Am I crazy? (Marquette vs. Miami)
Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2011 7:13 pm
I will preface this post with the fact that due to fortunate circumstances debt is not a major concern in my law school decision
Pending final decisions from the two Rutgers schools and the two wait lists that I am riding out, my final decision on school has come down to Marquette and Miami for the main reason that I have family in both areas and the two schools perform relativley well in their home markets. When I discuss this issue with friends and some family members they think I'm crazy for even considering Marquette with Miami as an option. However, I always remind them that I am a Midwest kid at heart (live in Jersey now but lived in various parts of the Midwest pretty much the first half of my life) and always visit my family out in Milwaukee every summer and love the city and its culture. From the research that I have done, the difference between how Miami performs in S. Florida and Marquette performs in Milwaukee/Wisconsin is negligible. Therefore, my decision pretty much comes down to which area I want to study law and (hopefully) work for 5-10 years. I complied a list of pros and cons for each schools so far (note just because its on the list doesn't mean I think it should have great weight in the decision, just listing literally anything I can think of)
Marquette Pros:
-More family that lives there and through them I have SOME connections to the legal market in the greater Milwaukee Area (firm jobs)
-I like the city of Milwaukee better than the city of Miami (this may be due to my greater familiarity with Milwaukee and the fact that I only visit during the summers though)
-COA will be much lower due to lower tuition (received some $) and COL is much much lower (debt is not a concern but cheaper is still a big pro regardless)
-Connections to the multitude of government offices and businesses
-The law school building is literally out of this world
-Less competitive market than S. Florida
-The only law school in Milwaukee and only 1 of 2 in the state
-Smaller class size
-Miller lite is awesome
Marquette Cons:
-The weather
-Does not have nearly the reputation outside of the Midwest than it does in it
-My friends will think I'm crazy
Miami Pros
-Weather and Quality of Life
-Lay Prestige that the University has nationwide relative to Marquette
-Huge Alumni network due to the huge class sizes
-Connections to the multitude of government offices and businesses
Miami Cons
-Huge class sizes
-EVERYTHING is more expensive
-The city isn't too glamorous outside of South Beach
-More competitive market
As you can probably tell I am leaning towards Marquette at this point and will most likely send my check there way by the end of the weekend. Am I missing anything in my analysis? Would I be crazy to go to Marquette and practice in Wisconsin over going to Miami and practicing in S. Florida. The only substantial leg-up that Miami has in my book is the weather, but I think the pros of Marquette over Miami outweigh the minor bump that Miami gets for its weather.
Any thoughts or comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Ice
Pending final decisions from the two Rutgers schools and the two wait lists that I am riding out, my final decision on school has come down to Marquette and Miami for the main reason that I have family in both areas and the two schools perform relativley well in their home markets. When I discuss this issue with friends and some family members they think I'm crazy for even considering Marquette with Miami as an option. However, I always remind them that I am a Midwest kid at heart (live in Jersey now but lived in various parts of the Midwest pretty much the first half of my life) and always visit my family out in Milwaukee every summer and love the city and its culture. From the research that I have done, the difference between how Miami performs in S. Florida and Marquette performs in Milwaukee/Wisconsin is negligible. Therefore, my decision pretty much comes down to which area I want to study law and (hopefully) work for 5-10 years. I complied a list of pros and cons for each schools so far (note just because its on the list doesn't mean I think it should have great weight in the decision, just listing literally anything I can think of)
Marquette Pros:
-More family that lives there and through them I have SOME connections to the legal market in the greater Milwaukee Area (firm jobs)
-I like the city of Milwaukee better than the city of Miami (this may be due to my greater familiarity with Milwaukee and the fact that I only visit during the summers though)
-COA will be much lower due to lower tuition (received some $) and COL is much much lower (debt is not a concern but cheaper is still a big pro regardless)
-Connections to the multitude of government offices and businesses
-The law school building is literally out of this world
-Less competitive market than S. Florida
-The only law school in Milwaukee and only 1 of 2 in the state
-Smaller class size
-Miller lite is awesome
Marquette Cons:
-The weather
-Does not have nearly the reputation outside of the Midwest than it does in it
-My friends will think I'm crazy
Miami Pros
-Weather and Quality of Life
-Lay Prestige that the University has nationwide relative to Marquette
-Huge Alumni network due to the huge class sizes
-Connections to the multitude of government offices and businesses
Miami Cons
-Huge class sizes
-EVERYTHING is more expensive
-The city isn't too glamorous outside of South Beach
-More competitive market
As you can probably tell I am leaning towards Marquette at this point and will most likely send my check there way by the end of the weekend. Am I missing anything in my analysis? Would I be crazy to go to Marquette and practice in Wisconsin over going to Miami and practicing in S. Florida. The only substantial leg-up that Miami has in my book is the weather, but I think the pros of Marquette over Miami outweigh the minor bump that Miami gets for its weather.
Any thoughts or comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Ice
