Denver ($$) vs. Colorado vs. Pitt ($) Forum

[Adrian Yale]

Hi all,

I'd love to work in Colorado, the Mountain West, or the 'Burgh before a possible move back to Michigan.

So, considering current job prospects/debt/quality of life, where do I go?

As shown by the options, I do not want Biglaw. Dream job (unlikely, of course) would be working for the Feds.

[Adrian Yale]

bump

[CanadianWolf]

Denver because you want to work in Colorado & haven't been admitted to the Univ. of Colorado.

[BeautifulSW]

The Denver market is EXTREMELY tight right now, has been for some years. New Mexico gets a lot of Colorado refugees, far more than we get from Arizona. The bulk of those refugees are DU grads.

Before you sign up with DU, take the time to read the law school profiles on DU and CU on this site.

Personally, I would not go to DU unless I got a free/near free ride. I would pay in-state to go to CU Boulder, however. A CU degree carries a good bit of weight throughout the Rocky Mountain region.

[CanadianWolf]

But you have to be admitted to Colorado in order to be able to attend.

P.S. DU offers tho only "Lawyering in Spanish" curriculum of which I am aware.

[BeautifulSW]

Oh ye of little faith! If DU offered all that money, I think getting into CU is a pretty good bet.

Hm. Maybe I AM being too optimistic, though. CU really is very selective and they get a lot more qualified applicants than they can admit every year. I don't know whether they have a preference for Colorado residents.

Wait and see, wait and see.

[BeautifulSW]

And if you're going to be unemployed in Denver anyway, it might be better to have gone through DU for free than to owe Sallie Mae for the CU tuition.

Maybe. Maybe. But I sure see a LOT of DU grads down here in Bajo Colorado (by which I mean N.Mex.).

[CanadianWolf]

Not a safe assumption as revealed in lawschoolnumbers.com. Many DU acceptees are awarded scholarships based on numbers that will not get one into Colorado.

P.S. Denver is a very large law school with both full & part-time programs. In a similar light, I see many more unemployed Harvard law grads than Stanford law grads.

[Adrian Yale]

Thanks for the input all!

Right, there is a bit of a gap between the DU $$ and admitted CU individuals as evidenced by LSN.

I did apply very early and wrote a slightly specific CU statement and a why CU statement (hoping its seen as a positive and not just application filler, but what the hell).

My numbers are 3.76 (3.98)/161... I hope that there is some credence to the "CU looks at degree gpa more significantly than other schools" rumor. As of last year's LSN, I have a 50/50 chance. Fingers crossed.

[Adrian Yale]

DU's substantially increasing bar passage rates are encouraging...

[CanadianWolf]

Are you a Colorado resident ?

[BeautifulSW]

How many unemployed Harvard grads HAVE you seen?

[CanadianWolf]

Sorry if my post offended you in any way. That was not my intention. My point is that Denver has over 1,000 law students while Colorado has under 550.

[BeautifulSW]

Offended? Good heavens, no! I was just curious as to whether you've seen any unemployed Harvard grads. I've heard that they're out there but the very idea is hard for me to accept. Likewise Stanford and (cough) Yale.

No, I know DU makes a lot more lawyers than CU does but the thing is, I have NEVER met an unemployed CU grad that wasn't deliberately pursuing some other career path. I also haven't met very many CU grads at all here in N.Mex., come to that. But DU grads are common in N.Mex. and the story is usually that they had to leave Colorado in order to find work.

[CanadianWolf]

Within the past several months to a year, there was an experienced but unemployed Yale law grad seeking any type of legal work in your area (Albuquerque, NM). The lawyer advertised on the internet & went door-to-door in Abq. from second hand reports.

Yes, I've met & known unemployed Harvard law grads, although underemployed is more common--often outside of the legal field. I also know of several who are sole practitioners, although mostly in criminal defense.

[Adrian Yale]

...and I'm not a Colorado resident

[BeautifulSW]

Wow. If Yale and Harvard fall to unemployment, who can stand?

[gobuffs10]

Oh ye of little faith! If DU offered all that money, I think getting into CU is a pretty good bet.

Hm. Maybe I AM being too optimistic, though. CU really is very selective and they get a lot more qualified applicants than they can admit every year. I don't know whether they have a preference for Colorado residents.

Wait and see, wait and see.

DU offered my sister's boyfriend 25k with a 163 and a 3.8. I'm not sure that necessarily means you're in to boulder.

If you want to work in Denver, a large number of firms are composed of mostly DU grads. I live here, have attorneys in the family and work in a firm (for free, anyway...not really work). The advantage of DU is networking in the Denver area, not being 30 minutes away. Generally, DU grads take care of their own.

[BeautifulSW]

Doubtless they do but given my experience of DU "refugees" in New Mexico over the years, they don't begin to take care of ALL of their own.

Depending on the terms of the DU scholarship, I admit I'd be very tempted personally to accept it, btw. I love Denver myself, like it better than Boulder, and have family there.

[krad]

If you want to be in the Rocky Mtn area, I'd go to CU. You can get in-state tuition after a year. From talking to people I know, CU grads are having problems finding legal related work right now and DU grads are doing even worse. I've also heard that grads from top schools are coming home to CO and taking some of the best jobs.

FWIW if I decide to stay in CO, I will be going to CU over DU even with my $$ to DU.

E: This is assuming admission to CU, of course.

[gobuffs10]

To each his/her own. I guess it's different for me because of all my personal experience with DU grads (don't know a single CU grad, actually). I'd rather live/go to school in Boulder any day (I did for awhile) but it can get pricey fast.

Good luck to both of you on your CU acceptances.

[krad]

Yeah it looks like we're both a little biased I do have some friends at both, so I guess it partially depends on who you're talking to...

[BeautifulSW]

I also am biased and not just by experience. But you know, TLS itself has profiles of both CU and DU including observations on placement. The TLS profile for DU says this:

"All things considered, career prospects for Denver students are poor. To begin, Denver graduates pass the Bar at a rate of only 75%. This means that Denver graduates underperform the rest of Colorado’s Bar takers by a full three percentage points and a fourth of Denver’s graduates are left having to take the Bar a second time, if not more."

Now, DU has improved its Bar performance over the last couple of cycles but the comment about career prospects is still pretty valid I think.

Well, if you go to DU and don't find a job in Colorado, there's always New Mexico (if you can live on a starting salary of $40,000/year).

[gobuffs10]

I also am biased and not just by experience. But you know, TLS itself has profiles of both CU and DU including observations on placement. The TLS profile for DU says this:

"All things considered, career prospects for Denver students are poor. To begin, Denver graduates pass the Bar at a rate of only 75%. This means that Denver graduates underperform the rest of Colorado’s Bar takers by a full three percentage points and a fourth of Denver’s graduates are left having to take the Bar a second time, if not more."

Now, DU has improved its Bar performance over the last couple of cycles but the comment about career prospects is still pretty valid I think.

Well, if you go to DU and don't find a job in Colorado, there's always New Mexico (if you can live on a starting salary of $40,000/year).

It's valid based on what?

[Snape]

This title alone suggests your really dont know what you want, where you want to do it, or if law school is the right choice.