Turning down higher ranked schools.... Forum

[PAR12]

I would like to practice law either on the west coast or Colorado...

Would I be stupid to turn down Cornell, Michigan, and Berkley for UCLA or USC?

I have been accepted to Cornell and waiting to hear back from the others...

3.51 and 170

Obviously I am from LA and have ties here so it would make things easier to stay here...

Any insight is greatly appreciated...

[speedyj88]

Numbers twin and also from LA. I think I'll have a similar decision to make when the time comes.

[NZA]

UCLA couldn't be a bad choice, especially with $$$.

[Grizz]

Depends where you have ties and how much money you get from those other schools.

[dextermorgan]

I would like to practice law either on the west coast or Colorado...

Would I be stupid to turn down Cornell, Michigan, and Berkley for UCLA or USC?

I have been accepted to Cornell and waiting to hear back from the others...

3.51 and 170

Obviously I am from LA and have ties here so it would make things easier to stay here...

Any insight is greatly appreciated...

For money possibly, although I would probably still take Berkeley (it's a reach though).

[gdane]

Go to Berkely if its an option. If not, definitely take UCLA over any other school. Its a very very strong regional school. Forget about the rankings. Its negligible in this case. Also, you may get some merit aid since you have nice numbers.

Good luck!

[JazzOne]

It's not stupid at all. I went to my state school instead of T14, and I'm very happy with that decision. My SA job pays just as much as the SA jobs of T14 students. But I have very little debt.

[bk1]

I would take the others because they give you more options. You already have ties to SoCal so you can slang a job there from UMich/Boalt/etc, but those schools will give you more fallback options than USC/UCLA. I would probably pick USC/UCLA over Cornell but not over UMich/Boalt.

Don't count on being able to find a job in Colorado/the PNW/etc without ties to those areas unless you go to a school there.

And I wouldn't count on a Berkeley acceptance with those numbers.

[PAR12]

What do you think the chances of me getting into Michigan is?

So you think Michigan would be just as good for getting a job on the West Coast as UCLA or USC?

Its really that hard to get a job in CO without going to school there?

[PAR12]

I have heard bad things about Boalt...

One is that employers do not like there pass/fail grading....

My first choice is actually Stanford but that would be a miracle...

[bk1]

What do you think the chances of me getting into Michigan is?

So you think Michigan would be just as good for getting a job on the West Coast as UCLA or USC?

Its really that hard to get a job in CO without going to school there?

It's really hard to get a job in any secondary market without having ties there (growing up there, living there, going to school there, having family there, SO has a job there, etc, etc). Secondary markets, like CO, have fewer jobs to begin with and will want to be assured you are there for the long haul and not a flight risk, something that is hard to prove without ties.

Your chances at Michigan seem good, at Stanford not so much.

I think Michigan would be just as good for getting a job on the West Coast, assuming you have ties to the region.

[KMaine]

I know a number of people at Cornell who are going back to California and other spots on the west coast. That said, it is not stupid at all to turn down higher ranked schools. I really see very little distinction between Michigan and Cornell, though TLS seems intent on keeping the distniction. You would probably get more West Coast screening interviews from there than you would at Cornell, so for California, it may be TCR in this instance, espcially if you have ties to California. Firms would higher much futrher down in the class from Michigan than from they would from USC/UCLA, so if money is equal, you should probably go to Ann Arbor. Berkley may be your best bet (not really placing better than Cornell, but you will get way more California interviews), but they are very focused on high GPAs.

If you had all of the options on the table, I would take Berkley over USC/UCLA barring significant money, Michigan over USC/UCLA without a decent scholarship, I do not think you would be stupid to choose UCLA over Cornell at equal money, maybe even USC over Cornell at even money, but it is more iffy. Either way, try to get some money from all of the schools and go from there. Good luck.

[PAR12]

Would you say between Michigan and UCLA or USC their is a big difference in prestige and education?

[bk1]

Would you say between Michigan and UCLA or USC their is a big difference in prestige and education?

Prestige yes, education no.

Education is virtually the same everywhere.

[PAR12]

Thank you all for your input...

Still don't know which I would choose out of Michigan and UCLA/USC though...

[Grizz]

Thank you all for your input...

Still don't know which I would choose out of Michigan and UCLA/USC though...

Wait for the $. Evaluate where you truly have ties to. Then make another thread about this later, or update this one.