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I've narrowed down my choices to these two but having a hard time.

UF: As a Florida resident tuition is cheaper, plus a small scholarship puts my current cost at about $10,000 per year for tuition. I love Florida, but can't see myself spending 3 years in Gainesville.

Loyola: I would love to do sports/entertainment law even though I heard its a long shot. With a medium scholarship cost would be about $20,000 a year. I like LA and would potentially like to live/work there or elsewhere in southern california (orange/san diego).

Is paying double at Loyola worth it? Would the average graduate of Loyola make more (maybe $10,000 more) in salary than from UF to compensate for the tuition?

Thoughts?

Coming from someone who is most likely going to end up at Loyola next year, I would go with UF. It's Florida's best law school, so if you love Florida and can see yourself practicing there upon graduation, it makes it a good option for you (plus you will graduate with less debt). Entertainment law at Loyola is good, but it is a long shot because students are competing with UCLA and USC graduates in a saturated market (and this is true for all jobs in SoCal, not just the entertainment law ones). Unless you graduate at the top of your class, you're probably not going to get anywhere.

That being said, if you are passionate about entertainment law and absolutely cannot see yourself doing anything else, then go to Loyola because even though it's a long shot, it's better than the no shot you would have at UF. If I were you though, I would suck it up in Gainesville for 3 years. After you graduate, you'll have your pick of which part of FL you want to practice in

Thank you for your input. Its a lot to consider. I just know a few UF graduates who couldn't find jobs at all...I'm sure thats true of Loyola as well, and probably many (all) law schools in this market. Anyone else have any input one way or the other?

kickincane21 wrote:Thank you for your input. Its a lot to consider. I just know a few UF graduates who couldn't find jobs at all...I'm sure thats true of Loyola as well, and probably many (all) law schools in this market. Anyone else have any input one way or the other?

There are going to be a lot of people at both schools who are jobless. I don't see it making any difference at all. I think you should go to UF. It's cheaper and it's your state school, which is always a solid option (since you can work your connections).

I say deal with Gainesville for the three years over trying to run off to LA (which costs $$$$$$ and there aren't any jobs there either).

kickincane21 wrote:but can't see myself spending 3 years in Gainesville.

From the looks of it you did your undergrad elsewhere in Florida. I spend 5 years in Gainesville (4 for undergrad and 1 working in a research position after graduating) and I can certainly say Gainesville is what you make of it. Its not a horrible place to live but its not the greatest either. If you want to go to a bar near campus expect Greek undergrads swarming like ants at a picnic. The nice thing is the rent is reasonable and the law school is in a quiet area of campus (near frat row but lets be honest.. they sleep until well into the afternoon then go out at night). I was looking at Loyola LA this cycle but ended up not applying for the reasons mentioned by the other posters (cost of living, poor prospects, etc.) Florida is certainly tops in the state so the nice thing is you would be able to get out of Gainesville after 3 years.