Top Law Schools

Just curious which of these tier 2 schools is simply going to have the better job prospects after graduation, taking into account regional market strength.

Probably DU, just because the Seattle market is DEAD.

cornellbeez wrote:Probably DU, just because the Seattle market is DEAD.

Was Seattle really hit that bad compared to Denver? I would think Seattle would have a larger market?

Don't have much, but DU seems like a better school from my experience. Competing with CU in Denver is easier than competing with UW in Seattle.

cornellbeez wrote:Probably DU, just because the Seattle market is DEAD.

ask Pufer how dead the Denver market is. according to him, less than half of current CU 3Ls have anything lined up.

the correct answer here is that both markets are small, and the big and medium firm jobs go to T14 and top CU/UW grads. DU and SU feed into small firm positions, and your debt should be budgeted accordingly. If you expect a 50k salary, you should not be borrowing more than 60-70k tops. I'd feel more comfortable with sub-50k debt. If you can't do it, don't go.

General Tso wrote:

cornellbeez wrote:Probably DU, just because the Seattle market is DEAD.

ask Pufer how dead the Denver market is. according to him, less than half of current CU 3Ls have anything lined up.

the correct answer here is that both markets are small, and the big and medium firm jobs go to T14 and top CU/UW grads. DU and SU feed into small firm positions, and your debt should be budgeted accordingly. If you expect a 50k salary, you should not be borrowing more than 60-70k tops. I'd feel more comfortable with sub-50k debt. If you can't do it, don't go.

I only have a 10k scholly to DU but I'm getting about 15k a year from family contributions, plus now that people are starting to withdraw I'm going to ask for some more $. I feel 30-40k if debt is manageable for Denver's market.

IamAskier wrote:

General Tso wrote:

cornellbeez wrote:Probably DU, just because the Seattle market is DEAD.

ask Pufer how dead the Denver market is. according to him, less than half of current CU 3Ls have anything lined up.

the correct answer here is that both markets are small, and the big and medium firm jobs go to T14 and top CU/UW grads. DU and SU feed into small firm positions, and your debt should be budgeted accordingly. If you expect a 50k salary, you should not be borrowing more than 60-70k tops. I'd feel more comfortable with sub-50k debt. If you can't do it, don't go.

I only have a 10k scholly to DU but I'm getting about 15k a year from family contributions, plus now that people are starting to withdraw I'm going to ask for some more $. I feel 30-40k if debt is manageable for Denver's market.

30-40k debt is a good thing. You can definitely make it out of either of these schools with that kind of debt. Have you visited both cities? Kind of a personal choice but I liked Seattle more than Denver. Seattle is kinda like a cloudier SF whereas Denver is more like Dallas with distant mountains.

General Tso wrote:

IamAskier wrote:

General Tso wrote:

cornellbeez wrote:Probably DU, just because the Seattle market is DEAD.

ask Pufer how dead the Denver market is. according to him, less than half of current CU 3Ls have anything lined up.

the correct answer here is that both markets are small, and the big and medium firm jobs go to T14 and top CU/UW grads. DU and SU feed into small firm positions, and your debt should be budgeted accordingly. If you expect a 50k salary, you should not be borrowing more than 60-70k tops. I'd feel more comfortable with sub-50k debt. If you can't do it, don't go.

I only have a 10k scholly to DU but I'm getting about 15k a year from family contributions, plus now that people are starting to withdraw I'm going to ask for some more $. I feel 30-40k if debt is manageable for Denver's market.

30-40k debt is a good thing. You can definitely make it out of either of these schools with that kind of debt. Have you visited both cities? Kind of a personal choice but I liked Seattle more than Denver. Seattle is kinda like a cloudier SF whereas Denver is more like Dallas with distant mountains.

I'm headed to DU's ASD in a couple weeks so we'll see. I've been to Denver before and like it... I think. I never been to Seattle, and I'm thinking the measly 7k scholly they're offering me will not go as far as the 10k will in Denver. I guess thats why this is question of best job prospects; Seattle would have to be considerably stronger than Denver to warrant the additional debt.

IamAskier wrote: I'm headed to DU's ASD in a couple weeks so we'll see. I've been to Denver before and like it... I think. I never been to Seattle, and I'm thinking the measly 7k scholly they're offering me will not go as far as the 10k will in Denver. I guess thats why this is question of best job prospects; Seattle would have to be considerably stronger than Denver to warrant the additional debt.

Job prospects are about the same. With either school, you are probably going to be looking at small firm work in the 45-60k range. I think location should be the motivating factor here...9k extra debt is substantial, but you are locking yourself into a particular market for your entire legal career.

For me, Denver is cool if you like warm summers, a lot of sunshine, snow sports in the winter, and don't mind living in a cookie cutter house in generic neighborhood. Outside of Boulder and Washington Park, there aren't many charming places to live around Denver. It's mostly bland suburbia. But it's cool if you like that style of life...the housing there is probably cheaper than in Seattle.

Seattle is better if you are more liberal and enjoy an urban atmosphere. You can also do winter sports in the Cascades outside Seattle. But the housing is probably 30-50% more expensive on average than Denver, and the weather is much cloudier. I like forest scenery rather than the flat grasslands of Colorado, so for me Seattle is a more beautiful place to live.

I'm from Salt Lake, and would ideally like to stay here but got WLed at Utah. I guess thats why I think I could do Denver, similar climates/culture (minus Utah's obvious religious denomination). While I understand that with a DU degree I may be stuck in the area, I would ultimately like to make the jump one state over back to Utah. I feel like such a move would be possible, however, the SU degree I'm thinking will make getting back to Utah impossible. Or does it really matter? Am I stuck at both schools no matter what?

IamAskier wrote:I'm from Salt Lake, and would ideally like to stay here but got WLed at Utah. I guess thats why I think I could do Denver, similar climates/culture (minus Utah's obvious religious denomination). While I understand that with a DU degree I may be stuck in the area, I would ultimately like to make the jump one state over back to Utah. I feel like such a move would be possible, however, the SU degree I'm thinking will make getting back to Utah impossible. Or does it really matter? Am I stuck at both schools no matter what?

I mean you can take a degree anywhere if you are more concerned with location than salary. It helps a lot if you have personal connections in your hometown. I think DU probably makes more sense though given what you have told me.

General Tso wrote:

cornellbeez wrote:Probably DU, just because the Seattle market is DEAD.

ask Pufer how dead the Denver market is. according to him, less than half of current CU 3Ls have anything lined up.

the correct answer here is that both markets are small, and the big and medium firm jobs go to T14 and top CU/UW grads. DU and SU feed into small firm positions, and your debt should be budgeted accordingly. If you expect a 50k salary, you should not be borrowing more than 60-70k tops. I'd feel more comfortable with sub-50k debt. If you can't do it, don't go.

Neither market is flourishing. While Denver is sort of dead, Seattle is decomposing.

I don't know how much experience you have with either market, but I applied to Denver along with other markets outside of and as part of OCI and got callbacks at various midlaw/biglaw firms there. (I withdrew my applications because I ended up pursuing another market.) My friend (same school in the T-14) got no responses whatsoever from firms in Seattle. We have similar grades. Seattle isn't responsive to T-14 schools at the moment. The market is as dead as a rotting horse.

cornellbeez wrote:

General Tso wrote:

cornellbeez wrote:Probably DU, just because the Seattle market is DEAD.

ask Pufer how dead the Denver market is. according to him, less than half of current CU 3Ls have anything lined up.

the correct answer here is that both markets are small, and the big and medium firm jobs go to T14 and top CU/UW grads. DU and SU feed into small firm positions, and your debt should be budgeted accordingly. If you expect a 50k salary, you should not be borrowing more than 60-70k tops. I'd feel more comfortable with sub-50k debt. If you can't do it, don't go.

Neither market is flourishing. While Denver is sort of dead, Seattle is decomposing.

I don't know how much experience you have with either market, but I applied to Denver along with other markets outside of and as part of OCI and got callbacks at various midlaw/biglaw firms there. (I withdrew my applications because I ended up pursuing another market.) My friend (same school in the T-14) got no responses whatsoever from firms in Seattle. We have similar grades. Seattle isn't responsive to T-14 schools at the moment. The market is as dead as a rotting horse.

So Denver, from what you have told me, is the lesser of the two evils? I also feel that Seattle draws far more T-14 grads, as well as top grads from L&C, Oregon, and maybe even Gonzaga. Seattle, to me, seems a lot more crowded compared to Denver, where besides the inevitable T14 transplants, theres really only CU and DU feeding into the market.

IamAskier wrote:

cornellbeez wrote:

General Tso wrote:

cornellbeez wrote:Probably DU, just because the Seattle market is DEAD.

ask Pufer how dead the Denver market is. according to him, less than half of current CU 3Ls have anything lined up.

the correct answer here is that both markets are small, and the big and medium firm jobs go to T14 and top CU/UW grads. DU and SU feed into small firm positions, and your debt should be budgeted accordingly. If you expect a 50k salary, you should not be borrowing more than 60-70k tops. I'd feel more comfortable with sub-50k debt. If you can't do it, don't go.

Neither market is flourishing. While Denver is sort of dead, Seattle is decomposing.

I don't know how much experience you have with either market, but I applied to Denver along with other markets outside of and as part of OCI and got callbacks at various midlaw/biglaw firms there. (I withdrew my applications because I ended up pursuing another market.) My friend (same school in the T-14) got no responses whatsoever from firms in Seattle. We have similar grades. Seattle isn't responsive to T-14 schools at the moment. The market is as dead as a rotting horse.

So Denver, from what you have told me, is the lesser of the two evils? I also feel that Seattle draws far more T-14 grads, as well as top grads from L&C, Oregon, and maybe even Gonzaga. Seattle, to me, seems a lot more crowded compared to Denver, where besides the inevitable T14 transplants, theres really only CU and DU feeding into the market.

Yes. Based off my experience with Denver and my friend's with Seattle (we have similar grades at a T-14), I think Denver is the lesser of the two evils.