Suffolk Law ($$$$) vs. BC ($) Forum

[hokie]

wow normally I am not a retake-drone but with your GPA, you could do some serious damage with even the slightest better LSAT. In this case, I say retake, hit 167+ and profit

[BrianGriffintheDog]

Boston's a decent market for BC, but not good enough to pay for your entire debt. Seriously retake. You're gpa is REALLY good. If you could break into high 160s, you shouldn't have any problem securing some $$$ from BC.

[ylnechev]

So if I am not sure what field of law I want to pursue exactly (hoping to clarify this in law school) and what setting (big, medium or small firm), but am just interested in the study of law and its implications, do you guys think BC is the way to go? Outside of retaking, is it worth it to go to BC to not shut doors and close off possibilities?

[dissonance1848]

Retake, like everyone else says. Bumping from a 161 to a 165+ is easily doable, and will get you some good money.

[alumniguy]

Most probably a retake scenario, unless OP is going into public interest. That is the only way to justify going to Suffolk over BC.

Taking a year off, while annoying, is a great opportunity to figure out what you want to do with your law degree. Start thinking now.

[Attorney]

public interest. That is the only way to justify going to Suffolk over BC.

I'm not sure that would justify it. BC has a pretty decent LRAP going after the recent boost.

[tram988]

I don't think it would justify it either-- Suffolk is pretty terrible.

[ylnechev]

I just found out that I received a 36K scholarship from BC (12K per year with no stipulations). While it is not as much as I hoped for, BC was a reach anyway and I was leaning on going at sticker. My decision is made...I will be submitting my deposit on Monday. Thank you everyone for your input.

[ylnechev]

Just to make sure...given the 12K/year scholarship, is BC the clear choice now over Suffolk at 35K/year?

[Moxie]

Well since everyone in the thread said BC at sticker was still > Suffolk with $35k/yr, I don't think that would change if BC gave you more money.

[Noval]

Hello everyone. I recently got almost a full ride at Suffolk (35k per year) for which I have to maintain a 3.0 (I've heard that is like top half of class). The other option is BC law. I have not heard anything about a scholarship (although I just got in today). I plan on trying to negotiate a scholarship from BC law because I think it gives much better job prospects, but I do not expect to get one (161 LSAT, 3.9 GPA from NYU). I plan on being in Boston after graduation but I am not exactly sure what type of law I want to practice. I am set on biglaw by any means but I am not opposed to it either. I am thinking about doing health law, family law or environmental law. Any thoughts on job prospects? Is it worth it to go into 6 figure debt to go to the much higher ranked BC? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Go apply at McGill Law School in MTL, it's cheaper, has better reputation and places a shit ton of people in Boston/NYC.

[alumniguy]

public interest. That is the only way to justify going to Suffolk over BC.

I'm not sure that would justify it. BC has a pretty decent LRAP going after the recent boost.

While the LRAP program is pretty good at BC, if I had to choose little to no debt over tons of debt with an LRAP program, I'd choose the little to no debt. The LRAP program does have certain strings attached, if I remember correctly (income req'ts, must be a legal job, etc.). If OP decides he doesn't like the practice of PI and wants to make the switch to private practice after 4 years, then its likely he would lose the LRAP benefit.

Also, PI really encompasses a wide variety of jobs. If you are going to law school because you really want to be an immigration lawyer (just a random example), I think you can get there from Suffolk as well. Does BC open up many more doors - yes. I just don't think they open up that many more doors if we are speaking about PI. I don't think having 100k in debt when you're looking at a job that pays 40-50k makes any financial sense.

[ylnechev]

New poll

[tram988]

public interest. That is the only way to justify going to Suffolk over BC.

I'm not sure that would justify it. BC has a pretty decent LRAP going after the recent boost.

While the LRAP program is pretty good at BC, if I had to choose little to no debt over tons of debt with an LRAP program, I'd choose the little to no debt. The LRAP program does have certain strings attached, if I remember correctly (income req'ts, must be a legal job, etc.). If OP decides he doesn't like the practice of PI and wants to make the switch to private practice after 4 years, then its likely he would lose the LRAP benefit.

Also, PI really encompasses a wide variety of jobs. If you are going to law school because you really want to be an immigration lawyer (just a random example), I think you can get there from Suffolk as well. Does BC open up many more doors - yes. I just don't think they open up that many more doors if we are speaking about PI. I don't think having 100k in debt when you're looking at a job that pays 40-50k makes any financial sense.

Lol BC definitely opens up more PI doors, is this a serious question?

[alumniguy]

Of course BC opens up some more PI jobs, but when I was there (during the boom) there were not that many people looking for PI jobs nor was there a ton of on campus PI interviews...if I remember correctly, BC attends a Massachusetts PI job fair for local Boston area schools (that I wouldn't be surprised if Suffolk also attends). Can any current students speak to this?

Does the BC student probably look like a better candidate on paper, sure. But, I would imagine that the PI field is filled with MANY MANY graduates that went to lower ranked schools due to debt.

BC does have a decent LRAP program, so that is another plus for BC. However, is it worth $100k...I'm not sure and that is for OP to decide. But in this scenario, there is no CLEAR front runner.

[tram988]

Of course BC opens up some more PI jobs, but when I was there (during the boom) there were not that many people looking for PI jobs nor was there a ton of on campus PI interviews...if I remember correctly, BC attends a Massachusetts PI job fair for local Boston area schools (that I wouldn't be surprised if Suffolk also attends). Can any current students speak to this?

Does the BC student probably look like a better candidate on paper, sure. But, I would imagine that the PI field is filled with MANY MANY graduates that went to lower ranked schools due to debt.

BC does have a decent LRAP program, so that is another plus for BC. However, is it worth $100k...I'm not sure and that is for OP to decide. But in this scenario, there is no CLEAR front runner.

Yeah once you factor in the $100,000 that' a fair concern. I'm a current BC student who actually was at the public interest fair held at Suffolk. A lot of students there were from BC/BU, but also some number of Suffolk students as well. I'm curious how many of the Suffolk students actually received offers in direct competition with BC/BU

[Attorney]

Go apply at McGill Law School in MTL, it's cheaper, has better reputation and places a shit ton of people in Boston/NYC.

LOL?

I thought McGill was one of the better schools in Canada, which would put it nearly on par with BC/BU. Turns out that for law this is somewhat true of Toronto and York... but McGill, not so much. Also, even if one goes to U-Toronto (which I seriously considered) it's very hard to come back to the states.

Furthermore, these schools are only actually cheap if one is a Canadian citizen. Quite an assumption to make.

[alumniguy]

Go apply at McGill Law School in MTL, it's cheaper, has better reputation and places a shit ton of people in Boston/NYC.

LOL?

This was actually pretty true during the boom years. McGill does indeed have a great reputation. However, with ITE, many firms have stopped looking to non-resident attorneys because there are significant costs that the firm has to pick up regarding visas. So many Canadian residents are finding it more difficult to get a U.S. firm job than it was before.

[Attorney]

This was actually pretty true during the boom years. McGill does indeed have a great reputation. However, with ITE, many firms have stopped looking to non-resident attorneys because there are significant costs that the firm has to pick up regarding visas. So many Canadian residents are finding it more difficult to get a U.S. firm job than it was before.

For the record I'm a dual citizen of the US and Canada. Visa free! Think that'd be a good idea for me? I probably wouldn't do it anyway, but it's a fun idea.

McGill has like the 6th to 8th best placement in Canada, trailing Toronto and York by a country mile. Does it really place in the US that well?

[alumniguy]

There are some McGill grads my firm. I was hired in the boom year though, so it may have been a result of not enough top U.S. students to go around so my firm decided to take more from McGill.

Dual citizenship would help as it would erase the concern about the visa issue. Isn't McGill cheap too?

[Attorney]

Yeah, McGill is pretty cheap for a Canadian citizen (about the same as BC/BU for an American I believe). But unlike Toronto and the rest in the other provinces, they don't actually offer a JD degree. Only BCL/LLB and LLM.

[alumniguy]

So apparently I am mixing up my Canadian schools (a few of our Canadian trained associates studied UNDERGRAD at McGill and most have law degrees from Toronto). And the Canadian associates I know have little to no debt.

[Attorney]

So apparently I am mixing up my Canadian schools (a few of our Canadian trained associates studied UNDERGRAD at McGill and most have law degrees from Toronto). And the Canadian associates I know have little to no debt.

That sounds more like what I would have expected after seeing the Canadian placement numbers.
This makes U-Toronto look pretty good for me! Dang.