First post. Please help me choose!! Forum

[QOTSA]

I have been trolling this board for about a year and a half and figure it’s time I speak up. I received 11/11 rejections last year (155, 3.4) and have since raised my stats (162 3.4). Thus far, I have three decisions and have been accepted to U Miami w/ TBA, USD w/ TBA, and Lewis and Clark w/ $11,000. I earned my degree in accounting and feel Tax Law may be a good niche for me. I live in the Pacific NW and love it here. I have lived in So-Cal and love It there. I know very little about Miami and am hesitant, although not completely opposed, to choosing a school that likely places only within Florida. I know without full scholly info, decision making may be premature. However, I want to start making these decisions early so someone having a cycle like I did last year might get a shot.
1) Do highly ranked Tax Law programs allow for regional portability?
2) Are the employment benefits of a schools Tax program limited to an LLM?
3) Is a highly ranked Tax Program important?
4) What would you do?

[Grizz]

Miami won't get you far outside of South FL, and it doesn't do that well there, because UF is just as prestigious. Plus a lot of people from prestigious schools come back. Don't go unless you get a full tuition scholarship.

Also specialty rankings are totally worthless. Don't pay any attention to them. They do NOT correlate to prestigious or high-paying employment.

Don't know much about Lewis and Clark, but from what I do know, $11,000 over 3 yrs. is not enough money that you should consider it.

[QOTSA]

Thanks, L&C is offering me $11,000 per year with a 3.0 GPA stipulation.

[gbpackerbacker]

Miami won't get you far outside of South FL, and it doesn't do that well there, because UF is just as prestigious. Plus a lot of people from prestigious schools come back. Don't go unless you get a full tuition scholarship.

Also specialty rankings are totally worthless. Don't pay any attention to them. They do NOT correlate to prestigious or high-paying employment.

Don't know much about Lewis and Clark, but from what I do know, $11,000 over 3 yrs. is not enough money that you should consider it.

Is this now clear enough for everybody?

"But American is ranked #8 in international law!"

[Grizz]

Thanks, L&C is offering me $11,000 per year with a 3.0 GPA stipulation.

Stipulations are never good, and 3.0 might be above-median for them. I'd check on that.

[showNprove]

Specialty program rankings should only be a tiebreaker, not a serious consideration at the outset. If after considering all of the factors, you honestly cannot say you favor one school over the other, then pick the school with the better specialty program.

Most importantly, GPA stipulations are bullshit. Tell them to remove the stipulation or you won't even consider attending. The L&C curve is a 3.0, so right off the bat you have a 50% chance of losing your scholarship after the first year--especially if they stack your section full of scholarship students to guarantee that half of you will lose it.

You should go to USD on principal and tell L&C they lost you because of that stipulation.

[QOTSA]

Thanks for the information. That pretty much kicks U Miami out of consideration. L&C has the edge for me so far- close to home and family. I have to wait and see what SD and other schools offer, and if It is possible to negotiate that stipulation.

[JakeL]

The only thing that really matters for tax law is where you get your LLM.

[Grizz]

Thanks for the information. That pretty much kicks U Miami out of consideration. L&C has the edge for me so far- close to home and family. I have to wait and see what SD and other schools offer, and if It is possible to negotiate that stipulation.

If they don't drop the stip, don't even consider it. $33k isn't that much for L&C. I still might not consider it. I'd strongly consider retaking a third time.

[firemed]

Thanks, L&C is offering me $11,000 per year with a 3.0 GPA stipulation.

Stipulations are never good, and 3.0 might be above-median for them. I'd check on that.

I got the same scholly. I called and they set the curve a 3.05.

[firemed]

Honestly, this whole conversation is totally pointless until we know how much money you are getting from each school.