CU Boulder or UT Knoxville Forum

[Lord Randolph McDuff]

I know this is coming to come down to where I want to live, but that is the problem. I just got off the wait list at CU with some good money, and now the costs are equal between the two schools. However, I am asking the all knowing online community to ignore costs because I wont have any debt at graduation and just tell me where they would want to live and why. Sorry if this is dumb or not the point of the forum, but it would really help me because I'm completely on the fence right now. I posted one of these earlier that talked a lot about my SO and by the way she has good opportunity in both places so that is a non-issue as well. One issue is that the economy seems to be doing extra poorly in CO. Even though CU is ranked higher than UTK, UTK has better employment numbers. Any comment on that would be nice as I do want to get a job when this whole thing is over.

Side question: do speciality rankings matter? I would love prefer to work in environmental or natural resource law but I was skeptical if that type of work goes on more in CO than TN. Do you think that lawyers from the two schools generally work (if they get a firm gig) on the same types of issues? I doubt there would be any difference in the quality of the education from these two schools.. anything I'm not thinking of that I need to?

Thanks

[romothesavior]

Where are you from? If CO or a neighboring state, CU. If TN or a neighboring state, UT. If from neither, I wouldn't go to either.

[CanadianWolf]

Where do you want to live & work after law school ?

P.S. There may be a significant difference in the quality of education between the two.

[goop92]

I had a friend who lived in Colorado and he loved it and another friend who still lives there and he loves it too. One thing to consider is if you go to Colorado, you will be attending one of the best schools in the mountain west. Tennessee is a good school, but it's not one of the best in the south and some would say it's not even in the top 5.

[CanadianWolf]

Students & profs are much stronger at Colorado, but it won't help in the Tennessee market.
Boulder, Colorado is expensive & remains a sought after destination for many professionals nation-wide. Denver is similiar to Atlanta in the 1980s.
If feasible, visit & decide.

Congratulations !

P.S. Any scholarship money from Colorado ?

[OldManHunger]

Specific rankings don't matter.

Quality of education DOESN'T matter.

Bar passage rates give you an idea of how much they're scamming their students--whether they're essentially robbing a bunch of idiots who get hung out to dry at the end. Employment rates (even skewed as they are) give you an idea of whether the investment is worth it. With either of these schools, it's not. Check http://www.lawschooltransparency.com for employment. Google for bar passage.

[Lord Randolph McDuff]

Thanks all.

Wolf-- there is a difference in the quality of the profs at the two schools? I guess there is difference of incoming LSAT scores of 4 pts, but does that necessarily translate to a stronger student body?

Any thoughts on the economy in Colorado?

Why is UTK placing better than CU at the moment?

[Lord Randolph McDuff]

[quote="romothesavior"]Where are you from? If CO or a neighboring state, CU. If TN or a neighboring state, UT. If from neither, I wouldn't go to either.[/

[Lord Randolph McDuff]

Quality of education DOESN'T matter.

Why is that? Like it wouldnt be a better experience going to Yale VS Texas Tech?

[OldManHunger]

Quality of education DOESN'T matter.

Why is that? Like it wouldnt be a better experience going to Yale VS Texas Tech?

If you switched their employment outcomes but kept the educational experiences the same, I'd say go to Texas Tech over Yale.

The real problem is that statements like "they have a good program in X," or, they have a good education, is that the applicant is trying to convince himself that there's value there despite the poor employment outlook. Application porn touts that shit. Nobody in their right mind invests 3 years + COL + tuition based on it.

[mrwarre85]

Quality of education DOESN'T matter.

Why is that? Like it wouldnt be a better experience going to Yale VS Texas Tech?

If you switched their employment outcomes but kept the educational experiences the same, I'd say go to Texas Tech over Yale.

The real problem is that statements like "they have a good program in X," or, they have a good education, is that the applicant is trying to convince himself that there's value there despite the poor employment outlook. Application porn touts that shit. Nobody in their right mind invests 3 years + COL + tuition based on it.

I agree with this completely, but I would still say the quality of education matters. I guess just less than the bread and butter concerns.

I had a very similar decision awhile back except it was with DU and not CU. I ended up and choose UTK because of employment stats (which I hope to God aren't completely fabricated) and because my SO thought the air in Colorado made her skin too dry. I'm pretty sure that doesn't help at all, just wanted to chime in. Good luck.

[romothesavior]

Where are you from? If CO or a neighboring state, CU. If TN or a neighboring state, UT. If from neither, I wouldn't go to either.

Does Oklahoma count as a neighboring state to Colorado? Also what is the logic behind your post??--- thanks a lot.

The logic is that these are two decent but not great, very regional schools in areas with relatively small legal markets. I'm not knocking either school, but you need to realize you will be competing with graduates with significant ties in the area for the few jobs in the market. And in Colorado, you'll be competing with T1 grads from other schools across the country (Denver is a targeted by a decent number of people). Most markets not named New York City are fairly insular. Smaller ones are typically very insular (I would know... I'm trying to target one and I'm not from here).

Neither one of these schools is bad, they're just very regional. Like most regional state schools, there is a big gamble involved if you are not from the area and are not going for cheap. I just don't think it is a good idea to go to a school like that if you're not from there. I have a friend who goes to CU, maybe I'll ask him his opinion and let you know what he says.

[dr123]

Didn't read any of this, but Boulder (and Colorado in general) is fucking awesome. Tennessee sucks. Go to CU.

[Law Sauce]

Seconded, CO and Boulder is awewsome

[Lord Randolph McDuff]

[/list]
Neither one of these schools is bad, they're just very regional. Like most regional state schools, there is a big gamble involved if you are not from the area and are not going for cheap. I just don't think it is a good idea to go to a school like that if you're not from there. I have a friend who goes to CU, maybe I'll ask him his opinion and let you know what he says.

That would be cool thanks.

[Wholigan]

Didn't you have another thread, OP, where you were deciding between a T14 you wouldn't name and UT-Knoxville? Was your T14 option made-up? If not, why on earth would you be considering CU???

[Lord Randolph McDuff]

Didn't you have another thread, OP, where you were deciding between a T14 you wouldn't name and UT-Knoxville? Was your T14 option made-up? If not, why on earth would you be considering CU???

QoL and making my significant other happy.

[Wholigan]

I thought the place that was going to make her happy was UT-K. So now she is willing to go to Tennesee or Colorado, but not a T14? Will it make her happy if you have good career prospects? I would think good career prospects also are a boost in the QoL department. Also, what are your numbers that got you accepted to a T14, but waitlisted at Colorado?

[Lord Randolph McDuff]

I thought the place that was going to make her happy was UT-K. So now she is willing to go to Tennesee or Colorado, but not a T14? Will it make her happy if you have good career prospects? I would think good career prospects also are a boost in the QoL department. Also, what are your numbers that got you accepted to a T14, but waitlisted at Colorado?

I don't know, to each his own on the career prospects to QoF argument. Money don't buy happiness!!

Both east Tennessee and northern Colorado have great QoL potential even for folks on a budget.

Numbers are fudged for privacy, but I'm a 75 / 25 splitter at probably every T1.

[Bildungsroman]

Colorado is a fantastic state.

[3ThrowAway99]

Quality of education DOESN'T matter.

I disagree. I think the endgame of job placement is obviously very important, but that doesn't mean that the comparative quality of faculty (and peers) doesn't matter.

[Lord Randolph McDuff]

Colorado is a fantastic state.

Do people complain about dry skin a lot there? There must be some trade off for the great weather.

[Bildungsroman]

Colorado is a fantastic state.

Do people complain about dry skin a lot there? There must be some trade off for the great weather.

Eh a little, but it's not as bad as you'd think. Plus, doesn't your SO use moisturizer or something?

Seriously though, Boulder gets 300 days of sunshine a year, you're smack up against the mountains with easy access to hiking, camping, tubing, fishing, mountain biking, skiing, snowboarding, etc., taxes aren't bad (thanks to TABOR, which you will come to love and hate as a student of public education in CO), there's a fantastic beer scene in CO with tons of microbreweries and a Governor and legislature that both love microbreweries, plenty of eye candy with the lowest obesity rate of any state in the US, and so on.

And you'll be thanking god in the summer for the dry air. Even in the 80s and 90s I can walk around outdoors without soaking through a shirt, unlike those damn high humidity states.

[Lord Randolph McDuff]

Any of the five UTK votes want to chime in? Or someone can tell me if it's true that the market in TN (the South) is doing better than the market in CO? If not I guess the CU kids are just puffing the weed and living off the trust fund after graduation, work be damned?

[mrwarre85]

I voted for UTK but I just sorta picked one. Honestly you aren't going to find much support for Tenn just because it is an underrated state. People who have never been to Tenn assume they will not like it.

Colorado is an overrated state. People who have never been assume they will like it.

Both states have pretty good weather, great scenery/outdoor activities (with the exception of west Tenn), and lots of opportunity. Not sure why the CU numbers have been bad the last couple years. I think there might be a lot bigger legal market in Tenn than in Colorado, not sure though.