Top Law Schools

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Where do you want to practice? Mizzou does well in Kansas City and pretty well in St. Louis, though SLU would be a better choice for St. Louis (better alumni network in the area, more opportunity to network).

I'm not sure about the drop in ranking, though it's a little disconcerting. I know the school has been having tough times financially, so that might have something to do with it. Unfortunately, things are going to get worse before they get better: university funding was just reduced again.

Of course, SLU also took a tumble in the rankings to tier 3. The past year or so has not been kind to Missouri schools (other than WUSTL). But there isn't much outside competition for KC/STL jobs, so your prospects won't suffer as much as the drop in rank might indicate.

I think sluguy14's post is pretty good.

I think the campuses are comparable. I would also consider UMKC though.

I would go for the cheapest for you unless you are interested in a specific area of law (i.e. tax law, healthcare law, indigenous law, etc.) that is weak at one school and strong at another.

SLU for the Lou
UMKC/KU for KC

Mizzou for either, but you'll be stuck in the middle of MO.

Also, don't rule out Wash U if you haven't taken the LSAT yet. Wash U (which I'll be attending) trumps all of the above in either market.

kdw94780 wrote:Also, don't rule out Wash U if you haven't taken the LSAT yet. Wash U (which I'll be attending) trumps all of the above in either market.

+1

Go for the T19!

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GettingReady2010 wrote:

NU_Jet55 wrote:

kdw94780 wrote:Also, don't rule out Wash U if you haven't taken the LSAT yet. Wash U (which I'll be attending) trumps all of the above in either market.

+1

Go for the T19!

From what I've been told, St. Louis employers are not that impressed with Wash U grads the way TLS thinks. If you look at the profiles of STL firms, they are stocked with SLU grads. Granted, if you want to be able to move out of STL, you would be crazy to not go to Wash U over SLU.

Depends on whether you decide you really want to work in the region or not. If you use STL as a backup plan after your NYC job falls through, then of course they will be wary of hiring you.

Regarding the original question, I would say KU of the three unless you're dead set on st louis. They actually have a fairly solid alum network, and I was pretty impressed when I visited the school. I don't really see any apparent advantage to picking UMKC over KU, but you should definitely check it out before you make any final decisions. Scholarship $$ should be a significant factor--you're dealing with similar schools in the same region, just reduce your debt

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Kansas residency: http://www.registrar.ku.edu/residency/residency.shtml

As far as WUSTL: I've done my research (including interviews with local attorneys), and there seems to be mixed feelings about the school in St. Louis. Some local firms see WUSTL grads as flight risks; others see them as the cream of the crop. If you have ties to the region, you're golden. If not, do your best to show your loyalty to the city. But with that said, many WUSTL grads choose to go elsewhere (Chicago, east coast), so their alumni network is much less concentrated than SLU's (which, depending on your perspective, can be good or bad). If you're absolutely set on working in St. Louis, I would probably be more inclined to go to SLU with a full ride than pay sticker at WUSTL.

*In the interest of full disclosure, WUSTL is pretty high on my list of potential schools.

With regard to Mizzou vs. SLU for the St. Louis market, go with the one that costs less. If they're fairly similar in price (or even if SLU costs a bit more), go with SLU. Networking counts for a lot around here.

My understanding is WUSTL trumps all other schools in the area BY FAR, but a lot of kids clearly use St. Louis as a back up and the firms don't like that. That said if you go out of your way to show you want to be in St. Louis then WUSTL is the choice. It is considered the cream of the crop by everyone in the area, just many don't trust the kids from the east coast who come to St. Louis and then interview at these firms. I also hear SLU has been hit pretty hard. A lot of unemployment, or shitlaw jobs coming out of there, but I imagine mizzou is worse then slu in the st. louis area.