small town law school Forum

[sharpshooter]

so i have one year left of UG and am starting to look at where all i want to apply. My UG school is in a small beautiful town (pop. 15,000) in a rural setting with a decent sized city about 45 minutes away. I have loved this place for the past three years and would like to go to law school in a similar setting. Any thoughts?

[arich24]

Not sure of your stats or geographic interests, but Penn State Dickinson's Carlisle campus sounds right up your ally. Very small quaint colonial town with Harrisburg just 20 minutes away and Philly, DC, and NYC an easy train ride away.

[manbearwig]

Not sure of your stats or geographic interests, but Penn State Dickinson's Carlisle campus sounds right up your ally. Very small quaint colonial town with Harrisburg just 20 minutes away and Philly, DC, and NYC an easy train ride away.

Lol. (Sorry, I went to Dickinson College.) With Penn State Dickinson, you just gotta be sure you don't mind being in central PA for (at least) the first part of your law career. It takes a certain type of person; apparently central PA is one of the most consistently conservative areas in the country. Carlisle's also kind of...boring. There are like five bars, and the non-townie ones tend to be overrun with Dickinson College seniors. Nightlife is basically nonexistent.

But, it is a cute town. Lots of cute shops and restaurants you wouldn't expect in central PA.

[Grizz]

so i have one year left of UG and am starting to look at where all i want to apply. My UG school is in a small beautiful town (pop. 15,000) in a rural setting with a decent sized city about 45 minutes away. I have loved this place for the past three years and would like to go to law school in a similar setting. Any thoughts?

Depends on the market you want to end up in.

[SpaceDawg]

Washington and Lee or William and Mary

[deadpanic]

Ole Miss (unless you have stats for T20 or hate the South)



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Population is around 15,000 without the students. Double that with the students. Memphis is about an hour away.

[sharpshooter]

thanks for the info. And I think Ole Miss may have just found its way on to my list of schools. My numbers are 3.3 gpa and expecting a mid 160 from my June lsat. Not really worried with trying to get into a T20 simply because I dont see myself trying to get on with a huge competitive firm after graduation and i avoid big cities like the plague. so a place with lower standards is fine with me, especially if it gets me some $

[Grizz]

thanks for the info. And I think Ole Miss may have just found its way on to my list of schools.

Make sure you want to practice in MS.

Not really worried with trying to get into a T20 simply because I dont see myself trying to get on with a huge competitive firm after graduation and i avoid big cities like the plague. so a place with lower standards is fine with me, especially if it gets me some $

The thing is, in this economy, people from top schools are increasingly being shut out of biglaw, then going back home or to a different region to try to pick up PI and govt jobs (for the IBR), small firms, or anything they can find. The losers in this game are less prestigious T2, T3, and T4 schools. There are exceptions, however, for places like Ole Miss or South Carolina where the markets are very insular. Generally, though, I would tread with extreme caution.

The standard TLS wisdom - go national or the best school (with $$) in the region you want to practice - still applies.

[arich24]

Not sure of your stats or geographic interests, but Penn State Dickinson's Carlisle campus sounds right up your ally. Very small quaint colonial town with Harrisburg just 20 minutes away and Philly, DC, and NYC an easy train ride away.

Lol. (Sorry, I went to Dickinson College.) With Penn State Dickinson, you just gotta be sure you don't mind being in central PA for (at least) the first part of your law career. It takes a certain type of person; apparently central PA is one of the most consistently conservative areas in the country. Carlisle's also kind of...boring. There are like five bars, and the non-townie ones tend to be overrun with Dickinson College seniors. Nightlife is basically nonexistent.

But, it is a cute town. Lots of cute shops and restaurants you wouldn't expect in central PA.

Haha, trust me, I'm at PSU Dickinson Carlisle right now (rising 3L) and agree with everything you said. It has beena great town for staying focused...and as far as placement, though Central PA is def. the highest, people are placing all over (MD, DC, NYC, CA, etc etc).

As far as Ole Miss, I'm originally from the south (Louisiana), and it's not really known for being a top school down there...obviously over shadowed by Tulane, but def. has great placement in MS and neighboring states!

Good luck!

[goawaybee]

weather/climate.

Yankee style, Southern style....midwest, way out west.

Def. does matter where you want to end up, regionally, weather again...

and yes weather/climate matters, why go to a place that is gray and cold 6 months out of the year if you don't want to...the people are often a direct reflection of this, adjusting with the seasons of course.

Plenty of schools you can live outside of town( I consider this to be anything between 5k-300k people) and find nice little rural type spot to post up at for 3 yrs. In some places the suburban sprawl stretches a bit more but you have many options to consider. I even debated getting a bedroom to rent for days I didn't feel like heading out to the sticks....what is another couple hundred a month to maintain your sanity. I am similar. Gave up city thing, just grew tired of it and I really don't like dealing with the "paper chase" chaos, pollution, 1 million or more people running around and getting my way. I'M FOCUSED MAN..type of thing.

Figure out how much debt you are willing to take on, where you want to work then go shopping.

Good luck and I hope you find a peaceful place that makes you happy.

[Borhas]

www.top-law-schools.com.org