As the Beatle's once said: HELP! Forum

[Splintor49]

Hey everyone - I AM going to law school. So comments like "retake" or "don't go" aren't helpful. Of these three similarly ranked schools, which would be the best choice?

The Total Estimated Cost was calculated by Tuition + The School's Estimated Cost of Living - Scholarship award. My fiancee and I will be living together, so the cost of living debt will be significantly less than the schools estimation.

Seton Hall - USNWR #61 (CLIMBED each of the past 3 years from 77, 72, to 61) and USNWR Top 100 Law Firm rank at 98. Made NLJ250 Top 50 ranked 33 this year. Located 15 minutes from Manhattan - the nation's largest legal market. Tution is approx. $46k, but I have a 35k annual scholly to stay at top 50% of class. They are also ranked #6 in the nation for Health Law (my concentration of choice right now).

Chicago-Kent - USNWR #61 (last three years ranked 77, 80, 61) and USNWR Top 100 Law Firm rank at 98. Made NLJ250 Top 50 in 2010 with a rank of 50, but not this year. It is ranked #4 in the nation in trial advocacy, #10 in legal writing, and #15 in intellectual property (which can translate nicely into health law). Tuition is approx. $42k, but I have 20k annual scholly with an extra $10k my first year only. But it has steep scholarship stips. It is located in one the nation's top 3 legal markets.

Univ. of Houston - USNWR #56 (last 3 years 59, 60, 56) and USNWR Top 100 Law Firm rank at 58. Made NLJ250 Top 50 for the past two years - 37 in 2010 and 42 this year. They have waived my out-of-state tuition which puts it at approx. 27k but only a 1k scholly. It is ranked #6 in Health Law and Intellectual Property Law (exactly what I'm looking for in a concentration). It is also in a large-ish legal market.

[danquayle]

where do you want to live? That's really it.

The specialty rankings don't really matter, and they're all roughly peer schools.

Digging deeper... If Chicago-Kent has steep stips, I'd say you should slash that. Also, is your fiancee trying to find a job as well? If so, you might want to head to Houston. It's also a bit less cluttered than Seton Hall or Chicago-Kent. I believe its the only law school in what is a pretty massive city.

Ok, I've convinced myself... go to Houston. They don't have any stips, do they?

[Splintor49]

where do you want to live? That's really it.

The specialty rankings don't really matter, and they're all roughly peer schools.

Digging deeper... If Chicago-Kent has steep stips, I'd say you should slash that. Also, is your fiancee trying to find a job as well? If so, you might want to head to Houston. It's also a bit less cluttered than Seton Hall or Chicago-Kent. I believe its the only law school in what is a pretty massive city.

Ok, I've convinced myself... go to Houston. They don't have any stips, do they?

To answer your question - HOUSTON:

"We are excited to offer you a $1,000 per year Dean’s Scholarship. I realize that doesn’t seem like a lot, but it does come with a waiver of non-resident tuition so you would be charged the resident rate for as long as you were eligible to keep your scholarship. (The scholarship is renewable for the three years of law school as long as you maintain at least a 2.9 GPA.)"

I saw you edited your post - my fiancee would be happy any where. She has friends in Houston, Chicago, and New York. Though I think she secretly would prefer New York, she would go with me to any of these locations...

Thanks for your input!