Top Law Schools

CU Boulder is #30-something and I would have to pay out of state tuition + living. aka appx. 50,000/year
Lewis & Clark is #61 and they gave me $15,000/year and I won't have to pay living. aka appx. 20,000/year

I ultimately would like to live in the NW but could enjoy living in Colorado too.

What do you recommend?

**Edit: would like to do business law so environmental law rankings don't matter much to me.

I'd say it pretty much comes down to Denver v Portland.

Well, it depends, do you want to be the Lorax who speaks for the trees?

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No -- would like to do business law.

then don't go to tree-hugging Lewis and clark

I don't have any hard data to support this, but having lived in Oregon and Washington, I think that Lewis & Clark's job prospects are especially scary, even moreso than average ITE.

Retake LSAT; those schools aren't worth the cost.

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Getting in state tuition after the first year is supposed to be really easy at Colorado, so you should take that into consideration as well.

1. Retake.

2. If you wont retake then there HAVE to be other choice for you, no way you only applied to these schools.

3. If it was between the two and only those two I would go to L&C. 60k of debt total is manageable from a T2. Not great, but its not going to absolutely bury you like 150k will from Colorado.

I know what I'D do but it takes patience. Colorado U is a good school with an good reputation in the Rocky Mountain West. If you want to work in the RMW, move to Denver and do something else for a year to establish residency. I know, takes patience, but in the end, a year of tending bar could save you tens of thousands in tuition and student loan interest. Besides, whatever they may claim, state institutions do have a preference for in-state applicants.

If PNW is your goal, meaning the Coast, I'm afraid it would be U. Washington then U. Oregon (as a resident in either case) and nothing else at sticker. Or even half-sticker. U Dub is the only PNW Tier 1 school so that's where I'd set my sights. Again, I'd establish residency in WA before applying. ANYTHING YOU CAN DO to reduce the cost of your J.D., without really sacrificing quality, you should do.

I like U. Oregon because it is the state institution and might open doors in state government.

Good luck!

Thanks, everyone!

(I have been accepted to a few other schools but am not interested in them --- I am still waiting to hear back from UofO and UW.)

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Adjudicator wrote:I don't have any hard data to support this, but having lived in Oregon and Washington, I think that Lewis & Clark's job prospects are especially scary, even moreso than average ITE.

I know you don't have any data to support it, but can you say something about why you think it's right?

tsutsik wrote:

Adjudicator wrote:I don't have any hard data to support this, but having lived in Oregon and Washington, I think that Lewis & Clark's job prospects are especially scary, even moreso than average ITE.

I know you don't have any data to support it, but can you say something about why you think it's right?

Don't know much about L&C except this SNAFU:

http://abovethelaw.com/2011/02/lewis-cl ... ts-alumni/

Adjudicator wrote:I don't have any hard data to support this, but having lived in Oregon and Washington, I think that Lewis & Clark's job prospects are especially scary, even moreso than average ITE.

Bold, declarative statements with zero supporting evidence will get you far in law.

Gosh, L&C is expensive for what it is. Tuition alone is $35,000 per year. Even knocking $15K off, and assuming they'll be that generous for all three years, it's still $60,000 in tuition alone. But then again, Oregon Law at resident sticker would cost nearly $75,000 and sticker at Willamette comes in at about $63,000...

I don't know if you would be interested (or should be interested, really) in T3 Willamette but I'd love to know how much they'd offer you given L&C's $15K/yr scholarship offer. I don't know...if they give you a 2/3 ride, maaaaaybeeeee you should think about it?

I just cannot wrap my mind around the cost of a J.D. these days.

None of these schools is really a powerhouse. You'd end up spending your career in Oregon, I'd imagine, not that there's any hardship there.

It's a shame Jen Darby isn't around, she has all kinds of insight on these things. People from L&C get hired, just not as much. The only difference between a school like that and a T18 is your likelihood to get your dream job at graduation and what happens if you don't. If you're committed to working your ass of though, you can make something happen with L&C and the campus couldn't be more beautiful.

Agreed with one of the above posters. If you don't get into UW, retake, move to Washington, and reapply. It's the best if you want the Northwest.

I was accepted to Willamette with $15,000/yr and Seattle U with $9000/yr. (But, have no desire to attend these schools).

All the input is incredibly helpful, everyone. Thank you!

So if you DID go to WIllamette, you'd get $45,000 knocked off the total tuition of $63,000? $18K in tuition for a J.D...and I believe that Salem isn't a high-cost town, at least, not compared with Seattle.

Boy. For THAT, you could almost let your Big Law dreams go a-glimmering. Yeah, yeah, I know, but STILL...It's just so CHEAP.

If you were very careful in how you spent your living money and got lucky during the summers...you could come out owing just a third of the amount in student loans that most new lawyers have to deal with. You could actually afford to take a state government job.

Actually, according to this, Willamette's tuition is very expensive: --LinkRemoved--

lisjjen wrote:It's a shame Jen Darby isn't around, she has all kinds of insight on these things. People from L&C get hired, just not as much. The only difference between a school like that and a T18 is your likelihood to get your dream job at graduation and what happens if you don't. If you're committed to working your ass of though, you can make something happen with L&C and the campus couldn't be more beautiful.

Just to be clear, you're not suggesting that L & C has more trouble with placement than comparably ranked schools, right?

dr123 wrote:I'd say it pretty much comes down to Denver v Portland.

+1. Regional schools are regional.

Willamette IS too expensive at sticker but I understood you to say that the school was offering you a $45,000 tuition discount. That would make Willamette a pretty cheap option unless I'm missing something?