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Neither school offers me scholarships. I want to get professional legal training and find a big law job. Which school?

Southeast or Midwest ? Just depends upon which location you prefer.

CanadianWolf wrote:Southeast or Midwest ? Just depends upon which location you prefer.

pretty much this

CanadianWolf wrote:Southeast or Midwest ? Just depends upon which location you prefer.

I have no preference for the location. I am a foreigner. I need to earn my tuition fees back, so I want to have the biggest chance to get in big law.

Do you mean that there is not much difference in job finding?

The answer that you are seeking should be available next week when The National Law Journal (NLJ) publishes its list of "Go-To-Law-Schools".

Last year's list showed Minnesota was 35th for hiring into the nation's largest 250 law firms with 19.4% of its 2009 graduates obtaining these lucrative positions while Georgia ranked 44th with 15.8% obtaining similiar positions as attorneys. The difference of 3.6% is significant but not determinative because of the changing economy which could easily reverse those numbers. The employment statistics used by the NLJ lag a year or two.

CanadianWolf wrote:The answer that you are seeking should be available next week when The National Law Journal (NLJ) publishes its list of "Go-To-Law-Schools".

Last year's list showed Minnesota was 35th for hiring into the nation's largest 250 law firms with 19.4% of its 2009 graduates obtaining these lucrative positions while Georgia ranked 44th with 15.8% obtaining similiar positions as attorneys. The difference of 3.6% is significant but not determinative because of the changing economy which could easily reverse those numbers. The employment statistics used by the NLJ lag a year or two.

Thank you CanadianWolf !
I really need to find more information about the living environment for both schools, other things being equal.

One more question, where can I find the publications of The National Law Journal?

CanadianWolf wrote:Southeast or Midwest ? Just depends upon which location you prefer.

I'd narrow it further in the case of GA, unless OP has ties to some other Southern State.

GA (Atlanta) or Midwest

NLJ is available online. Google search "NLJ" or "NLJ Go-To-Law-Schools" or "NLJ 250".

Many thanks

Minnesota is in an urban location of a friendly & liberal area known as the "Twin Cities" (Minneapolis & St. Paul). Weather gets very cold during the winter season.

Georgia is located in a semi-rural large college town less than 60 minutes from Atlanta, Georgia. Georgia has a decent mixture of liberals & conservatives.

Many consider both Atlanta & Minneapolis as two of the best US cities in which to live & work.

CanadianWolf wrote:NLJ is available online. Google search "NLJ" or "NLJ Go-To-Law-Schools" or "NLJ 250".

I checked NLJ and it indicates that the chance of a Minnesota JD to be hired by a biglaw is slim. sigh

Thank you CanadianWolf. I really appreciate your help.

The general line UMN and its coterie give about its big law placement is that its grads to some extent self-select out of big law. Many of them are from the MSP area and stay there, where there tends to be fewer of the NLJ 250 firms. Hence the lower big law numbers.

As someone considering UMN, I've been trying to get a sense of how accurate this statement is and would be curious if anyone on here has any insight. My totally non-empirical, broad sense is that UMN's big law prospects are probably similar to other semi-regional T1's outside of major markets like NY, DC, Chicago, and LA -- in that it's a possibility, but you've got to be ranked pretty high in your class.

fakemoney wrote:The general line UMN and its coterie give about its big law placement is that its grads to some extent self-select out of big law. Many of them are from the MSP area and stay there, where there tends to be fewer of the NLJ 250 firms. Hence the lower big law numbers.

As someone considering UMN, I've been trying to get a sense of how accurate this statement is and would be curious if anyone on here has any insight. My totally non-empirical, broad sense is that UMN's big law prospects are probably similar to other semi-regional T1's outside of major markets like NY, DC, Chicago, and LA -- in that it's a possibility, but you've got to be ranked pretty high in your class.

This is pretty much what I've heard.

The market here is saturated- with 4 schools in the TC and with Iowa, Wisc, Chi etc. feeding their grads in plus all the natives who went T14 and now want back in...

There's a biglaw associate in MN who is posting somewhere on here, I think in "discuss your law school" I would ask him.

Thanks, great info there.