Oregon vs ASU Forum

[tjeff10]

I'm an Oregon native deciding between Oregon Law and ASU Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law.
Oregon provided me with 10k scholarship. ASU no money, although esems like they have a wider array of concernations available as I'm not exactly sure the type of law I want to practice. I'm initially thinking something science related given my biology background. ASU has a center for science, technology, innovation.

My concern with Oregon is the terrible job market in Portland. I'm willing to stay and work in Phoenix/SW for some time after graduation, but eventually would like to settle back to Portland.

I've toiled over this decision for several weeks now... including two deposit deadline extensions. Any ideas or feedback would be greatly appreciated. Hope you're all doing well!

TJ

[najumobi]

I'm an Oregon native deciding between Oregon Law and ASU Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law.
Oregon provided me with 10k scholarship. ASU no money, although esems like they have a wider array of concernations available as I'm not exactly sure the type of law I want to practice. I'm initially thinking something science related given my biology background. ASU has a center for science, technology, innovation.

My concern with Oregon is the terrible job market in Portland. I'm willing to stay and work in Phoenix/SW for some time after graduation, but eventually would like to settle back to Portland.

I've toiled over this decision for several weeks now... including two deposit deadline extensions. Any ideas or feedback would be greatly appreciated. Hope you're all doing well!

TJ

as an out of state asu student you'd be paying 40k more for lawschool than if you went to oregon. even if you can get in-state at asu for 2nd and 3rd years you'd still be paying 13k more. so i guess you have to weigh whether increased job prospects are worth 13k-40k. i'm thinking that if you want to get into something like public interest for which you wouldn't have to worry as much about school costs, going to asu would be a good idea.

[imbored25]

if you eventually want to work in oregon than go to oregon, unless you have some really good connections that can get you a job when you go back, also have you checked out l&c

[Mr. Fancy]

Are there in stipulations for keeping your scholarship at UO (such as you have to keep a minimum gpa)?

If there is not, UO seems like a good deal for you (14k each year). You won’t get a big firm job out of UO, but if you want to stay in Oregon, I would choose UO.

[tjeff10]

1. No stipulations on the Oregon scholarship (its from the University, not the Law School)... so potential for more money years 2 and 3.

2. Considered L&C... although they gave me no money and want me to start out in the Evening Division program.

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Advantages/Disadvantages about possibly transferring out of Oregon or ASU to a better law school?

Any more ideas about ASU vs Oregon?

[superflush]

I'm an Oregon native deciding between Oregon Law and ASU Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law.
Oregon provided me with 10k scholarship. ASU no money, although esems like they have a wider array of concernations available as I'm not exactly sure the type of law I want to practice. I'm initially thinking something science related given my biology background. ASU has a center for science, technology, innovation.

My concern with Oregon is the terrible job market in Portland. I'm willing to stay and work in Phoenix/SW for some time after graduation, but eventually would like to settle back to Portland.

I've toiled over this decision for several weeks now... including two deposit deadline extensions. Any ideas or feedback would be greatly appreciated. Hope you're all doing well!

TJ

I thought I already replied to this thread, but apparently not.
Both of the schools are regional, so choose on region. There is huge difference in culture and weather between the Phoenix area and Oregon. I'd find it pretty surprising if you didn't lean one way or the other based on that.
What would the total COA be for each? You probably have in-state tuition at UO + the scholarship.
Honestly, I'd go to Oregon. The campus and law building are great, and I'd much rather live in Portland than Phoenix.

[pre-law]

I'm an Oregon native deciding between Oregon Law and ASU Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law.
Oregon provided me with 10k scholarship. ASU no money, although esems like they have a wider array of concernations available as I'm not exactly sure the type of law I want to practice. I'm initially thinking something science related given my biology background. ASU has a center for science, technology, innovation.

My concern with Oregon is the terrible job market in Portland. I'm willing to stay and work in Phoenix/SW for some time after graduation, but eventually would like to settle back to Portland.

I've toiled over this decision for several weeks now... including two deposit deadline extensions. Any ideas or feedback would be greatly appreciated. Hope you're all doing well!

TJ

I was faced with this same decision as an out of state (California) resident. I visited both Oregon and ASU during the ASW. I received a guaranteed $15k scholarship for 1L only at ASU. Oregon gave me $6k per year (scholarship eligible for all 3 years) assuming I remained in the top 1/3 of my class. Here is how I evaluated these 2 choices:

Facilities:
Oregon won hands down. They had the nicest law school facilities out of all of the schools I visited. I was not impressed with ASU's facilities outside of their library.

Student Body:
Talking to the prospective students and current students at each school I got the impression that ASU students were brighter and more intelligent than Oregon's. ASU's prospective students were more articulate, seemed more confident in themselves as to why they were going to law school (at Oregon a few incoming 1Ls admitted they were just going because their parents wanted them too and/or they didn't know what else they would do with their liberal arts degree). Also, ASU's students were deliberating on offers from more reputable schools (Arizona, Texas, UC Hastings, Wake Forest, USC, etc) than Oregon's students (Lewis & Clark, Seattle U, Gonzaga, Willamette, etc).

Location:
This is going to come down to personal preference. I went to college in the Pacific Northwest (University of Washington) and was looking to attend law school and start my legal career in a warm location. Naturally, Arizona was a better fit for me than the state of Oregon. Also, I'm not the biggest fan of Eugene. Its an okay city and has enough activities (esp outdoor) to keep you happy but I preferred Tempe, Scottsdale, Phoenix given the plethora of nightlife, entertainment, and outdoor opportunities available.

Employment:
Both schools are regional schools so in all likelihood you will be starting out your career in the state of the school you attend. One of the factors that drew me to Oregon was the opportunity to work in Portland after law school. However, from talking to current students at Oregon, I got the impression that Oregon wasn't even the top dog law school in Portland (Surprising for the state's flagship public law school). Students mentioned Portland firms, and non-profits preferred Lewis & Clark to Oregon and the University of Washington had infiltrated Portland as a secondary market to Seattle.

This contrasted greatly with ASU. Phoenix is the 5th largest city in the country and ASU is the only accredited law school in the Phoenix metro area! ASU students really hammered home that they get first dibs in Phoenix and the only consistent competition they face is from a comparably ranked, yet smaller law school (enrollment), in the University of Arizona. So in terms of market saturation, ASU kicked Oregon's butt. If you go to ASU, you should feel very confident that at the worst you will be able to secure a legal job in Phoenix shortly after graduation (I think the percentage is 99.7% within 9 months). Can't say the same thing about Oregon in Portland. Given the financial risks of law school, this was the biggest factor in my decision and ultimately helped me pick ASU over Oregon for law school.

Hope that helps!