U of Wisconsin or California schools? Forum

[kbucklsat]

I am from Wisconsin, went to school in California. I have a 3.75 GPA and will being taking the LSAT next October. I am looking to go to U of Wisconsin as I love the school, can get in-state tuition and won't have to take the bar to practice in Wisconsin (somewhere I might like to live). However, I do love Northern California and would not mind living there either.

Any recommendations on California schools? I was looking at LMU, Hastings, UC-Davis, USD and so on.

Would it be possible to go to U of Wisconsin and potentially move to California, take the bar and practice law there or is that incredibly hard to do?

[JollyGreenGiant]

I am from Wisconsin, went to school in California. I have a 3.75 GPA and will being taking the LSAT next October. I am looking to go to U of Wisconsin as I love the school, can get in-state tuition and won't have to take the bar to practice in Wisconsin (somewhere I might like to live). However, I do love Northern California and would not mind living there either.

Any recommendations on California schools? I was looking at LMU, Hastings, UC-Davis, USD and so on.

Would it be possible to go to U of Wisconsin and potentially move to California, take the bar and practice law there or is that incredibly hard to do?

Study your balls off and get the highest LSAT score possible. Don't automatically assume you have to settle for one of the lesser schools in CA.

[thegor1987]

Hastings, Davis, Irvine are all strong schools but the tuition plus cost of living is much higher. My intuition says it would be worth it to go to Wisconsin for 1/3 the money since you would still have a good shot at getting a job in CA since UW is a strong school.

[Dex]

Hastings, Davis, Irvine are all strong schools but the tuition plus cost of living is much higher. My intuition says it would be worth it to go to Wisconsin for 1/3 the money since you would still have a good shot at getting a job in CA since UW is a strong school.

A strong regional school maybe, but not strong in California. It's going to come down to where you want to practice: West or Midwest.

Like I said your duplicate thread - get your LSAT score before you start worrying about this.

[irishman86]

Or the question is: where do you want to be unemployed?

You should pm "Totransferfornot." I think the guy transferred from Wisconsin to Chicago and he provided some information on dire employment prospects for Wisco. Not to say I think that I think the prospects are better at any of the other schools you've listed. Honestly, if those were your only options, I wouldn't go to law school (unless you had a significant scholarship).

[ToTransferOrNot]

Employment prospects coming out of Wisconsin are really bad right now, even in Wisconsin. The Milwaukee legal market is pretty terrible; I know top 10% people who were waiting tables their 2L summers to supplement their summer clinical participation.

Now, I'm in CO 2011, so things are improving - but not by much. Foley & Lardner is the only relatively large firm in Wisconsin, and Foley is doing really poorly. From the friends I still have at Wisconsin, CO 2011 is looking at 70-75% unemployment at graduation: and that includes all employment, not just people missing biglaw.

No idea how much better CO 2012 did or how 2014 is going to do, but it's not pretty right now.

[JollyGreenGiant]

Or the question is: where do you want to be unemployed?

You should pm "Totransferfornot." I think the guy transferred from Wisconsin to Chicago and he provided some information on dire employment prospects for Wisco. Not to say I think that I think the prospects are better at any of the other schools you've listed. Honestly, if those were your only options, I wouldn't go to law school (unless you had a significant scholarship).

Wisco's tuition is like $17k a year. You wouldn't go to the best law school in the state for $17k if you wanted to be a lawyer?

[ToTransferOrNot]

Or the question is: where do you want to be unemployed?

You should pm "Totransferfornot." I think the guy transferred from Wisconsin to Chicago and he provided some information on dire employment prospects for Wisco. Not to say I think that I think the prospects are better at any of the other schools you've listed. Honestly, if those were your only options, I wouldn't go to law school (unless you had a significant scholarship).

Wisco's tuition is like $17k a year. You wouldn't go to the best law school in the state for $17k if you wanted to be a lawyer?

You're still pushing $100k in debt once living expenses are factored in, for uncertain job prospects. It's a close call - best state in the school only helps you if the state's legal market has room for you. Wisconsin's legal market doesn't have a lot of room right now.

[JollyGreenGiant]

Or the question is: where do you want to be unemployed?

You should pm "Totransferfornot." I think the guy transferred from Wisconsin to Chicago and he provided some information on dire employment prospects for Wisco. Not to say I think that I think the prospects are better at any of the other schools you've listed. Honestly, if those were your only options, I wouldn't go to law school (unless you had a significant scholarship).

Wisco's tuition is like $17k a year. You wouldn't go to the best law school in the state for $17k if you wanted to be a lawyer?

You're still pushing $100k in debt once living expenses are factored in, for uncertain job prospects. It's a close call - best state in the school only helps you if the state's legal market has room for you. Wisconsin's legal market doesn't have a lot of room right now.

I don't disagree, but if it's something you really want to do, then you could do a lot worse than in-state at Wisco. Madison's name carries a lot of weight around Wisconsin (though job market, if as bad as you say, is rough).

[Dex]

Or the question is: where do you want to be unemployed?

You should pm "Totransferfornot." I think the guy transferred from Wisconsin to Chicago and he provided some information on dire employment prospects for Wisco. Not to say I think that I think the prospects are better at any of the other schools you've listed. Honestly, if those were your only options, I wouldn't go to law school (unless you had a significant scholarship).

Wisco's tuition is like $17k a year. You wouldn't go to the best law school in the state for $17k if you wanted to be a lawyer?

You're still pushing $100k in debt once living expenses are factored in, for uncertain job prospects. It's a close call - best state in the school only helps you if the state's legal market has room for you. Wisconsin's legal market doesn't have a lot of room right now.

Wait, Madison costs 50k+ to live in for 3 years? Holy shit I would not have guessed that.

[ToTransferOrNot]

Or the question is: where do you want to be unemployed?

You should pm "Totransferfornot." I think the guy transferred from Wisconsin to Chicago and he provided some information on dire employment prospects for Wisco. Not to say I think that I think the prospects are better at any of the other schools you've listed. Honestly, if those were your only options, I wouldn't go to law school (unless you had a significant scholarship).

Wisco's tuition is like $17k a year. You wouldn't go to the best law school in the state for $17k if you wanted to be a lawyer?

You're still pushing $100k in debt once living expenses are factored in, for uncertain job prospects. It's a close call - best state in the school only helps you if the state's legal market has room for you. Wisconsin's legal market doesn't have a lot of room right now.

Wait, Madison costs 50k+ to live in for 3 years? Holy shit I would not have guessed that.

No; I'm including interest etc. in the $100k number, and using a round figure. I think I was estimating $85k for myself when I was done - though that was before a few tuition increases.

[thegor1987]

Or the question is: where do you want to be unemployed?

You should pm "Totransferfornot." I think the guy transferred from Wisconsin to Chicago and he provided some information on dire employment prospects for Wisco. Not to say I think that I think the prospects are better at any of the other schools you've listed. Honestly, if those were your only options, I wouldn't go to law school (unless you had a significant scholarship).

Wisco's tuition is like $17k a year. You wouldn't go to the best law school in the state for $17k if you wanted to be a lawyer?

Damn it's 17K now? They are really pushing the rates, a couple of years ago it was under 15K. But all joking aside, anyone complaining about 17K is crazy, that's such a good deal.