orleans for three years, but I don't want to be stuck there after law school. If I attend Tulane, I think my best employment prospects will be in New Orleans on account of spending my summers there. On the other hand, If I attend UH, I'll hopefully have the opportunity to work with Houston employers during my summers and at the very least be able to take advantage of local networking opportunities. Nonetheless, Tulane is much more exciting to me, and if you have arguments for why Tulane is the preferable choice in my situation, I'd love to hear them. Any thoughts on this decision will be appreciated.

In case it helps your evaluations, my numbers are strong enough for good offers form UH and Tulane, but not high enough for UT. I will not be retaking the LSAT. I'm not interested in working in Dallas and did not apply to SMU. And, yes, I know there was a thread on this question not too long ago. http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... ton+market

Thank you very much for your thoughts.

[BobSacamano]

If you want to practice in Houston, Houston is most definitely where you should go. Do not worry about the rankings, they don't matter past a certain point. I really don't think there are any arguments for Tulane other than if you really think you might change your mind about where you want to work after school.

Congrats on the choice, you'll be happy in Houston. I'm a huuuge advocate for going the cheapest route in the area where you want to work, so I think you're golden.

[Aberzombie1892]

I will attend either Tulane (48) or the University of Houston (60), and hope to practice in Houston. I have strong offers from both schools, and cost of attendance will be low and almost equal for either choice. Tulane has more name recognition, more geographic reach and a much nicer law school, but I think UH is the practical decision. I'm married and I will spend my summers working (hopefully) in the city where I attend school, so there will be no six week stents in Texas if I attend Tulane.

I love the idea of living in New Orleans for three years, but I don't want to be stuck there after law school. If I attend Tulane, I think my best employment prospects will be in New Orleans on account of spending my summers there. On the other hand, If I attend UH, I'll hopefully have the opportunity to work with Houston employers during my summers and at the very least be able to take advantage of local networking opportunities. Nonetheless, Tulane is much more exciting to me, and if you have arguments for why Tulane is the preferable choice in my situation, I'd love to hear them. Any thoughts on this decision will be appreciated.

In case it helps your evaluations, my numbers are strong enough for good offers form UH and Tulane, but not high enough for UT. I will not be retaking the LSAT. I'm not interested in working in Dallas and did not apply to SMU. And, yes, I know there was a thread on this question not too long ago. http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... ton+market

Thank you very much for your thoughts.

If you have any questions about Tulane, PM me.
It's hard to really help without a more direct question because:
1. They will cost the same (for you)
2. They both feed into the geographic region you want to practice (so I would not be too worried about whether you are in Houston or not)
3. One is in the city you want to practice in while the other is generally better regarded by employers.


This is how I would feel about it: I would rather be median at Tulane than median at U of Houston. The former will still afford you the opportunities to work with mid-size firms (25+ lawyers) and employers in general that pay decently (considering the cost of law school). I worry that being median at U of Houston would mean that you would be doing a 2-10 lawyer firm (not by choice; this is not unlike Hofstra). True, there are plenty of U of Houston graduates in Houston in good positions, but that is because the vast majority of graduates year over year stay there (i.e. top 25% every year feed into good positions in Houston).

[The Sound Of Truth]

If you want to work in Houston go to UH. The 12 spots that Tulane is ranked higher don't come even close to making up for the missed networking opportunities while at UH for someone that wants to work in Houston.

[keg411]

If you want to work in Houston go to UH. The 12 spots that Tulane is ranked higher don't come even close to making up for the missed networking opportunities while at UH for someone that wants to work in Houston.

This. Don't move your family to New Orleans just so you can come back to Houston in 3 years. Go to Houston, stay in Houston, enjoy. Job opportunities in general out of Tulane are NOT significantly better despite the slight ranking difference.

[Stringer Bell]

UH places better for biglaw. I'm not sure what Aberzombie is using to compare a median students prospects between the two schools. I haven't seen anything available that would allow someone to make that inference, but that would be useful.

The other big thing is, if you are at UH you will have more opportunities to do your own networking going to things like bar association events and such. New Orleans is awesome and would be a cool place to go to school, but this seems like a pretty easy call for UH in your situatuion.

[Grizz]

Houston, duh.

[Duragon]

Thank you, everyone. I think you're correct that UH is the better choice. I'm not excited about passing up three years in New Orleans. Nor can I say I'm thrilled to be spending three years in the UH law school building. It seems to be of a distinct American Public School Bomb Shelter design. (There are portable buildings next to the law school that I don't even want to think about.) Of course, the appearance of the building is not a deciding factor in this decision.

Aberzombie, thank you to you as well. I was thrilled about going to Tulane before UH made an offer that put the schools at equal cost. I still think I would enjoy Tulane more than UH, but not enough to influence my academic performance, and I can't put my enjoyment before consideration of job opportunities. I'm not sure I understand what you mean by a more direct question. I'm just trying to decide which school offers me the best employment prospects in Houston, considering that any summer work I find will be in the city where I attend law school.