Top Law Schools

I'm having a hard time decide which school to pick. The options are UC Irvine, UC Davis, and Cardozo. I have no preference on location and I can move anywhere in the country. The money between UC Irvine and Cardozo is practically the same. I think UC Irvine has the potential to be a great law school but I'm worried it might be too much of a risk. Any insights?

*EDIT* I realized that I had the dollar amount wrong. Also, is there a reason Cardozo isn't getting any love? I mean, I know its not the best ranked school, but doesn't its location in NYC count for anything? At least it has an alumni network unlike Irvine and there are a lot more clinics and class options at Cardozo. Am I missing something about the school?

hawaii wrote:I'm having a hard time decide which school to pick. The options are UC Irvine, UC Davis, and Cardozo. I have no preference on location and I can move anywhere in the country. The money between UC Irvine and Cardozo is practically the same. I think UC Irvine has the potential to be a great law school but I'm worried it might be too much of a risk. Any insights?

At the very least Irvine is better than Cardozo.

At the very best it's better than Davis.

In your situation I'd pick Davis, but 7k a year is nothing. Can you get in state after the 1st year?

Davis is no sure bet in NoCal, but I'd feel better than if I went to Cardozo.

In my opinion Davis for NoCal would be like going to Fordham for NYC. Cardozo is like going to Pepperdine/San Diego for SoCal.

Cross Dozo off your list. Between the other two, it's hard to say. Many people think that Irvine will eventually be stronger than Davis, but that's a ways off and is pretty speculative. They are building a great faculty, though (and they have a shitload of money). I'd take the bird in the hand and go to Davis, but in any case the only correct answer to this question puts you in California next year

Have you tried negotiating aid at these? I would think UCI would try to beat out Davis by a little more.

End of the day I view them as fairly equal so I would just go wherever you would prefer to practice (NoCal vs. SoCal) and which place you enjoyed more when visiting.

Do you like Sacramento, or Orange County?

fingersxd wrote:End of the day I view them as fairly equal so I would just go wherever you would prefer to practice (NoCal vs. SoCal) and which place you enjoyed more when visiting.

+1. Having visited Davis (I'm actually in a Davis hotel now on my housing search), I can say I've been very pleasantly surprised by how damn comfortable it is. It's quiet, yeah, but I've found the people/weather/ambiance here to be great.

Check it out for yourself to see if it's your cup of tea. And if not, Irvine is solid.