UTK in-state or DU $$$ Forum

[mrwarre85]

University of Denver cost plus cost of living estimate for three years 66k.
University of Tennessee cost plus cost of living estimate for three years 100k.

This is a re-post so I could add a poll plus I just found out I got in-state at UTK.

For those who haven't done a lot of research on these two schools..
Denver is a large law school and seems to have more interesting specializations. Tennessee is a small law school with better employment numbers and seems to be more of a meat and potatoes law school. I liked both when I visited and both have full time medians at 160, 3.5ish, although DU does a better job marketing themselves and/or seems to be on the rise-- they certainly have one of the best law facilities in the country. Tennessee claims to be have a bigger region IE jobs possible in other states in the South.

I would be happy working in either Tennessee or Colorado, but may want to leave Colorado after a few years.

Tennessee may have a better program for my SO.

Generally it seems like UTK is more well known/respected, although this could just be lay prestige from their athletic programs.

Not worried about losing scholarship at DU-- must be top half after the first year, and there is a one semester probation period after that. (Admissions told me only a handful of people lose it every year IE for some reason they have a lot of not so competitive students).

I know all the things TLS usually posts, what I'm interested in is what YOU would do in my situation. Tell me your reasons and please vote!

[krad]

Hey mrwarre! First off, congrats on your options!

I didn't vote yet, here's why:

I know this may not be too helpful, but I think it's really going to come down to where you want to work (CO/Rocky Mtns vs. TN/sooutheast). Denver is amazing (I'm biased in that I live here) but Knoxville is fun as well. In Denver I'd imagine that you're competing with CU and T14 grads that want to come to Denver/CO. In Knoxville, I'd imagine that you'll have less competition, as I'd venture to guess that many more Vandy grads leave TN than CU grads leave CO, but I could be wrong. It might be something to consider...

You said that you may want to leave CO after a few years. Do you feel this way about TN as well, or could you see yourself there more long-term? Sorry, I'm not sure of your current location.

[mrwarre85]

Hey mrwarre! First off, congrats on your options!

I didn't vote yet, here's why:

I know this may not be too helpful, but I think it's really going to come down to where you want to work (CO/Rocky Mtns vs. TN/sooutheast). Denver is amazing (I'm biased in that I live here) but Knoxville is fun as well. In Denver I'd imagine that you're competing with CU and T14 grads that want to come to Denver/CO. In Knoxville, I'd imagine that you'll have less competition, as I'd venture to guess that many more Vandy grads leave TN than CU grads leave CO, but I could be wrong. It might be something to consider...

You said that you may want to leave CO after a few years. Do you feel this way about TN as well, or could you see yourself there more long-term? Sorry, I'm not sure of your current location.

Hi KRad. First off congrats on your new avatar, you are so beautiful!

I think UTK >> DU for employment but for QOL I really don't know. My SO is awesome and I don't see us separating. She is from West Texas and thinks she would be more comfortable fitting in culturally in East Tennessee. We both think Nashville is a great city and lots of UTK grads end up there.

My problem is that I generally lean more progressive than conservative and I am very impressed with state of Colorado. I mean that far beyond geographically-- I would be very proud to be from Colorado. I am political and I see a lot of pragmatic policial ideas coming out of that state.

I really don't know much about Tennessee. I know firsthand that it is beautiful. I have heard that it is ultra conservative, which may or may not be a bad thing depending on what kinda conservatives we're dealin with. If its all Sarah Palin out there I know I'll want to leave after a few years.

Thats my dilemna!

By the way, I'm in Austin TX ATM. Thanks for your help.

[krad]

Hahaha

Well let's see... I don't think your SO should worry. Outside of Denver, Boulder, and some of the mountain areas, CO is very conservative, small town, a lot of farming/industry, etc. I've met people from many ways of life and nearly all areas of the political spectrum, if that's what she's worried about... We are talking the West out here. There are cowboys, miners, and the like

I can't speak for TN too much, (other than that Vandy was my a#1 top choice) but it's quite conservative in TN. QOL-wise, it's hard to beat Denver/CO if you're the outdoorsy type, though I think there would be plenty to do in TN. FWIW many of my friends in CO (and fam in the southeast) thought I was batshit crazy for considering Nash over Denver

I think you really need to decide where you'd rather be, and there are pluses and minuses to both areas and both schools. Personally I'd probably take Denver for QOL coming from Austin, but maybe someone else can speak more to TN! I do have quite a few friends from home (southeast) that loved UT for UG, though. In terms of schools, UTK sounds bit stronger, but it really comes down to picking an area since both are very regional.

I hope that was somewhat helpful?? you've got a hard decision that no one can make but you... You just have to remember that there's no 'wrong' choice per say.

[rundoxierun]

University of Denver cost plus cost of living estimate for three years 66k.
University of Tennessee cost plus cost of living estimate for three years 100k.

This is a re-post so I could add a poll plus I just found out I got in-state at UTK.

For those who haven't done a lot of research on these two schools..
Denver is a large law school and seems to have more interesting specializations. Tennessee is a small law school with better employment numbers and seems to be more of a meat and potatoes law school. I liked both when I visited and both have full time medians at 160, 3.5ish, although DU does a better job marketing themselves and/or seems to be on the rise-- they certainly have one of the best law facilities in the country. Tennessee claims to be have a bigger region IE jobs possible in other states in the South.

I would be happy working in either Tennessee or Colorado, but may want to leave Colorado after a few years.

Tennessee may have a better program for my SO.

Generally it seems like UTK is more well known/respected, although this could just be lay prestige from their athletic programs.

Not worried about losing scholarship at DU-- must be top half after the first year, and there is a one semester probation period after that. (Admissions told me only a handful of people lose it every year IE for some reason they have a lot of not so competitive students).

I know all the things TLS usually posts, what I'm interested in is what YOU would do in my situation. Tell me your reasons and please vote!

OP, Im fairly familiar with both of these schools.

The first bolded isnt true to a significant degree, if at all. Employment opportunities from both schools is pretty much the same.

The second bolded is true to a degree but the states are usually KY, MS, and, sometimes, AL. TN is a very small market to begin with so I really dont know that this adds "additional" opportunities. Plus, the people I know with jobs in MS were from the area(or the part of west TN that borders MS) to begin with. Im not sure how far DU reaches because generally people love the area and dont really want to leave. I can tell you that it is well-respected in CO though.

The third one is probably true regionally but definitely not nationally. No one sees TN as an exceptional school except their alumni.

If I were you, I would assess how much the SOs program preferences are worth to you and then compare it to the cost savings. For what its worth though, in pretty much all fields "better" program has to mean "top" program for it to be worth a significant amount in monetary terms (there are, obviously, personal preferences/considerations that could add value.)

[Fred_McGriff]

I got into both and picked a third option, between those two at those prices, I'd go Tennessee based on everything from rank, talking to attorneys in their respective regions, knowing grads from each school, and knowing the areas they're in.

[mrwarre85]

University of Denver cost plus cost of living estimate for three years 66k.
University of Tennessee cost plus cost of living estimate for three years 100k.

This is a re-post so I could add a poll plus I just found out I got in-state at UTK.

For those who haven't done a lot of research on these two schools..
Denver is a large law school and seems to have more interesting specializations. Tennessee is a small law school with better employment numbers and seems to be more of a meat and potatoes law school. I liked both when I visited and both have full time medians at 160, 3.5ish, although DU does a better job marketing themselves and/or seems to be on the rise-- they certainly have one of the best law facilities in the country. Tennessee claims to be have a bigger region IE jobs possible in other states in the South.

I would be happy working in either Tennessee or Colorado, but may want to leave Colorado after a few years.

Tennessee may have a better program for my SO.

Generally it seems like UTK is more well known/respected, although this could just be lay prestige from their athletic programs.

Not worried about losing scholarship at DU-- must be top half after the first year, and there is a one semester probation period after that. (Admissions told me only a handful of people lose it every year IE for some reason they have a lot of not so competitive students).

I know all the things TLS usually posts, what I'm interested in is what YOU would do in my situation. Tell me your reasons and please vote!

OP, Im fairly familiar with both of these schools.

The first bolded isnt true to a significant degree, if at all. Employment opportunities from both schools is pretty much the same.

The second bolded is true to a degree but the states are usually KY, MS, and, sometimes, AL. TN is a very small market to begin with so I really dont know that this adds "additional" opportunities. Plus, the people I know with jobs in MS were from the area(or the part of west TN that borders MS) to begin with. Im not sure how far DU reaches because generally people love the area and dont really want to leave. I can tell you that it is well-respected in CO though.

The third one is probably true regionally but definitely not nationally. No one sees TN as an exceptional school except their alumni.

If I were you, I would assess how much the SOs program preferences are worth to you and then compare it to the cost savings. For what its worth though, in pretty much all fields "better" program has to mean "top" program for it to be worth a significant amount in monetary terms (there are, obviously, personal preferences/considerations that could add value.)

According to the 2009 numbers http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 1&t=150681 UTK does place considerable better than DU. I wonder if some of that is because DU has a large part time program or attracts students who don't necessarily want to enter private practice, but the numbers are UTK >> DU for 2009 and for 2008. For instance, in 2009 only 52% of graduates at DU worked as full time attorneys nine months out. At UTK the number was 86%.

TN is a small market, and UTK a small law school, but is TN any smaller a market than CO?

I do wonder if UTK has any advantage in reputation. I know in Oklahoma, where I'm from, no one has heard of DU. I wonder if people have heard of DU west of Colorado-- in California?

I agree with the "FWIW, better program must mean top program for it to be worth a significant amount in monetary terms." Somethings you can't put a price on though-- My SO doesn't like cold weather.

[mrwarre85]

I got into both and picked a third option, between those two at those prices, I'd go Tennessee based on everything from rank, talking to attorneys in their respective regions, knowing grads from each school, and knowing the areas they're in.

Thanks for this and the PM. Good luck at Tulane.

[mrwarre85]

Bump. Any other potential voters? 1 of the 4 current votes is my own because I got bored.