Top Law Schools

I am a couple of seat deposits deep at this point and still cannot pull the trigger on a school. I am a long time lurker but am hoping TLS can give me some insight. I have been out of UG working for a year and have around 15K saved up. I applied to 18 schools and am down to 3 final choices.

My prefs are: I am from Pennsylvania and would prefer to stay on the East Coast or in the Mid Atlantic. BIGLAW would be taken if I received the grades to get it. I am carrying no UG debt but I would hate to take on a large amount of debt just in case BIGLAW does not happen and I am stuck doing something I hate for 4-5 years to pay off the debt. My grandparents have offered to chip in a small amount of $ for tuition and cover my CoL since each place is so cheap.

Choice 1: William and Mary with a a Fellowship Scholarship (total value 51K). This would leave me paying $19,000 out of pocket per year. I would probably use my 15K of savings and would end up in around $20,000 worth of debt.

Choice 2: Washington and Lee with a 30K a year scholarship (total value 90K). This would leave me paying $9000 out of pocket per year. I would get to save my savings and graduate without any debt.

Choice 3: Notre Dame with a 20K a year scholarship (total value 60K). This would leave me paying $24,000 a year out of pocket per year. I would use my savings and would end up in around $40K of debt.

I visited all schools and from what I could tell, ND had a great building and staff. However, the midwest is VERY new to me and I was not a fan of South Bend as a whole. W&M was nice and I enoyed the rustle and bustle of the tourists, however, would advantage does it have over W&L? W&L, great campus, however, law school building was awful. Not sure if it places outside of VA?

Do any TLS users have any advice?
Choice 3:

Since you say you'd like the Mid Atlantic and you'd like to minimize debt but posssssssibly have a chance at biglaw, I'd vote W&M. ND could very likely stick you in the Midwest (also going to leave you with the most debt).

Did you visit W&M? Did you like it? How did you like it compared to W&L?

Also, you can add a poll to your post and make it easy for people to vote on one of your three choices. Good luck

krad wrote:Since you say you'd like the Mid Atlantic, I'd vote W&M. ND could very likely stick you in the Midwest (also going to leave you with the most debt) and W&L will stick you in the Southeast.

Did you visit W&M? Did you like it?

Also, you can add a poll to your post and make it easy for people to vote on one of your three choices. Good luck :

Thanks Krad. I liked W&M but is it worth the extra debt? I know 20-30K of debt is not a crazy amount but it still is debt.

Sorry, lol I ninja edited my post because I made a dumb comment about W&L.

I'd go with W&L. It's a good school and you can't beat going to law school debt free.

But really, this should be between W&M and W&L. Notre Dame isn't going to get you where you want to go and it doesn't seem like you'd be happy sticking around Indiana.

cinephile wrote:I'd go with W&L. It's a good school and you can't beat going to law school debt free.

But really, this should be between W&M and W&L. Notre Dame isn't going to get you where you want to go and it doesn't seem like you'd be happy sticking around Indiana.

Totally agree.

cinephile wrote:I'd go with W&L. It's a good school and you can't beat going to law school debt free.

But really, this should be between W&M and W&L. Notre Dame isn't going to get you where you want to go and it doesn't seem like you'd be happy sticking around Indiana.

I agree, but from what I can tell..... W&M is more prestigious and look more highly upon than W&L?

Try comparing the schools a bit with this information: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 1&t=150681 (though there are surely inaccuracies)

eta: Also check out the NLJ250 'Go-to' schools: http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNL ... hbxlogin=1

krad wrote:Try comparing the schools a bit with this information: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 1&t=150681 (though there are surely inaccuracies)

eta: Also check out the NLJ250 'Go-to' schools: http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNL ... hbxlogin=1

No way those are real. Maybe for the class of 2007 but not now.

I'm just trying to help you with what is out there. The first link says it's data for the class of 2009 and the second says it's based on class of 2010 associate hiring.

Try searching around TLS to compare W&M and W&L. You shouldn't base your decision on 'prestige' unless it can get you a job. Good luck

shouldgetmba wrote:

cinephile wrote:I'd go with W&L. It's a good school and you can't beat going to law school debt free.

But really, this should be between W&M and W&L. Notre Dame isn't going to get you where you want to go and it doesn't seem like you'd be happy sticking around Indiana.

I agree, but from what I can tell..... W&M is more prestigious and look more highly upon than W&L?

I think that your intuition is right, and that W&M is more prestigious than W&L. I'd stomach the extra cost and go to W&M, I believe your job prospects are better and that you'll enjoy Williamsburg more than Lexington (I just visited both in April and liked Williamsburg 10x's more!).

krad wrote:I'm just trying to help you with what is out there. The first link says it's data for the class of 2009 and the second says it's based on class of 2010 associate hiring.

Try searching around TLS to compare W&M and W&L. You shouldn't base your decision on 'prestige' unless it can get you a job. Good luck

Ah, no, I know that you are trying to provide assistance and I am very thankful for it. It just seems that the data is skewed.

W&M

At only 20k debt, W&M is worth it. You could pay off that much in a non-legal job if you had to.

shouldgetmba wrote: Ah, no, I know that you are trying to provide assistance and I am very thankful for it. It just seems that the data is skewed.

It's hard to find really accurate employment data, so you've got to make do with what's out there, which does blow. In what way do you think it's skewed? I'm just curious (and bored at work).

I still vote taking the extra debt at W&M. I think it's worth it for W&M and what you want, but only you can decide...

W&M is my vote.

It sounds like we have a few W&M homers on this thread. As one of them, I'll throw in my vote for W&M, specifically for the reason that you're hoping for East Coast, mid-Atlantic. From what I've seen, and the alumni I've spoken with all over the country, W&M has a much more national reputation and more portability than W&L, probably comparable to ND. So if you're looking for NY-Philly-DC, I think W&M is a much better choice than W&L for prestige and mobility reasons, and better than ND because W&M places primarily in the market you want to work in, and is cheaper than ND.
Best of luck!

Anyone who is not tied into W&M have any thoughts?

shouldgetmba wrote:Anyone who is not tied into W&M have any thoughts?

I have no ties to W&M, and I voted for that. AP-375 has it right, IMO.

I don't mean to be disparaging, I'm just curious, but how does this come down to a deadline decision for you?
Also, now that I've offered my anonymous internet opinion, I'm slightly invested in your destiny. Please let us know where you decide when the sun goes down.

Final deposits are due.

OP: Based on your original post in this thread, it seems that Wm.& Mary is your choice. W&L and Notre Dame offer distinctive cultures while Wm. & Mary offers a more inclusive culture, in my opinion.

Wm. & Mary and Notre Dame have strong reputations in the Northeast.

P.S. $40,000 of total debt for law school & undergraduate school is not a significant factor, in my opinion.

Gotta admit, the appeal of becoming a Fighting Irish would have me. ND ftw.

WM > WL all day. WL has steadily decreased in rankings and its 3L program has not done well from what I've heard

krad wrote:

cinephile wrote:I'd go with W&L. It's a good school and you can't beat going to law school debt free.

But really, this should be between W&M and W&L. Notre Dame isn't going to get you where you want to go and it doesn't seem like you'd be happy sticking around Indiana.

Totally agree.

Don't totally agree, but also don't think Notre Dame is worth paying more for when you'd pass up two schools already located in your target market.

I'd head to W&M.

CanadianWolf wrote:Final deposits are due.

I understand that there is a deadline, but I don't understand how a decision like this could come down to the deadline. It's like, i don't know, picking a bride on the way to the church. (except that she's non-divorceable/dischargeable)