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Looking for any advice I can get. Got it narrowed down to these three schools (followed by the likely debt incurred after attending based on scholarship offers.)

Wisconsin-Madison (85k debt)
Ohio State (20k debt)
Chicago-Kent (less than 10k debt)

I really really want to work in Chicago eventually (within 1-3 years of graduation if not right away) as I am a Chicago native born and raised. I do not really have huge dreams of going "big law" but would like to go into private practice and maybe work at a midsize firm doing maybe business law or maybe even something in healthcare. ANY THOUGHTS PLEASE

lawyeriA wrote:Looking for any advice I can get. Got it narrowed down to these three schools (followed by the likely debt incurred after attending based on scholarship offers.)

Wisconsin-Madison (85k debt)
Ohio State (20k debt)
Chicago-Kent (less than 10k debt)

I really really want to work in Chicago eventually (within 1-3 years of graduation if not right away) as I am a Chicago native born and raised. I do not really have huge dreams of going "big law" but would like to go into private practice and maybe work at a midsize firm doing maybe business law or maybe even something in healthcare. ANY THOUGHTS PLEASE

Osu... Tier 1 plus little debt= win.

I'd go with the least amount of debt in this case... especially since you want Chicago.

Tough call between Kent and OSU, but if you really want to be in Chicago you'll have a better shot at Kent.

I would assume you can get there from OSU, but you'll have to do very well or have some connections that you can work.

Have you ever been to Columbus? OSU makes so much more sense here that it is ridiculous, if only if you could get over the Chicago thing.

If you absolutely no questions asked have to work in Chicago then go to Kent, but OSU is your best bet in terms of pure employment so decide whether Chicago is really that important yet.

OSU only has 8 percent of its grads employed in the state of Illinois according to its Graduate Placement Statistics. The majority are employed in the state of Ohio. Definitely worth noting if you want to practice in Illinois. Also, I'm not sure I agree its the best bet in terms of pure employment. Kent actually has higher private and public sector starting salaries than OSU according to US News, so I think employment-wise you can do just as well from Kent.

Chicago-Kent is a very well respected law school. All 3 choices are attractive, in my opinion. Some like the option of joining the Wisconsin bar without having to sit for a bar exam after if a Wisconsin law grad. You really have great options. Columbus & Cincinnati are nice cities.

runnergal wrote:OSU only has 8 percent of its grads employed in the state of Illinois according to its Graduate Placement Statistics. The majority are employed in the state of Ohio. Definitely worth noting if you want to practice in Illinois. Also, I'm not sure I agree its the best bet in terms of pure employment. Kent actually has higher private and public sector starting salaries than OSU according to US News, so I think employment-wise you can do just as well from Kent.

Not true.

Kent grads regularly mention their total lack of jobs. I think one guy was saying that by graduation less than 20% of his class had a job offer.

I am guessing OSU doesn't have that issue nearly as bad.


I would go OSU any day.

http://abovethelaw.com/2011/01/inside-s ... -in-chief/

OSU

According to data in USNews, IIT-Chicago-Kent had 75% of the 2009 grads employed by graduation. But, I agree, that Ohio State may be a slighly safer bet--and much safer if willing to work in Ohio.

BlueDiamond wrote:http://abovethelaw.com/2011/01/inside-s ... -in-chief/

OSU

This is anecdotal. The majority of Kent grads are employed, many of them with great jobs.
Anyway, Kent is an awesome school in an amazing city.

Kent.

probably Ohio State.

Did you apply to UIUC?

Kent if you want Chicago. Otherwise, OSU. I don't think Wisconsin is worth the extra debt over Kent and OSU. Kent also now offers a guaranteed externship to all students after their first year, so that should help as far as employment.

Also, the unemployed editor in chief from Chicago-Kent mentioned above is now at Kirkland:

http://www.kirkland.com/sitecontent.cfm ... emID=10170

sunshine123 wrote:

BlueDiamond wrote:http://abovethelaw.com/2011/01/inside-s ... -in-chief/

OSU

This is anecdotal. The majority of Kent grads are employed, many of them with great jobs.
Anyway, Kent is an awesome school in an amazing city.

Kent.

I am so sure, however that the above isn't anecdotal... and unbiased too? Because you sound like a Kent student/grad, especially since this is your first post.

I'm going to OSU so I may be biased but I vote OSU. I would also say that I think there is definitely a decent amount of self-selection bias in the number of people who work in Ohio after attending OSU. Ohioans love Ohio and they choose to stay. With strong networking (OSU has a huge alum base) if you want Chicago that badly, you could get there eventually.

firemed wrote:

sunshine123 wrote:

BlueDiamond wrote:http://abovethelaw.com/2011/01/inside-s ... -in-chief/

OSU

This is anecdotal. The majority of Kent grads are employed, many of them with great jobs.
Anyway, Kent is an awesome school in an amazing city.

Kent.

I am so sure, however that the above isn't anecdotal... and unbiased too? Because you sound like a Kent student/grad, especially since this is your first post.

Nope. Not a Kent student or grad. Just a Chicago fan who's considering Kent. I didn't even apply to OSU because I would much rather be in Chicago than Ohio. Also, going to OSU to practice in Chicago makes no sense to me. I still think OP should go to Kent if they want Chicago.

runnergal wrote:OSU only has 8 percent of its grads employed in the state of Illinois according to its Graduate Placement Statistics. The majority are employed in the state of Ohio. Definitely worth noting if you want to practice in Illinois. Also, I'm not sure I agree its the best bet in terms of pure employment. Kent actually has higher private and public sector starting salaries than OSU according to US News, so I think employment-wise you can do just as well from Kent.

Cardozo has higher salaries listed than Iowa. It's called cost of living increases and has a lot to do with self selection. It costs more to live in big cities, so T2s in those cities have higher median salaries than lower T1s in smaller markets.