Top Law Schools

Which school would be better to attend?
Phoenix School of Law vs. Appalachian School of Law

Highest priority would be finding a job after school.
Phoenix does not provide 2010 ABA data for bar passage rate/ job info.
COA Phoenix: $62,316
COA ASL: $49,025

I applied to both these schools this month, July 2010, and was accepted very quickly.
LSAT: 156
GPA: 2.38

I know it will be considered that I should not attend either school.

In any case, I really appreciate any suggestions or insight.


Edit:
What if I attended PSL for one year, or even one semester, to determine whether I would be in the top of the class, and be able to transfer to a better school? If I failed to reach my goal I would forget about law altogether, pursue another career, and pay off loans in that direction. I suppose this would cut my law school loan into 1/3 or 1/6 if I did not reach my goal by the end of the year or end of the semester respectively. Would this be a feasible alternative to petitioning to take the LSAT for a 4th time (153,154,156), or a reasonable alternative to quitting my attempts at law school after a year or two of preparation?

Is that CoA per year or for all three years?

Are both of these schools accredited? If one is and the other is not, that would make a big difference. Other than that, what do you want to do with the degree? Where do you want to work?

Those are COA per year, though PSL gave me 6k.

They are both fully accredited.

I am not decided on what I want to do with the degree or where I would like to work. Mostly concerned at this point that I would have any decent options whatsoever after graduating from either school.

If you want to borrow $150,000 for a coin-toss shot at the Bar and an even worse shot at finding any legal employment whatsoever, go for it. Otherwise, retake the LSAT.

unfortunately I maxed out my 3 LSAT tries. I guess it really will be that difficult to pass the bar and find work. Any idea which school is worse?

This is like asking to choose between dog shit and cow shit. One is just a bigger mess.

Yea it's a shitty question. Any suggestions on this shit?

someone told me once phoenix's legal market isn't quite the level of hopeless shitshow the rest of the country is. schools of this caliber are highly regional, so i guess i would choose the school with the region that you have some prayer of getting a job in.

I've also heard ASU has the city on lock, can anyone confirm this?

Also, would anyone object that PSL is better than ASL?

Retake, Retake, Retake

However, if you refuse to retake I would probably go with Phoenix. There are just too many law schools in Appalachian's region. Phoenix is competing with less schools.

If you do not know where to want to work or what you want to do with the law degree, why are you going to law school? What is your goal? If we knew this, it might be easier for us to make suggestions.
Going to law school is a risk. Except for a top handful of schools, one's employment options will be much better close to the law school. If you are intent on going, I guess you should choose the region you prefer.
Good luck.

merichard87 wrote:Retake, Retake, Retake

However, if you refuse to retake I would probably go with Phoenix. There are just too many law schools in Appalachian's region. Phoenix is competing with less schools.

I would love to retake but I would have to wait a while because I used my 3 tries.

What law schools are considered regional to ASL? Just to be sure, ASL is in southwestern VA, not associated with Appalachian State U in NC.

Petition a school to allow you to take the LSAT for a fourth time.

Are you sure you want to go to law school?

The state of Virginia has:

UVA
William and Mary
George Mason
Washington And Lee
Richmond
Liberty
Regent

DC has:
GW
American
UDC
Georgetown
Catholic

NC has:
Wake
Duke
UNC
Elon
Campbell
Charlotte

Doesn't West Virginia also have a law school?


That's like 25 schools within a pretty small radius of Appalachian. You're not getting a big firm job out of Appalachian, so you'll be competing with graduates of a combination of these schools for the jobs that you do apply for. Ergo, don't go to either of these schools.

You're better off taking that $150,000 you're about to blow and playing high-stakes blackjack for a night at the Wynn. Seriously. The odds of you coming out ahead are better doing that, plus you'll get a silly amount of comps and you'll have much more fun than with 3 years in law school.

There is one consideration that might not be so obvious to most people posting here. Arizona has a history of being rather under-lawyered. Until recently, there was no reciprocity or admission on motion so everyone had to take the AZ Bar. That, coupled with the fact that, up to the 2008 Crash, Arizona was one of the fastest growing states in the Union, meant that there was a lot of opportunity for new lawyers. My state, New Mexico, hasn't been bad in that respect, but Arizona was a potential El Dorado.

For its population, AZ is still nothing like over-lawyered though the areas of commercial practice have changed.

My point in all this is that if the OP wants to make a career in Arizona, that might be a pretty shrewd choice. A Phoenix Law J.D. might be a very good way to gain entrance into the Phoenix market.

merichard87 wrote:Petition a school to allow you to take the LSAT for a fourth time.

153,154,156....I was always disappointed because I was getting 157-160 on the practice exams. Is a retake really worth petitioning and waiting another year?

how did you manage a 2.38 gpa?

BG4444 wrote:

merichard87 wrote:Petition a school to allow you to take the LSAT for a fourth time.

153,154,156....I was always disappointed because I was getting 157-160 on the practice exames. Is a retake really worth petitioning and waiting another year?

If your only other options are Phoenix or Appalachian? Yes. You need a beasty LSAT score to offset that GPA.

Brassica7 wrote:If you do not know where to want to work or what you want to do with the law degree, why are you going to law school? What is your goal? If we knew this, it might be easier for us to make suggestions.
Going to law school is a risk. Except for a top handful of schools, one's employment options will be much better close to the law school. If you are intent on going, I guess you should choose the region you prefer.
Good luck.

I do not have a specific goal, I suppose I'd want to learn more about that while I attend. Everyone seems to say that remaining regional would be the norm. What about if someone where to go solo? Is this typically a poor option, and would you be able to move?

Ty Webb wrote:
You're better off taking that $150,000 you're about to blow and playing high-stakes blackjack for a night at the Wynn. Seriously. The odds of you coming out ahead are better doing that, plus you'll get a silly amount of comps and you'll have much more fun than with 3 years in law school.

With the sheer amount of advice to not take out the loan, it is a tempting option, but I wouldn't know what else to do. I don't think I could get 150k like that for black jack

BG4444 wrote:

Brassica7 wrote:If you do not know where to want to work or what you want to do with the law degree, why are you going to law school? What is your goal? If we knew this, it might be easier for us to make suggestions.
Going to law school is a risk. Except for a top handful of schools, one's employment options will be much better close to the law school. If you are intent on going, I guess you should choose the region you prefer.
Good luck.

I do not have a specific goal, I suppose I'd want to learn more about that while I attend. Everyone seems to say that remaining regional would be the norm. What about if someone where to go solo? Is this typically a poor option, and would you be able to move?

Going solo right out of law school is a losing proposition because law school doesn't do a great job teaching you how to be a practicing attorney; you typically need to spend time getting hands-on experience before you're actually qualified to open up your own shop. For that reason, even people who ultimately want to open their own practice are well-served by factoring employment prospects into their decision.

If you can't retake the LSAT. I would, at least, reapply EVERYWHERE the first day applications are out. Your low scores and the fact that you waited till July hurt you, if you can't change the numbers you can at least change the date.

General Tso wrote:how did you manage a 2.38 gpa?

I could have used a little guidance.
U Albany. #1 Party school in US. Was very bemused the first two years.
I got a 0.0 one semester.

MC Southstar wrote:Are you sure you want to go to law school?

Not 100% sure but it sounds interesting and fitting. I'd like to go if it doesn't mean self destruction.