Cincinnati at sticker or Northern Kentucky w/Full Ride Forum

[boiler cat]

NKU: full ride plus paid research assistantship in 2nd/3rd year, 2.33 GPA required.
UC: accepted off waitlist, tuition ~$20K/yr. Was told maybe regarding scholly. Advised of NKU offer.

Non-traditional student with family. Happy to stay in greater cincy/nky area after school.
10+ yrs work experience (3+ years overseas), MBA. Will pursue corporate law.

Thoughts, Suggestions?

[Law Sauce]

I feel like talking the full ride may be worth it in this instance. I am basing this off of the assumption that after the top 20 or so schools, location and class rank matters far more than ranking. If so, then these two schools aren't really all that different. Plus you already have an mba and want to work for corporate in that region so prestige isn't as big a deal as if you wanted to be a prof or sometime. Since you have a family it would be very nice to have some income coming in during school (stipend) and I do not think that the difference in school quality makes up for this hardship. I could be wrong however, I would advise seeking out attorneys who currently do the types of jobs that you would like to end up doing, but I imagine they will say to take the money. Of course there also is the stipulation on the full ride which may make this choice very hard. Check into the school curve and see what percentage of the class gets about a 2.3. This could make a huge difference. If it is much over 50%, however, I would not worry about it too much and hope that you do well.

[johnnyutah]

NKU: full ride plus paid research assistantship in 2nd/3rd year, 2.33 GPA required.
UC: accepted off waitlist, tuition ~$20K/yr. Was told maybe regarding scholly. Advised of NKU offer.

Non-traditional student with family. Happy to stay in greater cincy/nky area after school.
10+ yrs work experience (3+ years overseas), MBA. Will pursue corporate law.

Thoughts, Suggestions?

You're not going to get a "corporate" job from NKU unless you finish #1 or have some connections.

[Law Sauce]

NKU: full ride plus paid research assistantship in 2nd/3rd year, 2.33 GPA required.
UC: accepted off waitlist, tuition ~$20K/yr. Was told maybe regarding scholly. Advised of NKU offer.

Non-traditional student with family. Happy to stay in greater cincy/nky area after school.
10+ yrs work experience (3+ years overseas), MBA. Will pursue corporate law.

Thoughts, Suggestions?

You're not going to get a "corporate" job from NKU unless you finish #1 or have some connections.

Maybe but how much better do you think that Cinn. is? I mean its better but it is not like it is a huge legal name. Still probably need killer grades or connections.

Also, corporate is a very vague goal. Big corporation in-house counsel is probably not happening right out of school anyway. But corporate includes many more jobs that just big corp. in-house.

[boiler cat]

Thanks for your comments.

As far as I can tell, and prior to 2009/10 classes, a top 25-33% UC grad can reasonably expect to land an associate position in local/regional offices of 50-100+ attorney firms, which amounts to roughly the top 35-45. At NKU Chase, it's more like the top 5-8 in class rank. One doesn't have to be first, but close to the top for sure. I feel like I can do that, but I also recognize that may not happen.

I know of a couple larger corporations who do occaisionally hire new law school grads, but most obviously want to pluck associates groomed by a respected firm after a few years there.

I think I'll go back to each school and ask for raw employment data for the 2010 class. I know NKU will provide that, hopefully UC will too.

[CanadianWolf]

Cincinnati if you are in-state.

[boiler cat]

In response to my asking his opinion about law school selection, here are some comments from a previous professor of mine who's an Appellate Judge in the midwest:

"Here is my counsel, generally, on law schools: (1) If you are accepted to what is truly a top tier school (top ten), you should probably go to that school. The reputation of the school will stay with you wherever you go throughout your career. (2) If you are not accepted to a top ten school and know the state where you want to practice, go to a law school in that state--even if you have higher ranked options in other states. You will have a better knowledge of the law of that state and form relationships that will be beneficial throughout your career. (3) If you don't know where you want to practice, go to the best school that accepts you."

While he went on to provide commentary on my options, based solely on the above it's clear which of the two schools she would recommend.

[johnnyutah]

(2) If you are not accepted to a top ten school and know the state where you want to practice, go to a law school in that state--even if you have higher ranked options in other states.

Cincy may as well be a Kentucky law school, at least as far as name recognition and job opportunities in the northern part of the state go.

[Case2L]

Sounds like you're paying in-state @ Cincy. I think it's worth it to pay a little extra, especially given your goals. Cincy is well-respected in its region, whereas NKU is the school people go to when they don't get into Cincy. Mind if I ask the name (or relative prestige) of your MBA program? If you have a top MBA, the law school may be slightly less important.

[johnnyutah]

NKU is the school people go to when they don't get into Cincy or U of L or UK.

Fixed that for you, there.

[boiler cat]

Yes in-state. Not relocating for law school w/family of 5...happy to stay in SW OH.

Purdue MBA. Cincy has since come back offering ~$5k/yr.